The Pioneer Who Brought New Hope to Cancer Care: The Story of Dr. Pramod Kumar Julka

In the bustling lanes of Delhi, a young Pramod Kumar Julka decided early that his life would be spent fighting one of humanity’s most formidable enemies—cancer. He graduated in medicine from the University of Delhi and completed his MD in Radiotherapy and Oncology from Maulana Azad Medical College in 1979. Eager to learn the latest techniques, he travelled to the United States on a World Health Organization fellowship, training at the legendary M.D. Anderson Hospital in Houston, Texas, and later at the Long Beach Memorial Cancer Centre in California.

In 1984 he joined the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. Over the next three decades he rose to become Professor and Dean of Academics in the Department of Radiotherapy and Oncology, shaping generations of young oncologists while treating thousands of patients from every walk of life. He never distinguished between the rich and the poor; every patient received the same careful attention.

On 9 May 1995, Dr. Julka achieved a historic first for India. He performed the country’s first peripheral blood stem cell transplant following high-dose chemotherapy in a patient with metastatic breast cancer. The milestone was later recorded in the Limca Book of Records. It opened new possibilities for patients who previously had few options.

His research spanned clinical oncology, radiation biology and chemotherapy. He published more than 250 papers in national and international journals and authored the practical guide Becoming A Successful Clinical Trial Investigator. He served as President of the Northern Chapter of the Association of Radiation Oncologists of India and as Chairperson of the Indian College of Radiation Oncology. He advised the Government of India on the National Cancer Control Programme and inspected cancer centres across the country.

After retiring from AIIMS around 2016, he continued his work as Vice Chairman and Senior Director of Oncology at Max Healthcare, still seeing patients and guiding younger colleagues.

In 2013 the Government of India conferred upon him the Padma Shri. The same year he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Association of Radiation Oncologists of India. Many other honours followed—IMA awards, orations, the OISCA Foundation Award, recognition as a Leading Scientist of the World, and Emeritus Membership of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

One quiet afternoon in the clinic, a young resident watching him review a complex case asked, “Sir, after so many years and so many firsts, what still drives you every morning?”

Dr. Pramod Kumar Julka looked up from the files and smiled gently.

“Every new patient who walks in carries both fear and hope,” he said. “Our job is to reduce the fear and strengthen the hope—with science, with skill, and with compassion. When a patient who thought there was no chance goes home to their family, that is the only reward that matters. Everything else is secondary.”

And so the Delhi doctor who brought stem-cell transplantation to Indian oncology continues his quiet battle—teaching, treating, researching, and proving that even against cancer, determined hands and a steady heart can keep opening new doors of hope.