Dr. Madhav Gajanan Deo (born 6 April 1932), popularly known as M.G. Deo, is an eminent Indian oncologist, pathologist and medical educationist. He is recognised for his pioneering work in molecular medicine, cancer research and the promotion of scientific collaboration in India. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 1990.

Born in Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, he graduated in medicine from Gajra Raja Medical College, Gwalior (Agra University) in 1955. He completed his MD at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, in 1960 under the guidance of the distinguished pathologist Vulimiri Ramalingaswami, and went on to earn a PhD from the same institution in 1964.

He joined the faculty at AIIMS and became Professor of Pathology in 1974, serving until 1978. That year he was appointed Director of the Cancer Research Institute in Mumbai (now the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer – ACTREC, a part of the Tata Memorial Centre). He later served as Director of Research and Chief of Laboratories at Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, and briefly as Director of the SSR Centre for Medical Studies and Research at the University of Mauritius before settling in Pune.

Dr. Deo’s research spanned oncology (particularly tobacco-related oral cancers), leprosy, protein-calorie malnutrition and molecular medicine. During his time at the Cancer Research Institute he contributed to the development of an anti-leprosy vaccine prepared from killed ICRC bacillus. Earlier collaborative work with Ramalingaswami helped establish the scientific basis for the iodisation of common salt, which supported India’s National Goitre Control Programme.

In 1980 he became the founder president of the Indian Association of Cancer Research, created to foster interaction among cancer researchers and to spread awareness of the disease. He is also one of the founders of the Moving Academy of Medicine and Biomedicine, an organisation dedicated to continuing medical education and biomedical research, where he has remained actively involved.

He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (FASc) and the National Academy of Medical Sciences (FAMS), and an elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy. Among his other honours are the Om Prakash Bhasin Award, the Rameshwardas Birla National Award, the Amrut Mody Research Foundation Award, the Medical Council of India’s Silver Jubilee Research Award and the Hari Om Alembic Research Fund Award.

Dr. Madhav Gajanan Deo has published extensively in national and international journals and continues to be associated with medical education and research initiatives from his base in Pune. His career reflects a lifelong commitment to advancing scientific understanding of disease and building institutions that support cancer research and molecular medicine in India.