In the gastroenterology wards of Delhi’s leading hospitals, Dr. Surinder Kumar Sama became known as a quiet pioneer who helped define the specialty in India. Born in 1934, he graduated in medicine from Amritsar and completed his MD at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Joining AIIMS in 1958, he stayed until 1974, helping establish the Department of Gastroenterology there and at G.B. Pant Hospital.

His most lasting scientific contribution came early: in a 1962 paper co-authored with colleagues, he described non-cirrhotic portal fibrosis (NCPF), an idiopathic chronic liver disease that was then poorly understood. His research on liver diseases, including Hepatitis B, earned international recognition; he represented India at a WHO symposium on the virus. Many later called him the “Father of Gastroenterology” in the country.

In 1976 he joined Sir Ganga Ram Hospital as an honorary physician and founded its Gastroenterology department, building it into a centre of excellence. He served the institution for more than three decades, including as Chairman of the Board of Management from 1995 to 2006, adding new specialties and strengthening its reputation. In 2001 he was appointed personal physician to the President of India. He also served as President of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology.

For his pioneering work on liver diseases the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 2004; the same year he received the Dr B.C. Roy Award, the highest honour in Indian medicine. Other recognitions followed, including lifetime achievement awards and state honours.

From a young physician identifying a new liver disease to the institutional builder who shaped gastroenterology services across Delhi, Surinder Kumar Sama’s career remains a story of careful observation, scientific clarity and steady leadership that raised the standard of digestive and liver care in India.