Eminent radiologist, former NIMS Director Dr Kakarla Subba Rao passes away at 96

Well-known both in India and overseas, Rao was born in 1925 in a middle-class agricultural family at Pedamuttevi, a small village in Krishna district. He was conferred the Padma Shree in 2000 for rendering services in the medical field.

Rao served as the first director of Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences, (NIMS) Hyderabad between 1985 and 1990 and contributed to turning NIMS into a super-speciality hospital. Later, he was again appointed as the director of the institute from later between 1997 and 2004, before retiring.

He pursued his MBBS from Andhra Medical College in 1950 after which he went to the US to complete the residency. He served as a professor of radiology at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York and finally returned to India in 1985-86. Following the suggestion of the late Chief Minister NT Rama Rao, he started working with NIMS and contributed greatly to converting it into a highly specialised facility. For his contributions to the field of medicine, Rao was conferred Padma Shri in 2000, the fourth highest civilian award by the Government of India. He was also the founder president of the Telugu Association of North America, an umbrella organization for Telugu-speaking people in the United States.