(In this edition of Movers and Shakers in Medicine we present Dr. Vikas P. Sukhatme, an immunologist who also has a PhD from MIT in theoretical Physics. In addition to his immense contributions in the field of medicine, he has worked hard to help the underserved  through his not-for-profit organization, GlobalCures.)

Vikas P. Sukhatme MD, PhD, is the Victor J. Aresty Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, and Chief Academic Officer and Harvard Faculty Dean for Academic Programs at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) in Boston.  He is also Chief of the Division of Interdisciplinary Medicine and Biotechnology in the Department of Medicine at BIDMC and a member of both the nephrology and hematology-oncology divisions in that department.   

Sukhatme spent much of his early life in Rome, Italy, a place he remembers with great fondness.  “It was a great place to be as a child. In some ways it was a nice blend of what one might have encountered in the United States and in India.  Some of the values in Italy where conservative - perhaps more similar to what one would have seen growing up in India and others were clearly more liberal, -influenced by modernization and Western culture”

He was raised in an atmosphere  peace and tranquility with a complete focus on education. Her remembers the Marathi Bhajans playing in the evening at his home with great fondness. This form of music continues to be his favorite.  

A brilliant student, he was admitted to MIT at the young age of 16 where he pursued theoretical physics before changing course and pursuing a career in medicine.  At MIT, he received a doctorate in theoretical physics  after which he attended the Harvard-MIT Program in Health Sciences and Technology and graduated from Harvard Medical School cum laude in 1979.  After clinical training in internal medicine and nephrology at Massachusetts General Hospital, he pursued an immunology fellowship at Stanford.  He was a Howard Hughes investigator at the University of Chicago from 1985 to 1992, after which he was recruited to Harvard.                                      

Sukhatme comes from a very distinguished academic family. “My family is from Maharashtra.  My father was the first person in the family to finish school and he went on to become a distinguished professor at several places including the University of California at Berkeley. Education was a huge deal in the family. My mother became a teacher in a Montessori school. She was also the first person in her family to get a master’s degree.

My father was reasonably well known: he led the statistics division in the Food and Agriculture Organization, the FAO, a branch of the United Nations, which was headquartered in Rome. He went on to receive the Padma Bhushan award from the President of India

My eldest sister is a retired pathologist. My oldest brother   had a distinguished career as a mechanical engineer at IIT Mumbai and went on to become director of the Institute. Another brother is a theoretical physicist and is now the provost of Pace University in New York.”


Sukhatme looks up to his father. “My greatest role model was my father.  He came from a poor family and literally lifted himself and his family from poverty because of the education that he received.   He instilled in us  the value of education.  My mother, who was not the academic type, but had a very clear sense about when things were going well and when things were not, and all of my siblings were very supportive of wanting to see me do well in school.  They also enthusiastically supported my switch from physics to medicine.”

He also shared an inspiring tale about  his grandmother. “My grandmother had several health issues that confined her to the bed. Amazingly she used the time to learn to read and write from kids in the neighborhood wrote a book about Sukhatme’s father’s life. The book “Gele Te Diwas”   has been translated by his sister into English . The book titled “Gone are the days” is available on Amazon.

Sukhatme had a traditional arranged marriage with Vidula who he says is his best friend. He had one brief interview with her in a very traditional way and what truly appealed to him was the similar values they shared especially the value of education. They have two children. Their daughter graduated from medical school and their son in law is a Urologist.  Both son and daughter in law are in the world of Finance.

Dr. Sukhatme has made outstanding contributions in numerous basic science and clinical research arenas, including kidney cancer and in polycystic kidney Disease.  He and his colleagues have elucidated how statins can cause muscle damage. He has collaborated in widely recognized research on how tumors grow a blood supply, on how blood vessels leak in those with serious infections, and on the factors that cause toxemia of pregnancy.  His major current interest is in tumor metabolism and tumor immunology and on “outside-the-box” approaches to therapies for advanced cancer.  Dr. Sukhatme is also active in Harvard-wide, national and international efforts in promoting translational research, especially in the area of “novel translational technologies”.  


“I've had the good fortune of having some wonderful teachers who were truly inspiring role models, among them Victor Weisskopf, a professor of physics at MIT, who taught me to trust one's instincts and go with them,  and Judah Folkman, a distinguished cancer researcher at Harvard Medical School, who taught me to try to think big” says Sukhatme.

The Bhagavad Gita is source of inspirtation for Sukhatme.  Joining  a group focused on Gita and teachings and leanrning about Nitya has been a transformational experience for Sukhatme. It taught him to  focus on the important things in life and taught him to  not take life too seriously
 
“Browsing random books at a book store” is my favorite hobby says Sukhatme. Le Petit Prince is his favorite book. “Dinner with Andre”, “Julie and Julia” and Munnabhai MBBS are his favorite films. Satyajit ray is his favorite director, Meryl Streep his favorite actress and Robin Williams is his favorite actor. Rome continues to be his favorite travel destination.
 
He co-founded a not-for-profit organization, GlobalCures,   goal is to conduct clinical trials on promising therapies not being pursued for lack of financial reward.

“Part of the reason that my wife and I started a nonprofit organization known as GlobalCures (www.global-cures.org) is that we wished to give something back to the community that goes well beyond our immediate surroundings. Developing this organization, which is dedicated to finding new treatments for cancer and other deadly diseases, has been an exhilarating experience” says Sukhatme.

When asked if he would have done anything differently, “I would like to be more organized and have taken decisions quicker” says Sukathme.

His favorite quote is  from the Tao Te Ching – “Along the way to knowledge many things are accumulated, along the way to wisdom many things are discarded”

His message for all is simple “ Always look on the bright side of things; find the best in people and trust them; live life to its fullest at every moment; find and then relentlessly follow your passion and your dreams.”

An inspirational message from a truly inspirational doctor!

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