The IAP-ID congratulates and welcomes Lt. General J. R. Bhardwaj, the new President, and Dr. Kusum Joshi, the new Council Member, who were elected at the Annual Meeting held at the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, on 22 nd November 2004. For the benefit of the members their brief biodata is given below:

Lt. General J. R. BHARDWAJ

Currently the Director General Armed Forces Medical Services and President's Honorary Surgeon, Lt. General J. R. Bhardwaj is an alumunus of the Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi. He was commissioned in the Army Medical Corps on 1 st January 1965.

He did his diploma in Clinical Pathology in 1968 and MD in Pathology in 1974 from the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. He did his advanced training in Histopathology and obtained PhD in Neuropathology from PGIMER Chandigarh in 1984.

He has headed many research projects and has authored more than 50 papers, which have been published in various indexed journals. He was the Chief Editor of "Laboratory Manual for the Armed Forces". For excellence in academics and research he has been bestowed the prestigious Lt. Gen. R S Hoon & Air Marshal Ajit Nath awards and Maj Gen Amir Chand Gold Medal on 6 occasions.

Lt Gen J R Bhardwaj has over 29 years of experience in teaching including as Professor & Head of Department of Pathology at both Armed Forces Medical College, Pune, and Army Hospital (Research & Referral), Delhi. He is a graduate and postgraduate examiner for University of Delhi, Pune, Rohtak, Indore and Bangalore.

He has held important administrative appointments. As Commandant Armed Forces Medical Stores Depot Delhi, he was responsible for provisioning and supplying drugs and medical equipment to nearly 50 Armed Forces Hospitals and other medical establishments in the Northern and Western sector. His success in providing logistic support during the Kargil conflict were amply recognized by the President of India and he was awarded the "Vishisht Seva Medal" in the year 2000.

After promotion to the rank of Maj General he was posted, as Additional Director Armed Forces Medical Services where he was closely involved in medical manpower management of Armed Forces constituting more than 120 hospitals from primary to tertiary care and teaching institutions. As Director General Hospital Services (Armed Forces) he was largely responsible for the modernization of service hospitals. He was conferred "Ati Vishisht Seva Medal" in 2002. He assumed the coveted appointment of Director General Armed Forces Medical Services on 1 st February 2004. He has also been appointed as the President's Honary Surgeon.

Lt. General Bhardwaj is on the panel of experts in the discipline of Pathology at the UPSC, Government of India. He is an inspector for the Medical Council of India. He is a life member, and currently the President, of the Indian Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists, member of Neurological Society and President of Indian Society for Hospital Waste Management. He is a member of the Governing Council of National Board of Examinations, New Delhi, Governing Body of ICMR, Governing Body of Indian Spinal Injuries Centre, member of the core group of International Congress of Military Medicine and Asia Pacific Military Medicine Congress. He is a member of the Screen Committee of Ministry of Health & Family Welfare. He is also advisor to the Honarable Raksha Mantri (Defence Minister).

Dr. KUSUM JOSHI

Prof. Kusum Joshi was born on 5th August 1948 and graduated from All India Institute of Medical Sciences in 1971. She passed MD (Pathology) from the same Institute in 1975. She also obtained the degree of Ph.D (Pathology) from the University of London, having worked at the Institute of cancer Research, Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton, UK, as a commonwealth medical scholar.

She joined as a Lecturer in Department of Pathology Medical College, Rohtak briefly, from where she shifted to the prestigious Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh in February, 1981. She was selected as a Professor in 1993 and currently heads the Department of Histopathology since 2001.

Prof. Joshi is a keen diagnostician, teacher and research worker. She specialises in renal and breast pathology for both diagnostic and research work. She has published approximately 180 papers, and her landmark publications on cell kinetics of the constituent cells of the mammary epithelium are widely quoted in many referral and text books. Prof Joshi has been a visiting professor at the Institute of Medicine, Kathmandu and Department of Life Sciences, University of Liverpool. She has contributed to formulating the course curriculum for MD (Pathology) with MCI and BP Koirala Institute of Medical Sciences, Dharan. She has been an examiner for MD Pathology and NBE at several places. She has also contributed widely to various committees of the Indian Council of Medical Research.