Dr. Madhusudan Mohanlal Desai.

D M. M. Desai was born in Surat, Gujarat, on 10th June 1919. His father, Shri Mohanlal Desai was an eminent lawyer and a corporator of Bombay (Mumbai) Municipal Corporation for many years; his mother Viravati was a homemaker. Dr. Desai studied at Elphinstone school and Elphinstone College, Mumbai, before joining Seth G. S. Medical College, Mumbai. The decision to study medicine was made by his father (as was the case with careers of his three brothers also). On obtaining MBBS and MD degrees, Dr. Desai proceeded to England and obtained MRCP, London. He then spent one year at a New York hospital, USA. He was a trained acupuncturist. Dr . Desa i jo ined Nair Hospi ta l , Mumbai in the year 1952 as an assistant H o n o r a r y a n d r o s e t o b e c o m e a n Honorary Physician. He was in fact a cardiologist who became interested in rheumatic diseases. Realising the need for a separate department to treat patients with rheumatic diseases, he along with Dr. Gaitonde, orthopaedic surgeon at Nair Hospital, initiated the process. The permission to start the Department of Rheumatic and Collagen diseases was granted in 1959. The two conducted a combined c l inic . I t was the very first rheumatology clinic of its kind in India. It provided medical, orthopaedic, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy services. Dr. Desai was actively involved in the growth and spread of rheumatology as a specialty. He was an active member of national and international organisations and contributed significantly to the growth of the special i ty . His most important contribution was the founding of Indian Rheumatism Association (now Indian Rheumatology Association [IRA]) in the year 1964. He was its founding President. For him, IRA was his baby and he nurtured it with special interest. The first national conference of IRA was *Director, **Research Administrator, Research Department, P. D. Hinduja National Hospital and MRC, Veer Savarkar Marg, Mahim, Mumbai 400 016 Pioneers in rheumatology