Obituary—Dr. Deepak Narayan Amarapurkar [1959–2017]

August 31, 2017 was indeed a black day for our fraternity since we lost a star amongst us in very tragic circumstances.

Dr. Deepak Narayan Amarapurkar, popularly called as “DNA,” was born in a humble household in Solapur, Maharashtra, on 13 March 1959.

As a brilliant young man, Deepak decided to pursue his graduation in engineering and gained admission in the prestigious Indian Institute of Technology (IIT). However, bowing to the wishes of his father, who wanted him to become a doctor, he changed tracks and joined V M Medical College in Solapur from where he completed MBBS, and postgraduation (MD) in medicine. Being a super achiever, he wanted to pursue his super specialization and moved to Mumbai. After some struggle, he was selected for DM in Gastroenterology at the Topiwala National Medical College and BYL Nair Hospital.

He endeared himself to all by his clinical acumen, sincerity, and hard work. One of his many strengths was his internal medicine knowledge and application, which was par excellence. He was a workaholic and expected a high level of commitment and dedication from his colleagues as well as students. He would get annoyed at any lapses and was forever the “angry young man” in the department and hospital.

After his DM, Dr. Amarapurkar continued in the Department of Gastroenterology at BYL Nair Hospital as a lecturer and subsequently as an Associate Professor. He always had a very good balance of dividing his time and energy between clinical work and academic pursuits. During his postdoctoral tenure, he did extensive research and published many articles in various national and international journals. He gained recognition not only from his peers in India but also from abroad. In fact, for his research work presented at the Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Gastroenterology, he was given the “Young Investigator Award” on two occasions, which is very uncommon.

Many of us may not be aware that Dr. Amarapurkar was instrumental in starting the advanced endoscopy unit at BYL Nair Hospital and during his tenure, it was performing the maximum number of therapeutic endoscopy procedures including ERCPs in Mumbai.

Over a decade later, Dr. Amarapurkar continued his career at the Bombay Hospital. Even though he joined private practice, his academic pursuits continued. He had by then made a niche for himself as a hepatologist. His main research and clinical interests were focused on hepatitis B and C, NAFLD, and hepatocellular carcinoma.

He was very active in our national societies serving as a Treasurer, Secretary and Vice President of the Indian National Association for Study of the Liver. Internationally, he was honored by the fellowship of American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association, and American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases. He also served on the editorial boards of Journal of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, World Journal of Gastroenterology, and Euroasian Journal of Hepato-Gastroenterology. In recognition of his work, he was selected as a member of the Asia Pacific consensus panel on management of hepatitis C and B, NAFLD, and hepatocellular carcinoma.

Over the years, Dr. Amarapurkar had delivered nine prestigious orations. He had presented over 300 research papers and authored over 400 publications. He had authored and edited several books as well.

Over the last few years, Dr. Amarapurkar pioneered and very ably co-hosted two excellent annual meetings, Best of DDW and Best of AASLD, which was attended as an annual ritual for many of us.

One of the fruits of becoming a doctor is the love and respect that one gets from one’s patients. Many of his patients have beautiful stories to tell about his clinical skills and compassion as a doctor. For his innumerable patients, he co-authored a book on Care of Patients with Cirrhosis.

Besides his zeal for gastroenterology, he had a penchant for reading non-fiction books. He also had a great interest in the lives of noble laureates. In fact, just a couple of days before he left us, he visited Shanti Niketan in Kolkata, the abode of Rabindranath Tagore. He had imbibed qualities of these great men in his life, because of which he became a star amongst us.

The passing away of Dr. Amarapurkar has left a huge void which can never be filled. He has left an indelible mark in time. Dr. Amarapukar leaves behind his wife Anjali, who besides being his life partner, also partnered him in many research projects, his sister Manisha who was like a twin sister, daughter Pooja, and son Rohan.

On behalf of his colleagues, friends, students, and well-wishers, we pray Dr. Deepak Amarapurker’s soul to rest in eternal peace.