In 2022, Professor Prokar Dasgupta was awarded the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honours, by the President of India. To mark the award, The Indian Practitioner published a profile of his 30-year career in research and surgical innovation. This article summarises the highlights of The Indian Practitioner profile, from his early years to his plans for the future.
Early life and training
Professor Dasgupta was born in the steel city of Rourkela, in Odisha. Some of his fondest childhood memories are of time at his mother's family home in Lucknow, flying kites on the rooftops for hours with his family. He completed his medical education at Medical College Calcutta in 1989.
His grandfather, also a doctor, influenced his choice of career. While at medical school, he hoped to study immunology at Harvard, but his chief believed he had "the hands of a surgeon" and nudged him towards surgery.
Moving into urology
His scientific career began with research into the immunology of leishmaniasis, a parasitic infection, linked to the role of removing the spleen in patients who did not respond to drugs. Around the same time, the arrival of a lithotripter in Kolkata, which could break kidney stones without open surgery, showed him how exciting urology could be.
In the UK, he completed a research doctorate at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, followed by specialist urology training at Guy's Hospital and the Institute of Urology. He joined Guy's as a Consultant Urologist in 2002 and pioneered robotic surgery in urology there. Later roles included Editor-in-Chief of the British Journal of Urology International and, from 2020, the first Professor of Surgery at King's Health Partners. His roles and background page gives the full picture.
Three guiding principles
Professor Dasgupta follows three simple principles:
- never be afraid to dream big
- always do your best without worrying about outcomes
- always support and learn from others around you
He credits three pioneers with inspiring his move into robotic surgery: the late John Wickham, Louis Kavoussi of Johns Hopkins, with whom he performed an early tele-robotics trial, and Mani Menon, who developed and popularised robotic surgery for prostate cancer.
Notable achievements
As a Medical Research Council research fellow, he studied nerve fibres in the overactive bladder and described injections of botulinum toxin under local anaesthetic. The method became known as the Dasgupta technique and is used worldwide.
In 2005, he led one of the first robotic keyhole operations in Britain to remove a kidney for transplantation. Ten years later, he used a 3D-printed replica of a patient's prostate to guide cancer surgery. He also helped establish the Prostate Cancer Research Centre at King's College London and led the first randomised trial of robotic simulation across 15 nations. His achievements page lists these and other milestones, and our robotic prostatectomy page explains the operation he helped introduce.
Work during the pandemic
During COVID-19, he helped bring the Life Lines project, which used tablets to connect families with relatives in intensive care, to AIIMS Rishikesh in India. He has also described how his team adapted, using teleconsultations and remote learning while surgical activity fell sharply.
Honours
Alongside the Padma Shri, he received the St Peter's Medal from the British Association of Urological Surgeons in 2020 and the King James IV Professorship from the Royal College of Surgeons of Edinburgh.
Looking ahead
His main focus is surgical data science, using methods such as video labelling, image guidance, haptics, augmented reality and machine learning to improve outcomes and training. With industry partners, he has also pioneered ultra-low latency communication for remote robotic surgery, known as the Internet of Skills.
Outside work, he describes himself as a tennis fanatic, has completed several marathons and is, in his own words, a reasonable cook. His biography gives a fuller account of his career.
To arrange a consultation with Professor Dasgupta, please contact the clinic.