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Vimla Virmani

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Vimla Virmani
An older South Asian woman, wearing glasses.
Vimla Virmani, from a 1999 obituary notice.
Born12 April 1919
Lyallpur (now Faisalabad)
DiedNovember 1999
Other namesVimala Virmani
OccupationNeurologist

Vimla Virmani (12 April 1919 – November 1999), also seen as Vimala Virmani, was an Indian neurologist. In 1978, she became the first woman to serve as president of the Neurological Society of India.

Early life

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Virmani was born in Lyallpur (now Faisalabad, Pakistan), the daughter of Hakim Rai.[1] She was educated at home. She earned a master's degree in psychology by taking classes informally at the Forman Christian College in Lahore.[2] She attended Khalsa College in Amritsar and earned a medical degree at Grant Medical College. She pursued further studies on a year's fellowship in London in 1961 and 1962.[3]

Career

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Virmani was a researcher with the Indian Council of Medical Research,[1] and practiced as a neurologist at Lady Hardinge Medical College and Hospital.[4] She was a professor of neurology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) from 1964, and head of the neurology department from 1975 to 1979.[5][6] She was a visiting professor of neurology at the Neurological Institute in Montreal in 1969 and 1970,[1] at Banaras Hindu University in 1973,[1] and at Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology (SCTIMST) in 1979.[3] Her research ranged widely in subjects, but often involved neuromuscular dysfunction[7] and spinal muscular atrophy.[8]

In 1978, Virmani became the first woman to serve as president of the Neurological Society of India.[2] She was a founding member of the Delhi Neurological Group, a precursor of the Delhi Neurological Association.[9] In 1975, she attended the Asian and Oceanian Congress of Neurology in Bangkok, and was national advisor to the WHO/IAMS Seminar on Epilepsy in Bangalore.[10] She was named a fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh in 1976.[4]

Personal life

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Virmani died in 1999, aged 80 years.[2] The Vimla Virmani Award is a bronze medal and a cash prize given annually by the National Academy of Medical Sciences "for outstanding work in the field of physical and/or psychosociological rehabilitation of neurologically and/or mentally afflicted subjects".[11] Among the recipients of the Vimla Virmani Award have been M. V. Padma Srivastava[12] and Manas Kumar Mandal.[13]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Chattopadhyay, Anjana (2018). Women Scientists in India: Lives, Struggles & Achievements. National Book Trust, India. pp. 444–445. ISBN 978-81-237-8144-0.
  2. ^ a b c Nair, K. Rajasekharan (1999). "Obituary: Vimla Virmani" (PDF). National Medical Journal of India. 13: 155.
  3. ^ a b Nair, K. R. "Prof. Vimla Virmani" Neurological Society of India.
  4. ^ a b "V. Virmani" (PDF). Journal of the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh. 32: 70–71. 2002.
  5. ^ Tondon, P. N. (2020-04-01). Closed Doors Open Windows - My Autobiography: My Autobiography. Wolters kluwer india Pvt Ltd. pp. 148, 170. ISBN 978-93-89335-32-3.
  6. ^ Srivastava, MadakasiraVasantha Padma; Dash, Deepa (2015). "History of neurology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences". Neurology India. 63 (5): 751–761. doi:10.4103/0028-3886.166553. ISSN 0028-3886. PMID 26448236.
  7. ^ Ashok, P.P.; Sapru, R.P.; Radhakrishnan, V.V.; Virmani, Vimla (April 1982). "Skeletal muscle involvement in tropical endomyocardial fibrosis". Journal of the Neurological Sciences. 54 (1): 1–12. doi:10.1016/0022-510x(82)90214-3. ISSN 0022-510X. PMID 7077351. S2CID 41510053.
  8. ^ Virmani, Vimala; Mohan, P. K. (1985). "Non-familial, spinal segmental muscular atrophy in juvenile and young subjects". Acta Neurologica Scandinavica. 72 (3): 336–340. doi:10.1111/j.1600-0404.1985.tb00880.x. ISSN 1600-0404. PMID 4061054. S2CID 35095836.
  9. ^ "Official Website of Delhi Neurological Association - DNA Delhi". DNADELHI. Retrieved 2020-11-05.
  10. ^ All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (1975). Report. p. 151.
  11. ^ NAMS (India), Orations and Awards, 2017-2018.
  12. ^ Disha Experts (2017-08-05). The PADMA ACHIEVERS 2016. Disha Publications. p. 152. ISBN 978-93-85846-64-9.
  13. ^ Mandal, Manas K.; Awasthi, Avinash (2014-10-10). Understanding Facial Expressions in Communication: Cross-cultural and Multidisciplinary Perspectives. Springer. pp. xi. ISBN 978-81-322-1934-7.