Leaders in the fields of dentistry, neuroscience and subsea engineering honoured in the New Year list
India January 18, 2017: Three leading experts from Newcastle University have been recognised for their work in the 2017 New Year’s Honours list.
Neurosurgeon Professor Robin Sengupta, engineer Dr Tony Trapp, and Peter Heasman, Professor of Periodontology in the School of Dental Sciences, have all been honoured.
In recognition of his services to people with neurological disease in the UK and India, Prof Sengupta has been awarded an OBE. Working in the NHS for 51-years, mostly in the North East, he received an Honorary Doctor of Medicine from Newcastle University last year.
A leading figure in neurovascular neurosurgery, he pioneered a brain aneurysm operation which brought him referrals from around the UK and internationally. His vision for delivering high quality, affordable healthcare to people in Kolkata, India, saw him establish a neurological centre which rapidly became the best single specialty hospital in India for service, teaching postgraduate students and research in the field of neurology, neurosurgery and neuro-psychiatry.
But disappointed by the limited opportunities available to manage Kolkata’s poorest people affected by neurological illness, Mr Sengupta set up the Institute of Neurosciences-Kolkata. This hospital was built with donations from around the world and he has given most of his life-savings to this project.
Speaking last year at the degree ceremony, Professor Sengupta said: “Where we are born, or what challenges we are born with, is beyond our control but we are responsible for our own destiny.”
