Prof. M Durairaj

Dr. M Durairaj

Cardiologist and Founder and Chairman of the Marian Cardiac Centre and Research Foundation, Pune

Dr. M. Durairaj is a Cardiologist and Founder and Chairman of the Marian Cardiac Centre and Research Foundation in Pune, India. He has held numerous teaching positions and was till recently the Professor and Chairman of the Academic Department of Cardiology at Grant Medical Foundation in Pune. He is a Founding Member, Fellow and Former President of the Indian College of Cardiology.

As an exceptionally gifted clinician, researcher and teacher, Dr. Durairaj has earned an international reputation in the field of Cardiology. He is one of the few cardiologists today who practices cardiology in all its dimensions from clinical to interventional techniques. He has been both the Honorary Physician to three Presidents of India as well as a doctor who reaches out to the marginalized patients in the remote and rural areas of his country.
Professor Manuel Durairaj, MD, DM, FACC, is well known not only in India but also in other countries such asthe Middle East from where he draws a large number of patients.

He graduated from Madurai Medical College in 1962 and began his career as a medical officer in the Indian Army Medical Corps during the Indo-China War in the mid- 1960’s. In 1969 he completed his Internal Medicine specialization at the University of Pune. His thesis was entitled, “Significance of Tall Precordial T-Waves,” which included 8,600 cases. He later successfully completed the super specialty training at Christian Medical College in Vellore and received DM post-doctoral degree in Cardiology in 1975. After a brief stint at the Army Hospital Delhi, Dr. Durairaj returned to the Military Hospital Cardiothoracic Centre at Pune. He immersed himself both in the care of cardiac patients and in teaching undergraduate and graduate students at the Armed Forces Medical College.

By 1980 he had successfully established the Department of Cardiology at MH (CTC), Pune and taken it to the highest academic level as a training centre for the University of Pune with Dr. Durairaj was the first Professor and Chairman of Examinations in Pune University for DM Cardiology. He has been an examiner and selection board member for cardiology at the national level. Throughout his career Dr. Durairaj has been committed to furthering scientific research in cardiology.

He made great strides in improving cardiac therapy in India including some of the first pacemaker implantations in the mid-1970’s. He has received the E. Merck Award for his original research in Cardiac conduction and the Dr. J. N. Berry Memorial Award for identifying the beneficial effects of after-load reduction in aortic regurgitation. He was recognized by the Cardiological Society of India for his contributions to the treatment and follow up of patients with prosthetic heart valves. In 1983 he delivered the Warner Heart Oration and received a Gold Medal from the CSI for this contribution. He has also delivered the Searle Heart Oration, the Dr. K. S. Sadaksarappa Presidential Oration and many other significant orations.

In addition to being a former PRESIDENT OF INDIAN COLLEGE OF CARDIOLOGY, Dr. Durairaj is a member of numerous professional associations. He is a Fellow of the American College of Cardiology, and a Fellow of the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Intervention. He has published nearly 110 research papers and contributed to textbooks and has been an associate Editor of the Journal of Association of Physicians of India.

Dr. Durairaj continues to treat numerous less-privileged patients through his NGO Marian Cardiac Centre and Research Foundation in Pune, India.