Pioneer in IVF research, Dr Baidyanath Chakrabarty, dies at age 94

Dr Baidyanath Chakrabarty, one of India’s pioneers in IVF research, died on Friday at the age of 94 after a prolonged illness, the hospital where he was admitted said.

He was undergoing treatment at the Salt Lake hospital since mid-March after a massive cardiac arrest, it said.

He had also contracted pneumonia, it added. ”He was diagnosed with several illnesses, most of which were age-related. He breathed his last in the morning,” an official of the hospital said.

Dr Chakrabarty founded the Institute of Reproductive Medicine (IRM) in 1986 for artificial insemination research. He handed it over to the ICMR in 2019.

His body was brought to his residence in the afternoon. From there, it was taken to his old clinic on CIT Road where people paid their last respects.

Expressing grief, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said that his death caused irreparable damage to the medical and research world.

”He was a pioneer in the field of IVF or artificial insemination research and treatment in India. The Institute of Reproductive Medicine, founded by this veteran physician, has helped countless childless couples to have children,” she said in a statement.

The state government had given him a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2019.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a process in which an egg is combined with sperm in vitro or in an artificial environment.