Mahesh Desai

Early life

Desai acquired his MBBS in 1966 from B.J. Medical College, Ahmedabad and his M.S. in General Surgery from Pune University. In 1973, he received a fellowship from the Royal College of Surgeons of London and Edinburgh, where he obtained specialized training in urology. He returned to India to start his practice and establish the importance of modern treatment for various kidney diseases. In collaboration with Dr. V. V. Desai, he established Muljibhai Patel Urological Hospital (MPUH) at Nadiad, a rural area of Gujarat in India. Mahesh Desai’s aim was to help the common man with adequate medical facilities concerning urological diseases.

Career

He treats patients with techniques such as percutaneous nephrolithotripsy (PCNL), ureteroscopy, and extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL). Desai performed over 14,000 PCNL procedures. Additionally, he expanded the use of ultrasound technology in urology. He also established live kidney transplantation services for the first time in Gujarat. He performed the first renal transplant in Gujarat in 1980. More than 2,100 renal transplants have been carried out successfully at MPUH under his supervision. He also organized the epidemiological survey of prostatic diseases for aging male population in Gujarat.

He is the managing trustee of MPUH and honorary managing director of Muljibhai Patel Society for Research in Nephrology-Urology. He is the medical director at MPUH and a director at Jayaramdas Patel Academic Centre, which is associated with MPUH and offers teaching and training programs for endourology and laparoscopic surgery.

He has held urology and endourology positions both at the national and international levels. He was declared the president of the Society International d’Urologie (SIU) at the 31st World Congress held in Berlin, Germany. He is also the president-elect of The Endourological Society. He is the elected president of the Asian Society of Endourology. He was the president of the Urological Society of India, chairman of the Endourology Education Training Site Committee of Endourology Society Inc, and a member of the International Committee of American Urological Association. Desai is also the first Indian to be honored with membership in the American Association of Genitourinary Surgeons.

Desai created the Centre for Robotic Surgery, a super-specialty initiative of cutting edge technology in the medical field. The Centre for Robotic Surgery has carved a niche for modern treatment, where a robot is used to perform nephro-urological surgeries.

Publications and presentations

Desai has successfully conducted over 160 workshops and conferences in India. He has produced over 750 scientific papers, more than 120 of them in national and international journals. He is a frequent contributor to the Journal of Endourology.

He has presented over 250 lectures and has given talks at national and international seminars and conferences. Under his leadership, the World Congress on Endourology was held in Mumbai in November 2004, the first time that the congress had been held in India. In 2003, he was the first Indian guest lecturer to present a plenary session of American Urological Association's Annual Conference in Chicago.

Honors and awards

Desai has several awards and accolades to his credit, including:

Personal life

Desai is assisted by his wife, Dr. (Mrs.) Nalini Desai (who oversees the accounts and administrative division of MPUH) and his son, urologist Mihir Desai. Mihir Desai is a nationally and internationally recognized expert for robotic, laparoscopic and endourologic surgery.