Dr. Shiv Kumar Sarin is one of India’s most eminent hepatologists, medical educators, and public health leaders, currently serving as senior professor and head of the Department of Hepatology and chancellor at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS). Widely regarded as a pioneer in liver disease research and clinical hepatology, he has played a transformational role in shaping both India’s liver care ecosystem and its broader medical education and public health policies.

With an illustrious career spanning over four decades, Dr. Sarin is best known for conceptualizing and establishing ILBS as India’s first dedicated super-specialty institute for liver and biliary sciences, developed under the Government of Delhi as a teaching hospital and deemed university. Under his leadership, ILBS has evolved into a global center of excellence and a WHO Collaborating Centre for liver diseases and viral hepatitis, setting benchmarks in clinical care, research, and training.

A globally respected clinician-scientist, Dr. Sarin has made pathbreaking contributions to hepatology, including the identification of new disease entities such as acute-on-chronic liver failure and portal biliopathy and the development of widely adopted treatment protocols for liver diseases, cirrhosis, and hepatitis. His research output includes more than 800 scientific publications, multiple books, and international clinical guidelines that have influenced liver disease management worldwide.

His impact extends beyond clinical medicine into national health policy and education reform. As former Chairman of the Board of Governors of the Medical Council of India, he was instrumental in shaping transformative reforms such as NEET and the proposed NEXT examination system. He has also played a key role in major public health initiatives, including the National Viral Hepatitis Control Programme and India’s early hepatitis B vaccination efforts, as well as integrating liver diseases into national non-communicable disease strategies.

Dr. Sarin’s contributions have been recognized with some of the highest honors in science and medicine, including the Padma Bhushan, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, and the TWAS International Award. He has also held leadership positions in major global and regional medical bodies, including serving as president of the Asian Pacific Association for the Study of the Liver and the National Academy of Medical Sciences, India.

Through his pioneering research, institution building, and policy leadership, Dr. Shiv Kumar Sarin continues to shape the future of hepatology and public health in India, driving innovations that improve liver care, medical education, and healthcare delivery at both national and global levels.