Jyoti Patil Shah is a patient-advocacy and social-sector leader who serves as Chief Executive Officer of V Care Foundation, a Mumbai-based organization dedicated to providing medical, financial, emotional, and practical support to people affected by cancer and their families. V Care was founded in 1994 by cancer survivor Vandana Gupta and has evolved over three decades into a patient-support organization working closely with cancer patients, caregivers, healthcare professionals, and institutions. The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai’s 2025 NGO Directory also lists Jyoti Patil Shah as the organization’s chairman/CEO and identifies V Care’s areas of work as cancer care and patient welfare.

Ms. Shah’s association with V Care goes back to 2008, when she joined the organization as a program manager working on a patient-assistance program for Pfizer. Over the years, she assumed progressively wider responsibilities covering program management, administration, patient advocacy, and organizational operations. In December 2019, she was appointed Chief Operating Officer, with responsibility for the overall operations of V Care in India. V Care’s 2019–20 annual report describes her as having 15 years of professional experience at that point and highlights her empathy, understanding of patients, and commitment to the organization as important qualities behind her elevation. She subsequently progressed to the CEO role.

Her professional mission is strongly centered on the principle that cancer care must extend beyond medical treatment. Under her leadership, V Care’s work encompasses emotional support, counselling, reliable information, financial assistance, patient navigation, awareness, and education. The organization describes its purpose as providing “care, hope, awareness, and education” to cancer patients and their families, with interventions designed to help patients face the challenges of cancer with greater confidence and dignity.

Ms. Shah has developed particular expertise in patient advocacy and psychosocial support. The International Kidney Cancer Coalition previously profiled her as a patient advocate and V Care COO, noting that she managed patient advocates and project staff and worked to fulfill the organization’s mission of supporting and educating cancer patients and caregivers. Her work has included engagement with disease-specific communities and international patient-advocacy networks, reflecting an understanding of the practical challenges patients face in navigating complex cancer-care systems.

Education and awareness are another important dimension of her leadership. In 2025 and 2026, she participated as a resource person in cancer-awareness programs, discussing cancer types, warning signs, risk factors, prevention, screening, and the importance of early diagnosis. In a July 2026 program organized by Nirmala Institute of Education, she addressed educators and students on cancer prevention and early detection, while emphasizing lifestyle-related risk factors and the value of regular health checks.

Her academic background combines psychology and counselling, providing a useful foundation for her patient-centered work. She holds a master’s degree in industrial psychology and a postgraduate diploma in school counselling, in addition to a graduate qualification in psychology. Before joining V Care, she worked as a school counsellor, where she addressed challenges faced by children from marginalized backgrounds and conducted workshops for parents and teachers. Her earlier counselling experience subsequently informed her approach to supporting patients and families dealing with the emotional and social dimensions of cancer.

As CEO, Ms. Shah is helping V Care build on its three-decade legacy while adapting its programs to the changing needs of cancer patients. The organization currently reports having supported more than 35 lakh patients, caregivers, survivors, and communities through its various patient-care programs, with activities extending beyond Mumbai to locations including Kolhapur, Varanasi, Chandigarh, Punjab, Silchar, Goa, Belgaum, and Ratnagiri. Its programs include financial assistance and other forms of practical and emotional support, particularly for patients from lower- and middle-income communities.

Her leadership is therefore defined by a combination of patient advocacy, counselling, organisational development, cancer awareness and community-based support. From joining V Care in a program-management role to leading the organization as CEO, Jyoti Patil Shah has built her professional journey around ensuring that cancer patients and their families have someone to turn to beyond the hospital and the treatment room. Her broader contribution lies in strengthening the patient-support ecosystem and advancing a model of cancer care in which compassion, information, financial assistance, dignity, and sustained human support are considered integral to the healthcare journey.