Darab Kersasp Dastur specialized in neuropathology, neurohistology and the ultrastructure of body tisssues. He obtained his MD in 1952 and his DSc in 1970 from the University of Bombay. He was the Director of the Department of Neuropathology and Applied Biology in Bombay Hospital. Besides, he was Officer-in-Charge, Neuropathology Unit, ICMR, JJ Hospitals, Mumbai from 1961 to 1964 and later, Professor of Neuropathology, Grant Medical College and JJ Group of Hospitals, Mumbai from 1964 to 1981.

Academic and Research Achievements: Dastur made contributions in such areas as the condition of nerve and muscle in leprosy, of the brain and cord in tuberculosis, the cerebral blood flow and metabolism in ageing, pathology of brain tumours, and that of nerve and muscle in malnutrition in children and adults. His major works were on viral encephalitis, metabolic and inherited disorders, experimental neurotoxicology, myocardium in rheumatic heart disease, lung in tropical eosinophilia, and automatic disorders of intestine.

Other Contributions: Darab Kersasp represented India on the International Society of Neuropathology (1968-87) and was a Member of its executive council (1988-91). He was a Member of the 1989 WHO Group on Revised Classification of Brain Tumours. He had edited three books, including Tuberculosis of the Nervous System (sponsored by WHO and NAMS) and Neurological Sciences: An Overview of Current Problems.

Awards and Honours: Darab Kersasp Dastur was the recipient of a number of lectureships including the KT Dholakia Prize Lecture (Indian Orthopaedic Society, 1979) the Graeme Robertson Memorial Lecture (Australian Association of Neurologists, 1979), the Menino De’Souza Oration (Bombay Medical Society, 1980) and the Ramamurthi Oration (Neurological Society of India, 1983). He received the Basanti Devi Amirchand Prize (1981) and the Rameshwardas Birla Smarak Kosh National Award. He was a Fellow at the Royal College of Pathologists (London) and the National Academy of Medical Sciences (India) as well as being a Founder Fellow of the Indian Academy of Neurosciences and the President of the Neurological Society of India.