Tanjore Santhana Krishna Kanaka

Born: 31 March 1932

Died: 14 November 2018

• She, also known as Tanjore Santhana Krishna Kanaka, was Asia’s first female neurosurgeon and one of the world’s first few female neurosurgeons.
• She was the first neurosurgeon in India to perform chronic electrode implants in the brain, having been also the first to perform deep brain stimulation as early as in 1975.
• She pioneered functional neurosurgery in the 1960s and 1970s along with Prof. Balasubramaniam, Prof. S. Kalyanaraman; and received recognition for her research and contributions to the field of stereotactic surgery.
• She served in the Indian Army as a commissioned officer during the 1962-1963 Sino-Indian War.
• She was predominantly associated for most of her career with the Government General Hospital.
• She also taught at the Madras Medical College, Epidemiological Research Centre, Adyar Cancer Institute, Hindu Mission Hospital and other hospitals.
• She worked with several organisations to aid provision of healthcare to economically disadvantaged people, including Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams TTD (Tirumala) for over 30 years.
• She was formerly listed in the Limca Book of Records for the highest number of blood donations by an individual.
• As of 2004 she was noted to have donated blood 139 times.

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