Renowned Tiruchy doctor among Delhi fire victims

TIRUCHY: Renowned dental surgeon and stem cell therapy specialist Dr Sankaranarayanan of Tiruchy was among the 17 victims in the Delhi hotel blaze on Tuesday. 

Sankaranarayanan (55), a consultant dental and oral laser surgeon, was also a pioneer in stem cell therapy in the country. He was in Delhi for a meeting with government officials on freezing dry plasma and had put up in Hotel Arpit Palace in Karol Bagh. Sankaranarayanan died of suffocation, as his room was filled with smoke. His family received the news on  Tuesday and rushed to Delhi where they identified the body. His mortal remains will be brought to Chennai for final rituals.

Dr Avinash, who worked closely with  Sankaranarayanan in stem cell research, said, “He along with his colleague V R Ravi presented a proposal on freeze-dried plasma before Defence Minister Nirmala Seetharaman during her visit to Tiruchy in March. The project is for dried plasma to be used to stem bleeding in soldiers on the battlefield. For the project, he along with his colleagues went to Delhi on Monday to meet various officials. His death is a great loss for us.”