Abstract
It is with deep sorrow that I write this obituary for my friend and colleague Dr MV Ashok.
Dr. MV Ashok was a Professor of Psychiatry at St. John’s Medical College Hospital (SJMCH), Bangalore, and Head, Centre for Advanced Research and Excellence in Autism and Developmental Disorders (CARE-ADD). He was MD from NIMHANS and worked and developed child mental health services at SJMCH from 1994 onwards. He also worked as a Consultant Psychiatrist, at Sheffield Care Trust, UK, and Senior Clinical Lecturer, Academic Department of Psychiatry, University of Sheffield in 2003-2005. He was the chairperson of the Institute Ethics Committee (Behavioural Sciences) at NIMHANS, Bangalore.
He created an excellent multidisciplinary team at SJMCH for Children with Special Needs, called Unit of Hope. He was deeply engaged in research and training. The CARE-ADD was a coveted project with a focus on many aspects of Autism and Developmental Disorders, including early Intervention models, genetics, electrophysiology and play behaviors and public health.
He was a keen researcher and educationist. He started a one-year Fellowship in Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at SJMCH under the Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences in 2020. He was the teaching faculty in the IACAM Academy certificate course in child psychiatry for general psychiatrists. He was actively involved in undergraduate and post-graduate psychiatry training. As Chairperson, of the Research Capacity Building Committee of the IPS-SZ, he conducted online weekly research training programs for Psychiatrists.
He was closely associated with the functioning of the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health almost from the time of its inception, contributing in various capacities from time to time. He was an excellent human being, a thorough gentle man, always eager to help and contribute in whatever capacity needed. His contributions in the areas of child and adolescent psychiatry and psychiatry education have been exemplary. His premature departure has left a great void in the field of psychiatry and child psychiatry. He will be missed by his patients, colleagues and friends alike for a long time to come.
I, on behalf of the Indian Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health (IACAM) and my own personal behalf, convey our deepest condolences to his wife and family. His vision and unfinished work will remain a guiding light in the field of psychiatry, child psychiatry and IACAM.