Dr. Rajendra Kapila, an infectious disease expert at Rutgers University, recently visited India due to his father-in-law’s poor health. He got infected with COVID-19 and died April 28 in India.
Kapila, who was known for his extensive works on HIV-AIDS, was 81 years of age, reported the Hindustan Times.
He and his wife Dr Deepti Saxena Kapila had got both doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the US. The couple had returned to India in March and stayed in Ghaziabad. He was supposed to return to the US in the second week of April but had to be hospitalized in Delhi after testing positive for Covid.
After completing his MBBS from Maulana Azad Medical College, University of Delhi, Dr. Kapila pursued his MD from College of Medical Sciences, Guru Teg Bahadur Hospital in 1964.
His profile on the Rutgers University website mentions that Kapila was an intern, resident and fellow at the Martland Hospital in Newark, New Jersey. He was also the assistant chief of medicine for the US Army in Okinawa, Japan, during the Vietnam conflict and a founding member of the New Jersey Infectious Disease Society.
Dr Kapila, who trained many people in the field of HIV-AIDS and practised at the Rutgers University for 50 years, was bestowed with the Excellence in Teaching Award from University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ). Many famous Indian doctors, who were trained by him, too remembered him with great fondness.
His friends were saddened by his passing and are in disbelief as to how quickly he passed away.
