Dr. Sudip Shrestha, MD
Sr. Consultant Medical Oncologist || Founder Executive Chairman || www.drsudip.com.np
Nepal Cancer Hospital and Research Center Pvt. Ltd.
+977-1-5533493 (R) || +977- 9801141004 || [email protected], [email protected] || [email protected] (personal)

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sudip_Shrestha10

Executive summary

Despite having numerous other medical fields for establishing my career, oncology always spoke to me both academically and professionally. My postdoctoral training in medical oncology in India further exposed me to the endless possibilities in cancer care and research. This experience positioned me to identify the potential for the oncology scene in my home country, Nepal, upon returning from my postdoctoral and inspired me to have a meaningful impact. After broadening my experience, I narrowed my focus to five major problem areas in oncology - all of which speak to my experiences and achievement across my career. They are as follows:

1. Need of academic activities, 
2. Need of palliative care services, 
3. Lack of support groups, professional bodies, social workers and philanthropists, 
4. Working more closely with the communities, patients and families understanding their issues and problems.
5. Establishment of Comprehensive Cancer Institute as a center of excellence in the country.
6.  

My goal through my work with my patients and endeavours is to ensure quality and safe treatment in Nepal, and decrease the flow of patients abroad for cancer treatment.

Career Highlights

• Contributed in the development  of Bhaktapur cancer hospital, the 2^nd cancer hospital in Nepal as Senior faculty as well as head of the institute (Medical Director for two tenure). 
• Established and oversaw a cancer care center in Om Hospital and Research Center as the hospital’s Chief Coordinator and Consultant Medical Oncologist.
• Actively engaged in organizing cancer prevention activities including nation-wide awareness and screening programmes organized in partnership with Nepal Cancer Relief Society, Nepal Cancer support group ( Founder President)
• Led significant efforts to increase prominence and awareness of palliative care services in Nepal in partnership with international organizations such as INCTR (International Network of Cancer Treatment and Research, Belgium) in the capacity of Coordinator for palliative care development in Nepal , American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) as a member of an expert panel charged with the development of a Resource Stratified Guideline on Palliative Care in Global Settings and SAARC Federation of Oncologist Nepal (SFO-N) in the capacity of Executive member and Scientific committee coordinator, Asian Clinical Oncology Society (ACOS) as a Council Member representing Nepal. 

• Ultimately, played an instrumental and Lead role to establish following organizations and institutes in the country which has been a Landmark in the history of development of Oncology Services  in Nepal:   

• Nepalese Palliative Care Association (NAPCare 2009) acting as the Founder President (2009) and , Vice President (2010-2012) and  Executive president (2012-2014). Currently this organization is working closely with the Government of Nepal to develop Palliative care services  in Nepal at policy level and also helping out in training of  manpower in palliative care. 

• Nepal Cancer Support group ( NCSG 2010- present) as a Founder President. Currently the organization is very active in numerous community based activities in cancer prevention and also active in cancer patients and families in different  ways. 

• Nepal Cancer Hospital and Research Center : The Institute is  worth 15 million USD ) is  state of the art cancer treatment facilities located in Lalitpur Nepal,with the aim to revolutionize cancer treatment in Nepal, for the very 1^st time through the private sector; Decreased the outflow of cancer patients seeking treatment abroad significantly. This hospital has become a Project of National pride and was inaugurated by the President of State.  This Hospital  is my dream project and currently involved as Founder and Executive chairman.  The motto of the center is to provide quality care hence the slogan of the hospital is “ Care with Excellence” to Achieve this Under my leadership, introduced for the first time in Nepal:  

• Establishment of “Clinical Governance and Quality Control Department" in the hospital directly under my supervision: The aim of this department is to establish the concept and culture of  Clinical Governance  in the organization. To start the culture of Clinical audit as a part of continuous quality improvement. At the same time the department is also responsible to work for quality accreditation currently working to get ISO 9001:2015 and NABH and NABL accreditation. 
• For safety purpose: started Chemotherapy delivery as accordance with OSHA guidelines. 
• for Safety purposes: Clinical pharmacology service along with pharmaco-vigilance unit  is started in the main streamline of the clinical services. 
• Onco-genetic clinic, Psycho-oncology clinic, Survivorship clinic, Breast care clinic, Onco-fertility clinic etc has been started. 
• Truebeam radiotherapy services with all the quality and safety precautions.

    As an Executive Chairman of this hospital  my responsibility is day to day smooth running of hospital both clinical and non clinical services as well as to maintain all the external relationship, both nationally and Internationally. Currently it has more than 600 staffs.  

Curricular Honors & Awards

• Best free paper award on 4^th International conference of International college of surgeons- Nepal section. 2004, Kathmandu.
• Awarded as a best contributor as a cancer specialist in the country in the year 2004 ( Nepal  Cancer Relief Society).
• Winner of Young investigational Award (YIA) on 9^th International Conference of Asian oncology Society hold In Gifu city, Japan.

Research Activities 

• Thesis as a dissertation for Master in Medicine (MD): “ Study of Clinical and Biochemical Profile and Closed needle biopsy findings in patients with Exudative pleural effusion”. October 1998.
• Studied on  “ Gemcitabine and Cisplatin/ Carboplatin Chemotherapy on advanced pancreatic cancer” and done poster presentation during ISOCON 2000, IX th Biennial National Conference of Indian Society of Oncology, 2000, Hyderabad, India.
• Worked as a Study Coordinator in the study” A phase II Study of Gemcitabine and Cisplatin in chemotherapy Naïve unresectable gall bladder cancer: Protocol – B9E-IN-0095.” Sponsored by Eli Lilly Ranbaxy Limited for the site Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Center, New Delhi.
• Studied on  “Gall bladder cancer: review of cases and long term follow up” and presented paper at “International conference on Gastrointestinal malignancy” RGCON 2004, in New Delhi, India.

• Studied on Capecitabine: Single institution experience from North India in metastatic breast cancer.  presented paper on  Journal of Clinical Oncology 22(14_suppl):815-815 · July 2004.
• Studied on and presented a paper on  “CARCINOMA GALL BLADDER : AN INSTITUTIONAL EXPERIENCE”  J Nep Med Ass//’oc 2006; 45: 342-346.

• Studied and wrote a Paper “ Deep Seated thoracic and abdominal lesions usefulness of ultrasound  guided fine needle aspiration cytology, a 3 yr experience.” J Nep Med Assoc March 2010. 

• “Improving Hand hygiene compliance among healthcare workers in the ICU at a tertiary cancer care center” 14th International Conference of Society of Internal Medicine of Nepal, At Kathmandu, Nepal, Conference Paper · May 2019. 
• On going research project in Nepal "Exploring mobile health to improve the delivery of palliative care in Nepal" jointly with University of Virginia, NIH funded project : as a site investigator).
• Published article (https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Sudip_Shrestha10)

1. Capecitabine: Single institution experience from North India in metastatic breast cancer.   Journal of Clinical Oncology 22(14_suppl):815-815 · July 2004. ( https://ascopubs.org/doi/abs/10.1200/jco.2004.22.90140.815 )
2. “Carcinoma Gall Bladder : An Institutional Experience.” JNMA; journal of the Nepal Medical Association 45(164):342-6 · October 2006. (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17676069).

3. “Palliative Care Development: The Nepal Model”, Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, Vol. 33 No. 5 May 2007. (https://www.jpsmjournal.com/article/S0885-3924(07)00111-X/pdf )

4. Deep Seated thoracic and abdominal lesions usefulness of ultrasound  guided fine needle aspiration cytology, a 3 yr experience.” J Nep Med Assoc March 2010.  (https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/a045/e96716a44a1cba912a8584fe433382309c65.pdf )

5. Published article as an  expert commentary : “Challenges and Solutions for Developing Palliative Care in Nepal;” Palliative Care in Oncology Symposium Daily News Archive, October 9, 2015.  ASCO. 

(http://pallonc.org/challenges-and-solutions-developing-palliative-care-nepal) 

6. “Epidemiology and clinical profile of breast cancer in central Nepal” : poster presentation  on 3rd World Congress on Women’s Health and Breast Cancer” , October 03-05, 2016  London, UK.

7. “Problems of Breast Cancer Survivors Living in an Urban Area of Nepal” Asia‐Paci c Journal of Oncology Nursing • Jul‐Sep 2016 • Vol 3 • Issue 3  http://www.apjon.org/article.asp?issn=2347-5625;year=2016;volume=3;issue=3;spage=289;epage=296;aulast=Sapkota;type=0 )
8. Epidemiology and Clinical Profile of Breast Cancer in Central Nepal,   Annals of Breast Cancer Research: Ann Breast Cancer Res 1(1): 1005 

(https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f41b/80dd8bdb2f98f7cd3ee4b2b302afeddbe754.pdf )

9. Social support, quality of life and mental health status in breast cancer patients: Research Article: Cancer Rep Rev, 2017 (https://www.oatext.com/pdf/CRR-1-107.pdf )

10. “Macula Erythematous Rash Due to Temozolomide Involving Head and Neck Region Only” March 2018  (https://symbiosisonlinepublishing.com/pharmacovigilance/pharmacovigilance21.php )
11. “Adverse Drug Reaction due to Cancer Chemotherapy and its Financial Burden in Different Hospitals of Nepal:” International journal of Pharmacovigilance;  (http://dx.doi.org/10.15226/2476-2431/2/1/00114) Published: April 18, 2017
12.  “Can clinical pharmacists bridge a gap between medical oncologis ts and patients in resource-limited oncology settings? An experience in Nepal” (Journal of Oncology Pharmacy Practice 25(3):765–768 · June 2018 ( https://doi.org/10.1177/1078155218784734 )
13. “Establishment of the first cancer hospital-based pharmacovigilance center in Nepal” Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy 14(11) · July 2018. ( https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2018.07.017)
14. P3.09-09 “Prevalence of Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Mutation in Non-Small Cell Carcinoma Lungs at a Cancer Center in Nepal” Journal of Thoracic Oncology 13(10):S950-S951 · October 2018.  (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jtho.2018.08.1778)
15. “Establishment of the hemovigilance system in an oncology-based hospital of Nepal: A new starting in the field of blood transfusion in limited resource settings.” (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330124674_Establishment_of_the_hemovigilance_system_in_an_oncology-based_hospital_of_Nepal_A_new_starting_in_the_field_of_blood_transfusion_in_limited_resource_settings.) Dec 2018. (DOI: 10.2478/medu-2018-0008)
16. “ASCO Guideline report: Palliative Care in the Global Setting—ASCO Resource-Stratified Practice Guideline.” Journal of Clinical Oncology 36(34_suppl):85-85 · December 2018. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330124674_Establishment_of_the_hemovigilance_system_in_an_oncology-based_hospital_of_Nepal_A_new_starting_in_the_field_of_blood_transfusion_in_limited_resource_settings  )
17. “Establishment and Achievements of Drug and Therapeutic Committee at the Oncology-Based Hospital of Nepal.” INDIAN JOURNAL OF PHARMACY PRACTICE 12(1):41-44 · February 2019  (https://ijopp.org/sites/default/files/InJPharPract-12-1-41.pdf  )
18. Polypharmacy in elderly cancer patients cancer patients  Professional Qualification: Review article (www.researchgate.net/publication/331093128)   March 2019 (DOI: 10.1002/agm2.12051 )
19. “Workshop on proposal writing on research for health care professionals: a brief report”:  Journal of Multidisciplinary Healthcare. Volume 12:565-572 · July 2019. (https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331093128_Polypharmacy_in_elderly_cancer_patients_Challenges_and_the_way_clinical_pharmacists_can_contribute_in_resource-limited_settings ) 

(DOI: 10.2147/JMDH.S211257 ) 

Professional Qualification

1985-1991    - MB, BS                 -First class

    Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduawe Medical Education and  Research (JIPMER) 

    University of Madras, India. 

October 1996        - Passed MRCP (UK) Part I  from Kathmandu centre. 

1996-1999          - MD (Internal Medicine)        -First class

                  Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal.

1999- 2001        - Advanced Post-graduates training in Medical Oncology.
 

Reason for not Continuing for MRCP ( UK) Part II:

In the same Period I was enrolled in the Academic program of Master in Internal Medicine (MD  course) in Nepal. During the course I felt there was a dire need of experts in the field of Medical oncology in Nepal.  There was only one physician working in that field in the whole country. That was the period most of the medical graduates did not want to pursue their career in that field. Due to this reason most of the time cancer patients needed to go abroad for their treatment and those who could not, had to get substandard treatment back home, due to the lack of expertise and technologies. This had led me to determine and  made career objective is to establish a career in Medical oncology in the country and to perform pioneering work in the field of cancer and cancer care in the country. As I had already acquired my postgraduate degree ( MD) in 1999 and immediately after this I got opportunity to get post graduate training for 2 yrs in one of the premier institute of oncology in India ( in Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Center). For me this was the shortest possible route to achieve my career objectives. In spite of MRCP (UK) being one of the most prestigious degrees which I could have achieved, I decided to work in  the motherland.   

Professional Qualification

Previous 

Feb 92 to Mar 96    -    Resident Medical Officer in Department of Medicine,

                Bhaktapur Hospital, Bhaktapur, Nepal.

28 Apr-19 Feb 92    -    House Officer in Accidents & Emergency Department of    TUTH, Kathmandu, Nepal.       

Apr 1996 to Apr99- Sr. Resident in Department of Medicine, Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital (TUTH), Kathmandu, Nepal & Bir Hospital Kathmandu, Nepal. 

May 1999 – July 99-    Registrar in General Medicine, Dept. of Medicine, Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.

Aug.1999 - Nov.99  - Registrar in Radiotherapy and Cancer unit, Bir Hospital, Kathmandu, Nepal.       

1999- 2001    - Sr. Resident Dept of Medical Oncology, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer Institute and Research Centre 

2001- 2009.    -Head of Department of Medical oncology.

1.    Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital, Bhaktapur, Nepal.

2. Sr consultant medical oncologist and Coordinator

Oncology services

Om Cancer care Center,

OM Hospital and Research Centre, Kathmandu, Nepal and Sarvang hospital, Kupundole.

2009 – 2013            -1. Medical Director  and Head of Medical oncology

Bhaktapur Cancer Hospital, Bhaktapur, Nepal.

2. Sr consultant medical oncologist and Coordinator

Oncology services

Om Cancer care Center,

OM Hospital and Research Centre, Kathmandu, Nepal and Sarvang hospital, Kupundole.

2013 to present        Executive . Chairman, Nepal Cancer hospital and Research             Center, Harisidhi, Lalitpur, Nepal.(www.nch.com.np)

                Also working as Sr consultant Medical oncologist of                 same institute.

Academic Activities: 

• Have been taking classes on oncology for the postgraduate medical students and Nursing students ,coming for their regular posting as a part of their academic career to Nepal Cancer Hospital and Research center. 
• Regularly Taking part as a faculty and  speaker in various conferences, Seminars, workshops and CMEs on oncology in different hospitals and scientific gatherings in Nepal and abroad. 
• Taking academic classes for resident doctors, paramedical staffs.
• Have been actively involved in tumor board meetings of Nepal Cancer Hospital and Research center. 
• Have organized various national and International oncology conferences, workshops, symposium, CMEs etc. in Nepal in various capacities like: Scientific Chairman, Conference chairperson, Conference 

Affiliated Organizations

• South Asian Journal of cancer - International Editorial Board members

• Member American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 
• National Cervical Cancer Screening and prevention implementation plan- Technical working committee member
• Nepal Cancer Support Group (NCSG 2009) - Founder President
• Nepalese Association of Palliative care and Two world - Advisor; Forum for developing National Strategies plan for palliative Care for Nepal 2016
• Medical Council - Tamil Nadu, India
• Medical Council - Nepal
• Nepal Medical Association- Life Member
• Society of Internal  Medicine of Nepal  (SIMON) - Life Member  
• SAARC Federation of Oncology, Nepal - Life Member
• Nepal Oncology society  (NEONS) - Life Member
• Patan Jaycees (Voluntary Organisation) - Honorary Member
• Om Health foundation - Founding Member
• Society of Internal  Medicine of Nepal  (SIMON) - member 
• Nepalese Palliative care group  (NAPCare 2009) - Founding President and and life member
• Breast Cancer Support Group - Treasurer
• Richa Bajimaya Memorial foundation - Adviser
• Rotary club of Yala, District 3212
• Languages:  Fluent in Nepali, Newari, English, Hindi.

-The End-