Sharad Lakhanpal, MBBS, MD, Named an APLAR Master

In early December, Sharad Lakhanpal, MBBS, MD, a rheumatologist at Rheumatology Associates in Dallas and past president of the ACR, traveled to Chiang Mai, Thailand, for the 2023 Congress of the Asia Pacific League of Associations for Rheumatology (APLAR). There he was named an APLAR Master. The award is presented to someone not from APLAR, but who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of rheumatology within the APLAR region through teaching, research and professional services.

Although traveling to the APLAR Congress was a long journey, “I felt [making the journey] was most important to express my gratitude for the high honor that rheumatology colleagues around the world were bestowing on me,” Dr. Lakhanpal says.

Born and raised in Lucknow, India, Dr. Lakhanpal began his medical training at King George’s Medical College at the University of Lucknow, graduating with his MBBS in 1974 and earning his MD in internal medicine in post-graduate training in 1977. He then moved to the U.K. and completed his internal medicine training with the National Health Service.

In 1980, Dr. Lakhanpal came to the U.S. and completed an internal medicine residency at Memorial Hospital, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester. During that time he chose to specialize in rheumatology, a choice driven by his interest in the autoimmune aspects of the rheumatic diseases. Finally, he completed a rheumatology fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn., in 1986, after which he accepted a faculty position with the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and moved to Dallas. He also became an investigator at the Metroplex Clinical Research Center, which performs phase 1 through phase 4 clinical drug trials.

Beyond the Exam Room

Dr. Lakhanpal’s career as a physician has been intrinsically linked with active volunteerism. He joined the American Rheumatism Association (ARA) while a fellow at the Mayo Clinic. He began volunteering in 1988, the year that the ARA became the ACR. His service with the ACR has included membership on various committees, such as the Planning and Organizational Review Committee and the Government Affairs Committee. He has also chaired the Quality Recognition Program, the Strategic Planning and International task forces, and served on the ACR Board of Directors.

Dr. Lakhanpal became ACR president in 2016. Prior to that, he served as president of the American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin (AAPI) from 2003–2004, a tenure, he said, that was invaluable in contributing to his understanding of advocacy in support of organized medicine.

Asked about his motivation for volunteerism in medicine, Dr. Lakhanpal notes that to provide proper patient care, one has to go beyond just the doctor’s office and the examining room. “A lot of what happens in patient care is actually dictated by policies made by the U.S. Congress and governmental agencies, such as the [Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services] CMS, [the U.S. Food & Drug Administration] FDA and the Department of Health and Human Services. And, in addition to regulatory bodies, there are organizations, such as the Arthritis Foundation, the Lupus Foundation and others, that advocate for patients,” says Dr. Lakhanpal. “It’s important to step out of one’s comfort zone to see what else can be done for patients and the specialty.”

Gretchen Henkel is a health and medical journalist based in California.

Editor’s note: Also see the article New ACR President Dr. Sharad Lakhanpal Recalls Road to Leadership, Outlines Goals for 2017.