This was instituted by the Nutrition Society of India, in association with B. K. Anand Benevolent Trust, New Delhi, in the year 2014 in memory of Prof. Bal Kishan Anand, an internationally renowned physiologist.
Dr. Anand was born on September 18, 1917 in Lahore (now in Pakistan). All through his formative years, he was rated as an excellent student and won many scholarships, medals and prizes. He graduated in Medicine from King Edward Medical College, Lahore in 1940 and went on to do M.D. in three subjects – Medicine, Pathology and Physiology. Prof. Anand joined the Lady Hardinge Medical College as a Professor of Physiology at a tender age of 32 in 1949. As the first Rockefeller Foundation Fellow, he went to Yale University in 1950 and discovered the existence of a neural substrate which is responsible for regulating food intake that is now known as the Feeding Centre. In 1952, he returned to India and joined the Lady Hardings Medical College as Professor and Head, Department of Physiology. Under his leadership it became the first Medical College in the country to introduce human and mammalian experiments in Physiology in 1953. By 1955, Lady Hardings Medical College was recognized to start an M.D. course in Basic Medical Sciences and he also got the credit of establishing the first Neurophysiology Research Unit in Lady Hardings Medical College in the same year.
Dr. B K Anand joined the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in 1956 as its first Professor in the Department of Physiology. He demonstrated his dynamic leadership by helping to structure the MBBS course to three phases of three semesters, each followed by a year of internship that included three months of rural posting. This pattern was quickly followed throughout the country. Dr. Anand was a member of the core team which laid down the policies and curriculum for postgraduate training in AIIMS that was soon accepted by the Medical Council of India for all Medical Colleges in India. In 1969, he went on to become the Dean of AIIMS.
Dr Anand’s tryst with science continued till the end of his long and distinguished scientific career by raising further questions related to the Neurobiology of feeding and satiety. The Neurophysiology Research Unit started by him at AIIMS continues to flourish even today. Besides understanding the neural basis of feeding and satiety, Dr. Anand and his team undertook studies to understand the role of limbic system in emotional and aggressive behaviour, the role of hypothalamus in reproduction as well as in cardiovascular, respiratory and gastrointestinal activities.
In 1955, Dr. B K Anand was instrumental in establishing the Association of Physiologist and Pharmacologists of India affiliated to the International Union of Physiological Sciences. In 1957, he also started the publication of Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology that is now one of the best medical journals published in India. In 1974, he worked for the World Health Organization in New Delhi. Working in Health Manpower Development Division in South East Asia, he rendered advice for policy matters relating to education, nursing and paramedical manpower in the member countries. In 1977, he joined the Family Planning Foundation as its Biomedical Doctor and he held this position till his retirement in 1982 after successfully steering research in India in Biomedical Sciences especially in the development of contraceptives.
In 1982, after retiring from the Family Planning Foundation, he took up yet another challenge of establishing a Postgraduate Medical Institute in Srinagar at the behest of the late Shri Sheikh Abdullah. During the period 1982-1985, he served as the Director of Sher-i-Kashmir Institute of Medical Science, Srinagar. Throughout his career, he guided many students, practitioners, researchers and faculty. He authored numerous research publications.
Dr. Anand won numerous national and international awards and accolades. Most significant among them are the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in Medical Sciences in 1963 and Padma Shri in Medicine in 1969 from Government of India.
Dr.B.K.AnandAward presented every year to an outstanding person in the field of physiology, food and nutrition etc., within India.The Office-Bearers will recommend the names for consideration of the Committee Members of theDr.B.K.Anand award.
RECIPIENTS
| Year | Name |
| 2014 | Dr.Prema Ramachandran |
| 2015 | Dr. K. Satyanarayana |
| 2016 | Dr. Mario Vaz |
| 2017 | Dr.B.Sivakumar |
| 2018 | Dr. William Selvamurthy |
| 2019 | Dr.SucharitaSambashivaiah |
| 2020 | Dr.K.K.Deepak |
| 2021 | Dr.B.Dinesh Kumar |