Professor Dr Kamal Bose
IHFS – Excellence Award For Medical Contribution
Professor Kamal Bose is one of Singapore’s pioneering orthopaedic surgeons, whose career has spanned more than six decades of clinical practice, teaching, research, and public service.
Born in Calcutta, India, in 1939 and raised in Delhi, he graduated from Calcutta Medical College before pursuing postgraduate surgical training at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He subsequently received advanced orthopaedic training in the United Kingdom, working in Liverpool under the distinguished orthopaedic surgeon Professor Robert Roaf. He continued his orthopaedic training in France (Paris, Lyon and Marseille) as well as in North America (Boston, Toronto and Palo Alto (Stanford) which broadened his international perspective and shaped his lifelong commitment to excellence in patient care, education, and research.
In 1971, Professor Bose moved to Singapore to join the National University of Singapore. He played a pivotal role in the development of modern orthopaedic surgery in the country, serving as Professor and Chair of Orthopaedic Surgery in 1981 and continued to hold that position until 1999. He later founded and led the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery at the National University Hospital. Throughout his academic career, he trained generations of surgeons who have gone on to serve Singapore, Asia, and many other parts of the world.
An internationally recognised academic, Professor Bose has authored more than 300 scientific publications and numerous book chapters. Dr. Bose had published more than 300 scientific and research papers. He had been a guest speaker in many international meetings in North America, Europe and Asia Pacific Region conducting workshops and seminars on various aspects of orthopaedic. He is a reviewer for peer-reviewed journals including Journal of Orthopaedic Surgery, Journal of Paediatric Orthopaedics, Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research and Journal of Musculo-Skeletal Research and a visiting Professor to numerous universities and medical schools including Stanford and Tokyo.
In recognition of his contribution to academic collaboration between France and Singapore, he was appointed a Chevalier dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French Government.
Dr. Bose was the Founder President of the Biomedical Engineering Society of Singapore. He was past President of Asia Pacific Orthopaedic Association. He is a member of American Orthopaedic Association, British Orthopaedic Association, Japanese Orthopaedic Association amongst others. He is also a member of the Knee & Arthroscopy Society, the International Society of Lumbar Spine and the North American Paediatric Orthopaedic Society.
Beyond medicine, Professor Bose has devoted much of his life to community service. His community services are many, including serving as Chairman, Spastic Children’s Association of Singapore; as a member of the Management Committee of the Society for Aid to the Paralysed and Member, Rehabilitation International, Red Cross Home and Board Member of NCSS. He also held various posts as chairman and member of medical and charity organizations. He was the recipient of the Meritorious Service award by the Singapore Red Cross Society in 1979 and the National Day Award in 1985, among many other awards. He has been actively involved with the Ramakrishna Mission Singapore, the WINGS Counselling Centre, SINDA, and numerous charitable organisations. For more than three decades, he has led annual orthopaedic camps associated with Shri Anandpur Dham in Madhya Pradesh, India, providing care to thousands of patients at no charge who would otherwise have little access to specialist treatment.
Professor Bose’s greatest pride lies not only in the operations he has performed or the institutions he helped build, but in the lives he has touched—as a teacher, mentor, colleague, husband, father, grandfather, and friend.