From a village near the Sundarbans to Bashkir State Medical University in Ufa, Akash Sarkar is building a career around medicine, research and a long-term ambition to strengthen healthcare in India.
KOLKATA: For Akash Sarkar, the decision to pursue medicine was shaped not by a family tradition, but by the realities he witnessed while growing up in Hingalganj, North 24 Parganas. Coming from a village on the edge of the Sundarbans, he saw how difficult access to healthcare could be for families living far from major medical facilities. Long journeys for treatment and limited access to timely medical care left a lasting impression on him and gradually turned the idea of becoming a doctor into a personal goal.
The son of Swapan Sarkar, a small businessman, and Alpona Sarkar, a homemaker, Akash grew up in a family with no medical background and no history of overseas education. What his parents could offer, however, was an unwavering belief in education.
At Hingalganj High School, he says he remained first in his class from Class 1 to Class 12 and also performed strongly in various Ramakrishna Mission examinations. His interests extended beyond academics as he participated in debate and quiz competitions and developed a parallel interest in literature and poetry.
His academic performance brought another significant milestone in 2021, when he secured 671 marks in the Madhyamik Examination and became the Block Champion. Around the same period, his interest in writing was also taking shape.
In 2023, he published his first poetry book, Shesher Dine, through Orange Publication India. For Akash, writing became more than a creative pursuit; it gave him another way of looking at people and their experiences, something he believes has also influenced his approach towards medicine.
Akash credits several people for helping him move forward. His Head Teacher, Sadhan Ghosh, encouraged him to think beyond the limitations of his surroundings, while Indrajit Jana became an important source of guidance and support during difficult periods.
Later, mentors including Dr. Souman Kumar Bera, Ananta Kumar Sarkar and Dr. Samir Kumar Nashkar encouraged him to look beyond India for medical education and exposure. Their advice eventually led him to Russia, where he is now pursuing an MD in General Medicine at Bashkir State Medical University in Ufa.
Moving from Hingalganj to Ufa brought a completely different environment, language and academic system. Instead of treating the change simply as an opportunity to study abroad, Akash gradually began using the experience to explore the wider world of medical research. He is associated as a Fellow Researcher with AIPU and is an alumnus of C. NEURO, London, UK. He is also preparing as a USMLE aspirant, with his long-term academic interests increasingly centred around cardiology, neurology and surgery.
RESEARCH BEYOND THE CLASSROOM
One of his significant research works focuses on cardio-oncology in the era of immune checkpoint inhibitors, particularly ICI-related myocarditis, a potentially serious cardiac complication associated with certain cancer immunotherapies. The systematic review examined evidence published between 2021 and March 2025. The researchers initially identified 1,284 records and included 43 studies in the final analysis, examining the incidence, diagnosis, monitoring and management of ICI-related myocarditis.
The research highlights the importance of early detection and structured monitoring. It identifies high-sensitivity troponin as an important early screening biomarker and cardiac MRI as a highly accurate imaging method for detecting myocarditis. The study reports that the incidence ranged from 0.27 per cent to 1.14 per cent with single-agent immune checkpoint inhibitor therapy and reached as high as 2.4 per cent with combination treatment. The paper also records Akash Sarkar’s contribution to conceptualisation, data collection, study analysis, methodology and manuscript preparation.
His research interests, however, extend beyond cardio-oncology. He has also published work in IJRSI on ulcerative colitis surgery, in the Journal of Stem Cell Research on Parkinson’s disease, and in the European Journal of Medical Science on therapeutic enzymes. Together, these areas reflect his growing interest in understanding complex medical conditions across surgery, neurology and therapeutic science.
For Akash, research is not meant to remain confined to academic papers. His wider objective is to connect medical knowledge with the needs of people who often struggle to access basic healthcare. He currently serves as CEO of PROTHISEBHA Social and Healthcare Foundation, through which he aims to contribute to health awareness and community-level healthcare initiatives in rural Bengal. His thinking is rooted in the same environment where his interest in medicine first developed.
THE DREAM OF BECOMING A HEART SURGEON
His long-term ambition is to pursue residency in the United States, with a particular interest in cardiothoracic surgery. He wants to gain advanced training in complex cardiac procedures and eventually bring that experience back to India. His vision is of a healthcare system where advanced cardiac treatment is not seen as something available only to patients living in major metropolitan centres.
For someone from North 24 Parganas, that ambition has a personal meaning. He wants patients from rural communities to have better access to the kind of specialised treatment that is often associated with the world’s leading medical centres. His future vision goes even further: he aims to build an international heart hospital that can provide advanced cardiac care to people while also creating a platform for medical expertise, research and training.
Alongside his medical education and research work, Akash is also preparing his upcoming book, Rx Drugs Decoded for Medical Practitioner, scheduled for publication in 2026 by Cerebral Publication Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. The book is intended as a practical resource for medical practitioners and students seeking a better understanding of medicines.
Yet his journey is far from complete. The MD degree is still underway, the USMLE path lies ahead and his ambition of becoming a cardiothoracic surgeon remains a future goal. His current research paper on ICI-related myocarditis is also a preprint and has not yet undergone peer review.
But Akash does not see his journey as a finished success story. He sees it as a promise—a promise that he will return to India not only as a doctor, but as a heart surgeon, a researcher and a son of Hingalganj who never forgot where he came from.
From a village near the Sundarbans to a medical university in Russia, his journey has moved through academics, literature, medicine, research and social service. The distance he has travelled is significant, but for Akash, what matters more is what he can eventually bring back.
His aim is to learn from the best medical systems in the world, develop expertise in advanced cardiac surgery, contribute to meaningful research and build healthcare opportunities for people who have often remained underserved.
From Hingalganj to Ufa, the journey has only taken him this far. The larger dream—to return home, become a heart surgeon and build an international centre for cardiac care—still lies ahead.
