Kanagaratnam Shanmugaratnam

Kanagaratnam Shanmugaratnam (1921-2018) is often referred to as the “Father of Pathology” by the Singapore medical community, and was one of the country’s scientific pioneers. He developed the first population-based cancer registry in Southeast Asia.  Shanmugaratnam also led the development of the World Health Organisation’s classification guidelines for cancer of the upper respiratory tract (nasopharyngeal carcinoma) and served as the head of other international bodies including the International Council of Societies of Pathology (1974-78) and the International Association of Cancer Registries (1984-88). 

Born in Singapore, Shanmugaratnam enrolled at Singapore’s King Edward VII College of Medicine in 1938. Unfortunately his medical education was disrupted by the Japanese Occupation of Singapore during World War II. Following the war, he resumed his studies and was awarded the Lim Boon Keng Medal for graduating at the top of his cohort in 1947. He was later awarded a Queen’s Fellowship, and proceeded to complete a PhD in pathology at the University of London in 1957.

As President of the College’s students’ union, his meetings in 1947 with the British royal commission on tertiary education influenced its members so much that its Chairman, Lord Carr-Saunders, put on record that Shanmugaratnam had played a key role in their recommendation to uplift the standing of the two colleges at the time, King Edward VII College of Medicine and Raffles College through the immediate formation of a full-fledged university, the University of Malaya – the predecessor of the University of Singapore.

He worked as a pathologist in the Government medical service from 1948 to 1960, before becoming a professor at the University of Singapore (later NUS) in 1960. During his academic career, he served as the Dean of Faculty of Medicine from 1962 to 1964, and mentored numerous medical students.  As Master of the Academy of Medicine in the late 1960s, he also played a pivotal role in shaping postgraduate medical education in Singapore. He was the inaugural recipient of the Lee Foundation-National Healthcare Group Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001 and conferred the NUS Outstanding Service Award in 2004.

While serving at the government’s department of pathology, he compiled an index of all histologically diagnosed cancers in Singapore. That proved to be fortuitous as the index evolved into a nation-wide cancer registry by 1967. He served as the Director of the Singapore Cancer Registry from its founding till 2002.

Shanmugaratnam kept up with advancements in pathology and continued working as Emeritus Professor of Pathology at the university till his retirement at the age of 94. After his seven-decade career, he passed away at 97. He is remembered not only for his professional achievements but also for his lifelong pursuit of excellence and extraordinary humility despite exceptional brilliance. Of note, his son, Tharman Shanmugaratnam, is the President of Singapore.



For more information
Sim Shuzhen. 2018. “Renowned Pathologist K. Shanmugaratnam Dies at 97 (in Memoriam) – Asian Scientist Magazine.” Asianscientist.com 2018. https://www.asianscientist.com/2018/07/features/kanagaratnam-shanmugaratnam-obituary-pathology/
NUS. Accessed on 14 July 2025. https://sph.nus.edu.sg/2019/12/commemorating-50-years-of-the-singapore-cancer-registry-and-the-legacy-of-professor-k-shanmugaratnam/
Gene, Ng Keng, “Founder of Singapore Cancer Registry K. Shanmugaratnam Dies Aged 97,” The Straits Times, July 29, 2018. https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/founder-of-singapore-cancer-registry-k-shanmugaratnam-dies-aged-97 

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The information in this article is valid as of August 2025 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. If you have any feedback on this article, please submit here.