Dr Anita M. Borges (19th November 1947–18th September 2025)

Dr Anita Maria Borges, a legend in Medical circles, passed away suddenly on 18th September 2025 at Gorakhpur, India, where she had gone for a teaching programme. Born in Mumbai on 19th November 1947, she was the daughter of eminent and world-famous Oncosurgeon Dr Ernest Borges and Mrs. Gracie Soares Borges (who was a Botanist). The family originally hailed from Ucassaim in the State of Goa but had settled in Bombay (now Mumbai) for several generations. Dr Anita Borges made her parents, family, Goa and India immensely proud with all her stupendous achievements in her lifetime and I think, if I may say so with no disrespect meant for the late Dr Ernest Borges, paralleled in fame her late illustrious father. After her early education in Mumbai, she did her medical studies, namely MBBS and MD (Pathology) at the Topiwala National Medical College and B.Y.L. Nair Charitable Hospital, Mumbai, India, and later was also a Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath), London, United Kingdom. She was also an elected member of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of India. Dr Anita Borges trained and worked at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, UK and at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, USA, both top Oncology Centres. After her return to India, she was Professor and Head of Surgical Pathology at India’s premier cancer Institute, Tata Memorial Hospital, where she worked for more than 25 years. At the time of her passing, she was Director of the Center for Oncopathology, Mumbai and also the Head of the Histopathology Department at S. L Raheja Hospital, Mumbai. A proud Nairite, she had a huge repertoire of anecdotes and jokes related to Nair Hospital and on many occasions regaled audiences with her accounts of all these events in her own inimitable style. Talking about Nair Hospital, a leading lady Pathologist who was a few years younger than Anita told me this interesting story. When she joined Nair Hospital, she was in the first MBBS and Anita was a senior student but already famous in the College for being a brilliant and outstanding student. The junior student suddenly got severe abdominal pain and had to go the Girls’ Common Room to rest and was wriggling in pain, not knowing what to do. Just then, a senior lady student walks in and asks her what was the matter and swiftly told her what medicines to take to ease her pain. When the junior student, in gratitude, asked her name, she told her she was Anita Borges. This highlights Anita Borges’ compassion and concern about others and their well-being, a trait she showed all her life most abundantly. Dr Anita Borges was a renowned expert in all spheres of Oncopathology, but her special interests were in head-and-neck cancers, oral cancer and lymphomas. She served on the WHO panel for head-and-neck cancers. She was a prolific writer and had a large number of publications in reputed Journals and was on the Editorial Board of several Journals. Dr Anita Borges was considered the ultimate authority on Surgical Pathology and Oncopathology in India and was indeed well known in most parts of the globe and received references for her opinion not only from all over India but also from many places abroad. Renowned for her diagnostic skills and profound knowledge of histopathology and oncopathology, her opinion and advice were much sought after by other Pathologists, Surgeons, Oncologists, Clinicians and indeed the general public who looked to her as the last and final word on histopathology and cancer diagnosis. Dr Anita Borges was much revered and respected, but she wore her fame and position lightly and was always humble and simple in her approach and never sought to project herself. Fame and success came naturally to her due to her great merit and achievements. She was a unique personality, one of a kind. Just a small anecdote. Many years ago, Dr Anita Borges and I were together during one of her visits to Goa when we met a leading Gynaecologist. I introduced Dr Anita Borges to him and his jaw dropped, and after starring for a long time, he said, ‘You mean she is really The Anita Borges in person’. With much amusement, Anita confirmed that indeed it was her. Dr Anita Borges occupied a number of important posts in her long career, having served the IAP-Indian Division as its President and also the International Academy of Pathology (IAP) as its former Vice President for Asia and was currently serving on the Education Committee of the IAP. She also served as the Dean and Overseas Advisor of the Indian College of Pathologists (ICP). She served with distinction in various Oncology bodies and the NABL. She also participated actively in the activities of the Indian Association of Pathologists and Microbiologists (IAPM) and was a faculty speaker for a large number of APCONs and various IAPM Chapter meetings. A gifted and born teacher and Orator, she was much sort after as a faculty speaker for all types of academic programmes, be it local, regional, national and international. She was passionate in teaching Pathology trainees and was running a very successful and much-acclaimed online teaching programme for Post-Graduate students in Pathology and was also actively involved in teaching Surgical Pathology in meetings all over India and abroad. She had started a moving Academy of Pathology where Dr Borges and her team would go to remote and underserved areas of India to interact and teach the Pathologists there and solve their problems and try to improve the standards of histopathology in those places. Dr Anita Borges was already very famous, but after the start of the OTPPGP (Online Teaching Programme for Post-Graduates in Pathology), she attained the status of a rock star. Everywhere she went, students and others wanted her to pose for selfies with them and sought her autographs. A very good conversationalist, Dr Anita Borges was highly cultured and knowledgeable and could talk and hold forth her own on any topic under the sun. Besides Medicine, and Pathology in particular, Dr Anita Borges’ interests included classical literature, music and philosophy. She had a prodigious intellect and memory and was like a walking and talking computer. I recollect that on one occasion, when Dr Borges came to Belgaum for a CME (where she participated every year for more than 4 decades without fail), she was to give the keynote address in the afternoon. While chatting with us in her room at the J N Medical College Silver Jubilee Guest House, she asked our host Dr P. R. Malur (one of our common friends) for some overhead projector blank sheets and a marker pen (it was the era before LCD projectors and Power Point presentations) and while still chatting with us and munching some snacks wrote down her entire lecture on ‘Epigenetics’ all from her mind, no reference books, no Internet, nothing. Dr Anita Borges always delivered brilliant lectures but I can vouch for it when I say that this lecture on “Epigenetics” was one of her best. Another example of her prodigious talent was the ICP Oration in 2016 at Jaipur. The original Orator developed some last-minute health issues and could not travel from abroad to India. It was a desperate situation as the ICP Oration had to be delivered in person and with 2 days to go, nobody would accept this assignment for sure. In desperation, Dr D.N. Lanjewar (the then Dean ICP) and myself (then the Secretary ICP) appealed to Dr Anita Borges to bail us out and help us. She did indeed and delivered a splendid Oration. Only Anita Borges could have done it! Dr Anita Borges was a wonderful and endearing person, very warm and kind-hearted, and she was much liked, admired and revered by all. She has left a huge void both in the Pathology community as well as in all her friends and admirers and will be sorely missed by all. She will always live in the hearts and minds of all those she has touched in various ways in their lives. Our heartfelt condolences go out to her family. May her soul rest in peace. Financial support and sponsorship Nil. Conflicts of interest There are no conflicts of interest.