Advani was born on 1 August 1947 in Karachi, British India (now in Pakistan). His family, including his parents, three brothers, and three sisters, had to move to India after the partition. They first resided in Deolali, Nashik, and later settled in Mumbai. His father was in the electrical business.[3]
After initially being rejected for his disability, Advani persuaded the authorities to admit him to Grant Medical College, Mumbai. He obtained his medical degree from there in 1966. After training in internal medicine and hematology-oncology at the JJ Hospital, Grant Medical College in Mumbai, he undertook further training in oncology at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, where he worked with Nobel laureate Dr. E. Donnall Thomas, known as the father of bone marrow transplantation in the USA.[4][3]
Honours
Recipient of the Rashtriya Krantiveer Award, Ujjain (2014)
Recipient of the Padma Bhushan award by the Government of India (2012)[5]