The South Asian Times newspaper awarded the “Person of the Year 2025” award on January 9, 2026, to Dr. Jatin Shah, world renowned Head & Neck Surgeon from Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. The gala was held at Crest Hollow Country Club in Long Island’s Nassau County.
Dr. Shah was also honored last year in a glittering ceremony by the MSKCC for completing 50 years of dedicated service.
The Jan. 9 event was attended by scores of colleagues and their families, as well as the Deputy Consul General from the Indian Consulate in New York Vishal Harsh.
“I am honored and feel privileged to be chosen by The South Asian Times as the Person of the Year for 2025. Being recognized by your own – family, community or society – is a unique honor that is hard to come by, and even harder to achieve than any award or recognition from a professional or academic organization. For that, I am grateful to The South Asian Times. I will cherish this high honor for the rest of my life.”
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Publisher of South Asian Times Kamlesh Metta told ITV Gold it was a great honor to hold the event. And because Dr. Shah belongs to the Indian American community, “It is like honoring ourselves.” Mehta also gave a special thanks to Padma Shri recipient Dr. Sudhir Parikh, chairman of Parikh Worldwide Media/ITV Gold, for attending the event.
“I would like to congratulate Dr. Jatin Shah. He is a family friend and we are really proud of him,” Dr. Parikh said, adding that he wished him more achievements and honors, good health and a long life.
Dr. Parikh, along with Dr. Dattatreyudu Nori, also a Padma Shri recipient, and Sant Singh Chatwal, a Padma Bhushan recipient, presented the crystal plaque of Person of the Year to Dr. Shah on stage.
Later Chatwal told ITV Gold it was a pleasure to be present at the recognition of Dr. Jatin Shah, describing him as “a world renowned surgeon.”
Speaking to ITV Gold, Dr. Shah, 85, thanked family and friends as well as South Asian Times for recognizing him. He called it a “unique honor” to receive this award, which he considered different from other professional recognitions, and said he would cherish it for the rest of his life.
Also present at the event was Dr. Shah’s wife Dr. Ivana Shah, an orthodontist, who was presented with a bouquet and shawl on stage by Nimmi Mehta, wife of Kamlesh Mehta, who also gave the welcome speech.
Numerous other leaders of the Indian American community, as well as Dr. Jatin Shah’s friends and colleagues had high praise for the awardee. They used words like “Fine human being from the heart to the brain” as well as “Amazing physician and most humble person.”
Known the world over for transforming the medical discipline in his specialty with research, innovations and fostering collaborations worldwide, Dr. Shah was introduced by Dr Ashok Shaha, Attending Surgeon of the Head and Neck Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering for the past 35 years.
His other eminent friends also felicitated him, including Doctors Ganesh Bhat, Nitin and Leena Doshi, Shashi Shah, Narinder Kukar, and Bhupi Patel.
A video message from Nassau County Executive, Bruce Blakeman congratulating Dr Shah and The South Asian Times was played at the event.
The special edition of The South Asian Times recognizing and featuring Dr Jatin Shah as Person of the Year 2025 was unveiled on the occasion.
The program was emceed by Jori Kohli. Sneh ‘Sunny’ Thakkar, Artistic Director of Music for the Indo American Arts Council, presented Ganesh Vandana. Vivarta Arts of Preya Patel performed kathak, and there was a sitar recital by Radhika Samson.