NY State Senate awards Liberty Medal to Dr. Hari Krishna Shukla  

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Dr. Hari Krishna Shukla, practicing medicine in Flushing, Queens in New York for nearly four decades, serving thousands of young patients, was bestowed the New York State Liberty Medal at a solemn ceremony on the New York Senate Floor in Albany, NY, May 15, 2024.

The New York State Liberty Medal is the state’s highest honor, presented to citizens, who have merited special commendation for the actions on behalf of their fellow New Yorkers and their community.

Dr. Shukla, whose discovery of the “Shukla’s Formula” was given the Liberty Medal by New York State Senator Toby Ann Stavisky (11th SD- Queens), recognizing his life-saving work in the field of neo-natal pediatric medicine. Earlier, on March 26, 2024, the New York State Senate passed and adopted a resolution (Senate No. 2010) to honor Dr. Shukla for his work in the field of Pediatric-Neonatal Medicine.

“Dr. Shukla has received international acclaim for his work in advancing the science of how doctors treat infants born prematurely,” Senator Stavisky is quoted saying in a press release. “Dr. Shukla is most renowned for developing a mathematical formula for ideal position of umbilical catheters in sick infants that helps to deliver critical fluids and medications more safely to premature children both intravenously and through the umbilical cord. Known as “Shukla’s formula.”

Senator Stavisky said, “Dr. Shukla’s life’s work in the field of neo-natal pediatric medicine warrants this honor.”

Since Dr. Shukla published his research article on the topic in 1986, millions of infants have been benefited using Dr. Shukla’s Formula worldwide, the press release said. Dr Shukla’s Formula is now being used worldwide in several countries, including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, other European countries, Australia, India, Japan, China Russia, South Korea, and in the Middle east. Every year about fifteen million infants receives umbilical catheterization.

Dr. Shukla developed a formula for rapid estimation of insertional length of Endo-tracheal tubes in infants. This formula is used widely in the hospitals in United States, and has been made as part of the required training in BLS, PALS and ACLS courses in United States, given to residents, fellows, physician assistants, nurse practitioners prior to commencing employment and in continuing medical education courses required for maintenance of licensure.

Dr. Shukla was the first US Physician to use surfactant in Preterm babies in the City of New York in 1986 under Investigational New Drug (IND) protocol of United States Food and Drug Administration and NIH. The Surfactant therapy is now the standard mode of therapy for preterm infants with premature lungs all over the world. Dr Shukla received a Citation from United States Congress for being the first physician in New York to use surfactant.

His contributions have also helped patients with jaundice. His investigative research on how jaundice causes Kernicterus after his basic research on rats in an animal laboratory at the NYU School of Medicine was the first to demonstrate blood brain barriers for Bilirubin. This research helps in understanding how bilirubin reaches brain tissue and causes damage to Neurons.

His skills and love for the patients was witnessed during the Covid epidemic, when Dr Shukla treated over four hundred Covid positive children, from one-day- old to eighteen years old, with zero mortality.

He is the recipient of the “Pasteur, Merieux and Connaught” (The Makers of Polio Vaccine) Award for his work toward eradication of Polio in the United States and India.

He has served as a Consultant Pediatrician for over 38 years for the Permanent Missions of numerous countries to the United Nations and Consulate General of India. He is also the Civil Surgeon for the United States Department of Justice, Immigration and Naturalization Service since 1990.

A triple Board certified physician (American Board of Pediatrics, Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine & Forensic Medicine),  Dr. Shukla is a Clinical Associate Professor at the New York University, School of Medicine and has nearly four decades of experience in training over 300 Residents and Fellows and he continues to provide state of the art care to preterm infants and children in the US and abroad.

Dr. Hari Shukla came to the United States in 1980 as a Rotary International exchange scholar from India. He is married to Kirti Shukla. The couple has two sons, Mrugank and Mehool, who are American Medical Graduates, practicing in New York.