University of Illinois honors Indian-American Dr. Maya Shahani posthumously

September 16, 2019

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An Indian-American physician who worked for decades at the Craniofacial Center at the University of Illinois, Chicago (UIC) was posthumously honored during the institution’s 70^th Anniversary Celebration on September 6, 2019.

Maya Shahani, MD. with patient Michael DeVonte Jones. (Photo courtesy the Shahani family)

Dr. Maya B. Shahani, who was a senior pediatrician, was remembered fondly during the ceremony, Among those present at the event were members of the UIC Medical Center and College of Medicine communities, visiting faculty, and former patients, many of whom shared their life-changing experiences in their interaction with Dr. Shahani, the press release from the Center, said.

Dr. Mimis Cohen, professor and chief of the Division of Plastic, Reconstruction and Cosmetic Surgery and Director of the Craniofacial Center, presented a commemorative plaque to Dr. Shahani’s family and, in an emotional tribute, is quoted saying how the Indian-American physician “treated each patient as if they were her own child, taking all the time she needed to make each one feel special,” the press release said.

The center had previously named its pediatric examination area for Dr. Shahani.

Dr. Shahani received her medical degree in Bombay. She started her career in New York City and Oxford, England, completing her training in pediatrics at Beverly Hospital in Beverly, Massachusetts and Boston Children’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

While in private practice for nearly two decades in the Boston area, Dr. Shahani also served as the Head of Pediatric Rehabilitation at Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

An Associate Professor, UIC College of Medicine and Pediatrician at the Craniofacial Center for 25 years before retiring in 2015, Dr. Shahani, was published in respected professional journals and lectured at leading institutions across the U.S. and India, the press release said

She was a Fellow of the Massachusetts Medical Society, as well as a founding member and former chairperson of the Indian Medical Association of New England.