Head and shoulders image of Dr. Ramji L. Khandelwal, Professor of Biochemistry.

Bio/Historical Note: Dr. Ramji L. Khandelwal earned a BSc from the College of Agriculture, University of Udaipur, India (1963); an MSc in Biochemistry from the College of Basic Sciences and Humanities, Punjab Agricultural University, India (1966). He moved to Canada in 1968 and earned a Ph.D from the Faculty of Graduate Studies, Biochemistry, University of Manitoba, in 1972. Dr. Khandelwal was department head from Microbiology & Immunology from 2003-2011. His primary research focus is on the use and impacts of insulin in the treatment of diabetes (2021).
Air India 182 Bombing, 1985: Dr. Khandelwal’s daughters, Chandra and Manju Khandelwal, were born in India in 1964 and 1965 respectively. The girls became Canadian citizens in 1983. Chandra and Manju were outstanding students who aspired to contribute to society through medicine. Chandra, was entering her third year of pharmacy at the University of Saskatchewan. Manju had a remarkable academic record. She completed high school in two years and pre-medicine in one year and was admitted to the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan at 18. At 19, the year of the bombing, she was about to enter her second year of medical school. The girls travelled to India to attend an uncle’s wedding. Dr. Khandelwal and other families across Canada worked together to demand a public inquiry in 1985; the final report was tabled in 2010, 25 years after the crash.