Karan Gandhi
Dr. Karan Gandhi, a Kenyan hepatobiliary surgeon has become the go-to scalpel when disorders of the liver, gallbladder, or pancreas demand precision beyond the ordinary. A University of Nairobi medical graduate who refined his craft in Cape Town’s high-acuity theatres, he now anchors the hepatobiliary service at Aga Khan University Hospital, Nairobi, where he performs everything from keyhole Whipple procedures to single-session endoscopic stone retrieval. His outcomes, shorter stays, fewer transfusions, have made complex abdominal surgery an option for patients who once had to fly abroad.
Gandhi’s vision reaches past his own operating list. He launched the first multidisciplinary tumor board at Kenyatta National Hospital, beaming in oncologists and radiologists from across Sub-Saharan Africa so junior surgeons can dissect cases alongside regional experts. He runs weekend masterclasses on laparoscopic technique, has co-authored national guidelines on gallstone management, and is piloting a cloud-based registry to track postoperative liver function in real time. With research under way on AI-guided resection margins and a fellowship program set to place Kenyan residents in partner units from Kampala to Kigali, Gandhi is quietly stitching together a continental network where cutting-edge care and the skills to deliver it stay close to home.