Sanjay Gupta facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Sanjay Gupta
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Gupta in 2021
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| Born | October 23, 1969 Novi, Michigan, U.S.
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| Education | University of Michigan (BS, MD) |
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| Spouse(s) |
Rebecca Olson
(m. 2004) |
| Children | 3 |
| Family | Suneel Gupta (brother) |
Sanjay Gupta (born October 23, 1969) is an American neurosurgeon, a doctor who performs brain and spine surgery. He is also a well-known medical reporter and writer. Dr. Gupta works at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia, and teaches at Emory University School of Medicine. He is most famous as the chief medical correspondent for CNN, where he shares important health news with people around the world.
Dr. Gupta is often seen on TV talking about health topics. During the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, he was on many CNN shows, helping people understand the crisis. He also hosted a weekly show with Anderson Cooper. Dr. Gupta hosted the CNN show Sanjay Gupta MD, which won several Emmy Awards. He also hosted a miniseries called Chasing Life. He appears on other CNN programs like American Morning and Anderson Cooper 360°. His reports from Charity Hospital after Hurricane Katrina earned him an Emmy Award in 2006. He also works as a special correspondent for CBS News.
Sanjay Gupta also helps host a health conference called Life Itself. He has written columns for Time magazine and has written four books. These books include Chasing Life, Cheating Death, Monday Mornings: A Novel, and Keep Sharp.
Early Life and Education
Dr. Gupta was born in Novi, Michigan, a town near Detroit. His parents, Subhash and Damyanti Gupta, moved from India before they got married. They met in Livonia, Michigan, where they both worked as engineers for Ford Motor Company. His mother had to leave her home in Sindh (now Pakistan) when she was five years old during the Partition of India. She moved to Baroda, India as a refugee.
Sanjay and his younger brother Suneel both went to Novi High School. Sanjay then studied biomedical sciences at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. He earned his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School in 1993. He was part of a special program that allowed students to go directly to medical school from high school.
During college, Dr. Gupta helped new students get used to university life. He was also a member of the Men's Glee Club and was president of the Indian American Students Association. He finished his training to become a neurosurgeon at the University of Michigan Health System in 2000. After that, he did more training in Memphis, Tennessee. Dr. Gupta also plays the accordion and took lessons for ten years!
In 1997-1998, Dr. Gupta was a White House Fellow. This means he worked as an advisor in the White House for a year.
Career Highlights
Medical Practice
Dr. Gupta is a general neurosurgeon at Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta. He performs surgeries on the spine and helps with trauma cases. He also uses special 3-D imaging to guide his operations. He has written articles for medical journals about brain tumors and spinal cord problems. He is licensed to practice medicine in Georgia.
From 1997 to 1998, he was one of fifteen White House Fellows. During this time, he advised Hillary Clinton. In 2009, there were reports that Dr. Gupta was offered the job of Surgeon General of the United States by President Barack Obama. However, he decided not to take the position.
After the earthquake in Haiti in January 2010, Dr. Gupta was reporting there. He received a call from the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson because a 12-year-old earthquake victim needed a neurosurgeon. Dr. Gupta, along with a pediatric surgeon named Henri Ford and two U.S. Navy doctors, performed surgery on the girl. They removed a piece of concrete from her skull right there on the ship. Dr. Ford later said that Dr. Gupta was a very skilled neurosurgeon.
Broadcast Journalism and Television
Dr. Gupta started working for CNN in 2001. He reported from New York after the attacks on September 11, 2001. In 2003, he went to Iraq to cover the medical side of the invasion. While in Iraq, Dr. Gupta even performed emergency surgery on both American soldiers and Iraqi civilians. He was with a Navy medical team called the "Devil Docs." When a Marine Sergeant named Jesus Vindaña was shot, the Marines asked for Dr. Gupta's help because of his neurosurgery skills. Sergeant Vindaña survived and was sent back to the United States for recovery.
In 2006, CBS News made a deal with CNN for Dr. Gupta to report for CBS Evening News with Katie Couric and 60 Minutes. He still remained CNN's chief medical correspondent.
Dr. Gupta has guest-hosted several TV shows. In 2007, he hosted a health episode of CBS News Sunday Morning. In 2009, he hosted AC360 and Larry King Live. In 2010, he and Anderson Cooper led CNN's coverage of the earthquake in Haiti. Dr. Gupta has also appeared on popular shows like Late Show with David Letterman and the Oprah Winfrey Show. Oprah Winfrey even called him CNN's hero in 2010.
In 2011, Dr. Gupta played himself in the movie Contagion. This movie became very popular again during the 2020 coronavirus pandemic. His book Monday Mornings became a bestseller in 2012. It was later made into a 2013 television series, with Dr. Gupta as one of the executive producers. In 2013, Dr. Gupta shared that his views on certain medical plants had changed after working on a documentary. He apologized for his previous stance, saying that people had been "misled" for many years. He was also a co-producer of the 2017 CNN documentary Unseen Enemy, which warned about the dangers of a global pandemic.
In 2018, Dr. Gupta was a commentator for the University of Michigan basketball team during the NCAA Men's Final Four. In 2019, his book Chasing Life was made into a six-part TV miniseries on CNN. This series took him to different countries like Japan, India, and Italy. In September 2019, Dr. Gupta and Marc Hodosh announced a new event called Life Itself, in partnership with CNN. From June 28 to July 9, 2021, Dr. Gupta was a guest host on the popular quiz show Jeopardy!.
Surgeon General Consideration
On January 6, 2009, CNN announced that Dr. Gupta was being considered for the job of Surgeon General of the United States by President-elect Barack Obama. Many doctors thought his communication skills and public profile would be great for highlighting health issues. Some people had concerns about possible conflicts of interest because drug companies had sponsored some of his broadcasts. However, many supported him. For example, Fred Sanfilippo from Emory University said Dr. Gupta had the "character, training, intelligence and communications skills" needed for the job. Former surgeon general Joycelyn Elders also supported him. In March 2009, Dr. Gupta decided not to take the position, saying he wanted to focus on his family and career.
Honors and Awards
Dr. Gupta has received many honors for his work. On April 28, 2012, the University of Michigan gave him an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree. He also gave the graduation speech at the university's stadium. On March 20, 2015, Dr. Gupta and his wife, Rebecca, received the 2015 UNICEF Global Philanthropist Award. He gave commencement addresses at Oregon Health & Science University in 2016 and Albert Einstein College of Medicine in 2019.
In October 2019, Dr. Gupta was chosen to be a member of the National Academy of Medicine. This is one of the highest honors a person can receive in the medical field. In 2021, he was also elected as a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. On October 6, 2022, he received the Fitzwater Medallion for Leadership in Public Communication. In May 2023, he gave the commencement address at Baylor College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School.
Emmy Awards
- 2006: He won an Emmy Award for his "Charity Hospital" reports on Anderson Cooper 360°. These reports showed the terrible conditions in a New Orleans hospital after Hurricane Katrina.
- 2010: Dr. Gupta received multiple Emmy Awards for his reporting on the big earthquake in Haiti. He not only covered the event but also helped people with medical care.
Peabody Awards
- 2005: Dr. Gupta was a key part of CNN's coverage of Hurricane Katrina, which won a Peabody Award for its thorough and important reporting.
- 2010: His reports on the Gulf of Mexico oil spill were part of CNN's coverage that also won a Peabody Award.
Alfred I. duPont-Columbia University Award
- 2005: Dr. Gupta's coverage of the tsunami in Southeast Asia (in Sri Lanka) helped CNN win this important award. It's like the Pulitzer Prize for broadcast news.
- 2015: The CNN documentary "Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports on Medical Research" was one of 14 winners for excellent broadcast and documentary news.
National Headliner Awards
- 2006: He won four National Headliner Awards for his excellent journalism and storytelling.
William Allen White Foundation National Citation
- 2022: Dr. Gupta was chosen for this award because of his outstanding service in journalism.
Personal Life
Dr. Gupta is married to Rebecca Olson, who is a lawyer specializing in family law. They have three daughters. Dr. Gupta wrote a book called World War C: Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic and How to Prepare for the Next One about the COVID-19 pandemic.
See also
- List of American novelists
- List of American print journalists
- List of surgeons
- List of television reporters
