Dr. Deepak N. Pandya

Dr. Deepak N. Pandya of Needham, MA, Falmouth, MA, and Venice, FL, a world- renowned neuroanatomist whose studies of brain circuitry profoundly influenced the way we think about the brain in health and disease, died of natural causes Oct. 4, 2020, surrounded by his family. He was 87. Known affectionately as Dee, he was born in Jhulasan in Gujarat, India. Orphaned at a young age, he received scholarships for undergraduate and medical school education at the Gujarat University and eventually immigrated to the U.S. Entranced by the emerging field of neuroscience, he joined the Aphasia Research Center at the Boston Veterans Administration Medical Center as an assistant professor in the Departments of Anatomy and Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine. With his wife and three children, Pandya relocated to Needham, MA subsequently helping establish the neuroanatomy laboratory at Boston City Hospital and teaching at Harvard and Boston University. He later joined the faculty of Edith Nourse Rogers Memorial Veterans Hospital in Bedford, where he was both a beloved staff internist and director of the neuroanatomy lab. Throughout his almost six-decade career, Pandya focused his research predominantly on cortico-cortical connections in the rhesus monkey. His studies provided deep insights into our understanding of the brain basis of behavior, and his investigations of the corpus callosum were instrumental in guiding the targeted surgical treatment of epilepsy. He published over 600 original papers, chapters, proceedings, abstracts and books, but remained a humble, gentle and spiritual man, a staunch follower of Mahatma Gandhi. In his later years in Falmouth, he enjoyed sailing in Siders Pond, cycling the Shining Sea Bikeway and storytelling with his grandchildren. A devoted and enthusiastic family man, he leaves his wife of 60 years, Bonnie Zalokar Pandya; son Jay Pandya and his wife, Dr. Anna Radominska-Pandya, daughter Dina Pandya; daughter Sunita Williams, a NASA astronaut, and her husband, Mike Williams; grandchildren Panchei and Tilu Pandya; and many nieces and nephews. Pandyas ashes will be spread in the Narmada River, the lifeline of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, where he started and will complete his journey on earth. His many legacies live on, and his influence will continue to grow. Services under the care of Farley Funeral Home.Full obituary see www.farleyfuneralhome.com.