Community mourns Dr. Lal

Community mourns Dr. Lal

Published on November 18th, 2009

Published on Febuary 12th, 2010

Marilynn Vanderstaay 

Westmount recently lost another great and noble man who, in addition to being an acclaimed psychiatrist and researcher, personified humility and kindness. Dr. Samarthji Lal died on Sunday, Nov. 1, after a lengthy battle with cancer. A resident of The Boulevard, Dr. Lal was well known in the community, often seen on the arm of his wife, Dr. Maureen Kiely. But as he was a modest man, even many of his neighbours may not have been aware of his accomplishments and the legacy he has left in Montreal and beyond as a pioneer in biological psychiatric research. After completing his residency at Queen Mary Veterans Hospital and his McGill Diploma in Psychiatry, in 1967 Dr. Lal was awarded a four-year Medical Research Council of Canada Fellowship to study at the Allen Memorial Institute with the internationally recognized neurochemist Dr. Theodore Sourkes. A decade later, filled with a series of clinical studies Dr. Lal, co-founded the Douglas Mental Health University Research Centre with Dr. N.P.V. Nair. The following year, Dr. Lal established Canada’s first and only (still in existence) brain bank at the Douglas Hospital. In 1991, after playing a pivotal role in acquiring funding from the EJLB Foundation, he set up the McGill Centre for Research in Schizophrenia, which led six years later to the establishment of the Boeckh Family Foundation of the Graham Boeckh Chair in Schizophrenia at McGill. As a research specialist, Dr. Lal authored more than 200 publications in peer reviewed journals and books. But above all that Lal was first and foremost a full time clinician whose personal credo was “first do no harm.” Even after the diagnosis Lal continued to work five or six days a week from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. or later treating and helping patients. He reluctantly let his last patient go just the Thursday before he passed away the following Sunday with his wife Maureen, son Alex and daughter-in-law Victoria Marin at his bedside. Dr. Lal was cremated and two-thirds of his ashes will be spread in two special places along the Ganges River in India. The other third will be buried in the Kiely family plot. A celebration of Dr. Lal’s life will be held on Friday, Nov. 20 at 1:30 p.m. at Mount Royal Commemorative Services, 1297 Chemin de la Foret in Outremont. In lieu of flowers, donations to Schizophrenia and Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute, 6875 LaSalle Boulevard, Verdun, QC H4H 1R3 would be most gratefully appreciated.