Dr. Augustine is Director of the Centre of Excellence in Gastrointestinal Sciences at Rajagiri Hospital. A Padma Shri awardee (2010), he pioneered therapeutic pancreatobiliary endoscopy in India and won the Olympus Mitra Endoscopy Award. He organized one of the country’s leading medico‑surgical gastroenterology units, with groundbreaking work in tropical pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer. A member of the ICMR panel in Pancreatology and past President of the Indian Pancreas Club, he first reported Crohn’s disease in India (1995). He remains a foremost expert in pancreatic and hepatobiliary disorders