Khursheed Nowrojee Jeejeebhoy (Gujarati: ખુરશીદ નવરોજી જીજીભાઈ; born August 26, 1935) is an internationally renowned gastroenterologist at the Toronto General Hospital, St. Michael's Hospital, Unity Health Toronto and professor of medicine, nutrition and physiology at the University of Toronto, best known for his pioneering work in the development of parenteral nutrition. He supervised 24 medical graduates from around the world and 13 M.Sc. and Ph.D. candidates who completed their degrees.
Early life and education Jeejeebhoy was born to an Indian Parsi family in Rangoon, Burma on August 26, 1935, Nowrojee Jeejeebhoy and Gulbanoo Nowrojee (Tarapore) Jeejeebhoy. The family was evacuated to India by air in a DC-3 ahead of advancing Japanese forces during the Japanese invasion of Burma. His father joined the Indian Army, and his maternal grandfather Pheroze Khurshetjee Tarapore was recalled to service after he had retired as an officer in the Indian Medical Service.
Due to World War II and his family's flight to India as refugees, Jeejeebhoy's schooling was initially very checkered. After his family fled to India, they lived a nomadic life and whether or not he attended school depended on where his father was stationed.
Education Jeejeebhoy's maternal grandmother Rattan Tarapore, a medical doctor trained at JJ Hospital Medical School in Bombay, home schooled him. At age 15 he entered Nirmala College in Delhi and studied economics and political science. At age 17, upon hearing of the excellence of Christian Medical College Vellore he applied for one of the ten spots available to students not sponsored by a Christian Mission. Entrance was by competitive written exam and interview. He was the first one called to fill one of the ten spots. He placed First Class at the Examination at the University of Madras, Faculty of Medicine, with Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery, in December 1957 and obtained distinction in obstetrics and gynecology. He then gained practical experience for a year as an intern in order to qualify for his degree. He convocated with an MB,BS in February 1959, capturing nine of ten gold medals. The tenth medal was reserved for women.
From January to June 1959, he was House Physician at Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore, India then House Surgeon from August 1959 to January 1960 at Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India.
Practice and Ph.D., London, UK From January to June 1959, he was House Physician at Christian Medical College Hospital in Vellore, India then House Surgeon from August 1959 to January 1960 at Christian Medical College, Ludhiana, India.
He moved to London, UK to start a 6-month appointment at West Middlesex University Hospital in London, UK, under Dr. Nelson F. Coghill. At the end of the six months, Coghill assisted Jeejeebhoy to get a research position at the Registrar level (equivalent to a senior resident in Canada) with Chris Booth at Hammersmith Hospital at the Royal Postgraduate Medical School, London University. During this tenure, Jeejeebhoy obtained his Ph.D. from London University, thesis entitled “Albumin metabolism in gastrointestinal disease” which was recommended for publication in an abridged form.
Jeejeebhoy was House Physician at West Middlesex Hospital, London, UK from February to October 1960; Research Registrar West Middlesex Hospital and Postgraduate Medical School of London (joint appointment); from January 1961 to January 1963, Tutor in Gastroenterology, The Postgraduate Medical School of London, concurrent with his appointment as Research Registrar.
Jeejeebhoy's first paper was published in Gut, co-authored with Coghill, in 1961.
Jeejeebhoy sat the exams for the Royal College of London and Royal College of Edinburgh to become a member of both colleges, a prerequisite to becoming a Consultant.
Aug. 1959-Jan. 1960: House Surgeon, Christian Medical College Hospital, Ludhiana, India. Feb.-Oct. 1960: House Physician, West Middlesex Hospital, London, United Kingdom. Jan. 1961-Jan. 1963: Research Registrar, West Middlesex Hospital and Postgraduate Medical School of London (joint appointment). Jan. 1961-Jan. 1963: Tutor in Gastroenterology, Postgraduate Medical School of London, concurrent with the above appointment.
Dr. Homi J. Bhabha, Founding Director and Chairman of the Indian Atomic Energy Establishment, Trombay, met Jeejeebhoy and invited him to join his staff in Bombay, India. Jeejeebhoy accepted Bhabha's invitation, abandoned plans to become a Consultant in the UK, and received his PhD in 1963 from Postgraduate Medical School of London, “Albumin metabolism in gastrointestinal disease,” which was published in the British Medical Journal in 1963 under “Hypoanabolic Hypoalbuminaemia in Gastro-intestinal Disease.”
Jeejeebhoy, along with his wife and baby daughter, sailed on 14 February 1963 for India.
Practice -- Bombay, India From March to September 1963, he was Head, Medical Division, Bhabba Atomic Research Centre, Bombay, India; April to June 1963 Staff Physician, B.Y.L., Nair Charitable Hospital, Mumbai, India; October 1963 to May 1965 in charge of Radiation Medicine, Bhabba Atomic Research Centre; and from May 1965 to December 1967, Head, Radiation Medicine Centre, Mumbai, India.
Mar.-Sept. 1963: Head, Medical Division, Bhabba Atomic Research Centre, Bombay, India. Apr.-Jun. 1963: Staff Physician, B.Y.L., Nair Charitable Hospital, Mumbai, India. Oct. 1963-May 1965: In charge of Radiation Medicine, Bhabba Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai, India. May 1965-Dec.1967: Head, Radiation Medicine Centre, Mumbai, India.
His mentor and boss Dr. Homi Jehangir Bhabha died in a plane crash in 24 January 1966. With the loss of his mentor and research partner souring the work and the political atmosphere chafing him, Jeejeebhoy began looking for a new position.
A Canadian doctor, on sabbatical in Bombay, noticed Jeejeebhoy and recommended him to Dr. Keith J. R. Wightman, Chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Physician-in-Chief at Toronto General Hospital, as a man well suited for Wightman's burgeoning gastroenterology department. Jeejeebhoy moved to Toronto, Ontario, Canada in January 1968, and his wife, daughter, and infant son joined him on 14 February 1968.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada He joined the University of Toronto as assistant professor, Department of Medicine in January 1968. In July 1971, he was promoted to associate professor, Department of Medicine; January 1974 he was cross-appointed Special Lecturer, Department of Nutrition, University of Toronto; July 1975, he was promoted to Professor, Department of Medicine; July 1976 cross-appointed Lecturer, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Toronto; July 1979, cross-appointed Professor, Department of Nutrition and Food Science; July 1981, cross-appointed Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto; in July 1984 cross-appointed Professor, Department of Physiology, University of Toronto; and in July 2001 made professor emeritus, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto.
His positions while at Toronto General Hospital and St. Michael's Hospital included:
Jan. 1968-Jun. 1971: Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto. Jan. 1968-Jan. 1970: Physician/Gastroenterologist, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto. Jun. 1970-to date: Member, Institute of Medical Science, University of Toronto, Toronto. Jul. 1970-Jun. 1990: Chief, Division of Gastroenterology, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto. Jul. 1985-Jun. 1990: Director, Division of Gastroenterology, University of Toronto, Toronto. Jul. 1970-Jun. 1990: Senior Staff Physician, Toronto General Hospital, Toronto. Jul. 1990-to date: Senior Staff Physician, St. Michael's Hospital, Toronto. Jul. 1971-Jun. 1975: Associate Professor, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto. Jan. 1974-Jun. 1980: Coordinator, Division of Gastroenterology (Training Program), Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto. Jan. 1974-Jun. 1976: Cross-appointed Special Lecturer, Department of Nutrition, University of Toronto, Toronto. Jul. 1975- 2001: Professor: Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto. Jul. 1976-Jun. 1979: Cross-appointed Lecturer, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Toronto, Toronto. Jul. 1979-Jun. 1981: Cross-appointed Professor, Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Toronto, Toronto. Jul. 1981- 2001: Cross-appointed Professor, Department of Nutritional Sciences, University of Toronto, Toronto. Jul. 1984- 2001: Cross-appointed Professor, Department of Physiology, University of Toronto, Toronto. July 2001-to date: Professor Emeritus Department of Medicine, University of Toronto, Toronto. October 2003 to date: Medical Director Gastroenterology at North York Endoscopy, 2 Champagne Drive Toronto. 2010 -2014: Member Canadian Malnutrition Task Force 2010-to date: Director Canadian Health Advanced by Nutrition and Graded Exercise Program 2014-?: Advisory Board Canadian Malnutrition Task Force Nov 2014-?: Central Reader for Robarts Clinical Trials Inc.
He retired fully in 2025, is married, and has three children, six grandchildren, and one great-grandchild.
Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) research
Total parenteral nutrition In 1970, Jeejeebhoy was sent a male patient with pseudo-obstruction. To send him home healthy, he had to nourish him in some way other than through eating food. At that time, he was working with his surgical colleague Dr. Bernard Langer, to nourish Langer's post-operative patients for a short period of time through parenteral nutrition. But his patient needed long-term parenteral nutrition. He spoke to colleagues and read the literature until he came across a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association by Dr. Belding Scribner. Scribner described adapting a silicone rubber and Teflon U-shaped shunt used for home dialysis to infuse a nutritional solution. Scribner called it an artificial gut and seemed to have solved the difficult problem of how to infuse a solution permanently through a vein.
After speaking to senior colleagues and facing his patient's terminal illness, Jeejeebhoy attempted to give permanent parenteral nutrition a shot using this method although not completely convinced of its efficacy. His patient developed an embolism and died. That is when Jeejeebhoy discovered the paper was theoretical and had not described a true scenario. He told his team that in future they would go back to a central line, start from scratch, and do their own thing, which they did when Judy Taylor was sent to him from Scarborough General Hospital later that year. (Interview with Jeejeebhoy, Lifeliner)
Judy Ellis Taylor On Wednesday, 23 September 1970, Judy Ellis Taylor presented to Scarborough General Hospital with intractable abdominal pain. She underwent emergency surgery, and the surgeons discovered about one centimetre of her bowel had died due to lack of blood supply. A week later, the surgeons re-opened her to discover the gangrene had spread to her entire intestine from the duodenum down to her descending colon. After surgery, she had no gut left, only her stomach and a stump of duodenum too short to attach to her rectum. Pathology showed that clots had formed in the submucosal veins of the intestine, preventing blood flow out of the intestines. They transferred her to Jeejeebhoy at Toronto General Hospital in a last-ditch effort to save her from death by starvation.
Unlike Langer's post-operative patients, Taylor had no bowels to absorb any nutrition; even if she tried to eat, the food had nowhere to go. Jeejeebhoy faced two problems: creating a central line that worked and working out what complete nutrition comprised. He worked with Langer on the former problem and reviewed the literature, including animal studies, to work out the second.
Creating a central line