Rutgers Professor, A Leading Infectious Disease Expert, Dies

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ — A highly esteemed Rutgers University professor, who actually founded the department of infectious disease at the university, has died, the university confirmed.

The professor is Dr. Rajendra Kapila, who died at the age of 81, according to reports. ABC 7 and the Hindustan Times, an Indian news outlet, reported that he died of COVID-19.

A Rutgers University spokeswoman confirmed his death, but could not comment on how Dr. Kapila died, saying medical records are private.

"Both Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and University Hospital are saddened by the untimely passing of Rajendra Kapila, MD, professor of medicine," said Rutgers.

His ex-wife, Dr. Bina Kapila, told ABC 7 that he traveled to India in the past few weeks to help care for his family there, as cases are surging in the country. He decided to go to New Delhi for a week, his ex-wife told the TV news station, although she said he had underlying conditions of diabetes and heart complications.

"What can go wrong in one week?" she said.

His current wife, Dr. Deepti Saxena-Kapila, told the Hindustan Times that he and she both received two doses of the Pfizer vaccine in the U.S. before they left for their trip. The Hindustan Times also reported that he tested positive for COVID-19 on April 8 and died April 28.

“For the last one year I have been working at a COVID-19 lab in New Jersey and had ensured a safe environment at home,” Dr. Deepti, a microbiologist, told the Hindustan Times. “It is ironic that we came to India for two weeks and he contracted it here.”

The CDC has warned that "a small percentage" of people can still get the coronavirus even after being vaccinated, in what they call “vaccine breakthrough cases" that experts are still studying. On April 15, the CDC reported there have been approximately 5,800 "breakthrough" cases, out of nearly 77 million people vaccinated in the U.S. so far, which experts said was on trend with scientific predictions, NBC reported. A small number of those breakthrough cases have been fatal.

The website Snopes, which checks media reports for accuracy, said it wasn't able to verify if he was vaccinated when he died, or confirm that he died of coronavirus.

Someone on Facebook, who said he was a family friend, commented that Dr. Kapila died of a heart attack, according to the Global Times.

Dr. Kapila was a medicine professor at Rutgers. In fact, Dr. Kapila founded the Division of Infectious Diseases at Rutgers, and the school credited him with turning it into one of the leading infectious diseases programs in the country, according to his Rutgers biography.

In addition to teaching at Rutgers, Dr. Kapila was also an attending physician at University Hospital in Newark, where he was the chair of their infection control committee. He has previously been quoted in the media for his research on the Ebola virus, and how much of a threat it posed to U.S. citizens. He was also known for work he did on HIV/AIDS.

Rutgers described Dr. Kapila as "a pillar."

"For 50 years, Dr. Kapila ... provided care to tens of thousands of patients and trained numerous generations of medical students, residents and fellows," said Rutgers in a statement Thursday. "A genuine giant in the field of infectious diseases, Dr. Kapila was recognized world-wide and sought out for his legendary knowledge and extraordinary clinical acumen in diagnosing and treating the most complex infectious diseases."

"We salute his many accomplishments and extend our condolences to his family," said Rutgers.

His ex-wife described him as "brilliant."

"He was so brilliant when we were in college, in medical school, that the professors of medicine after they gave a lecture, they would come to him and ask him, 'did I cover everything?'" she told ABC 7.

Dr. Kapila received his medical degree from the University of Delhi, India. He moved to the U.S. as a young man, where he was an intern, resident and fellow at Martland Hospital in Newark. He was also assistant chief of medicine for the U.S. Army in Okinawa Japan, during the Vietnam War, according to his Rutgers biography.

Dr. Kapila received his UMDNJ university appointment in 1973 and the University Hospital appointment in 1976.

He was a founding member of the New Jersey Infectious Disease Society, and has also received the excellence in teaching award from UMDNJ, and the lifetime achievement award from the Rutgers Department of Medicine.

His colleagues at Rutgers mourned him on social media:

"We have lost a giant in infectious disease, Dr Raj Kapila, who served for years as a leader in global infectious diseases at @Rutgers_NJMS . @RutgersBHS will be ever grateful for his contribution to global ID and remember his extraordinary diagnostic talent," tweeted Nancy Connell, a Rutgers professor and vice chair in the Division of Infectious Disease at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School.

Her tweet was re-tweeted by the Rutgers Medical School Twitter account.

Robert Schwartz, a professor at Rutgers University and member of the U.S. Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, also commented on his death on Twitter.

Be the first to know. Sign up to get Patch emails: https://patch.com/subscribe Contact this Patch reporter: Carly.baldwin@patch.com