Sanjay Deshpande

Sanjay Deshpande was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor at the age of 29 after a massive grand mal seizure landed him in the emergency room on the day he landed on Harvard University's campus to start his Master's program in September 2021. The same week, he flew back to India to get a 7-hour-long brain surgery. It's been over a year since and he's still tumor-free.

He's passionate about mental health, queer rights and cancer advocacy. He loves to dance and has recently started writing poetry. He hopes to publish a memoir someday and travel the world before he kicks the bucket.

He led the effort to conceptualise, manage, write and publish his first book 'Don't Ask Me How I'm Doing' with several other contributors to raise awareness about the unique challenges faced by South Asian and Indian Young Adult Cancer Patients, Survivors and Caregivers. He hopes this book will help hundreds, if not thousands, of others who have to deal with an insidious disease like cancer when they are at the peak of their lives and careers.

He currently lives in Hyderabad (India) with his family and consults as a learning designer, workshop facilitator and trained coach with several Edtech start-ups from across the country. He will be going back to Harvard in August 2023 to finish what he started.

For more details, look him up at https://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjayndeshpande/