Kashmiri neurosurgeon Owase Jeelani awarded for global child health work

June 16, 2025 by News Desk

Professor Noor Ul Owase Jeelani, a Kashmiri-born and UK-based paediatric neurosurgeon, has been awarded the Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the King’s Birthday Honours List for 2025. The honour recognises his pioneering contributions to paediatric neurosurgery and global child healthcare.

Currently serving as Professor at the Institute of Child Health at University College London, Jeelani is also a Consultant Paediatric Neurosurgeon at Great Ormond Street Hospital, where he was Head of the Department of Neurosurgery from 2012 to 2018. Under his leadership, the department became one of the world’s largest and most advanced paediatric neurosurgery units.

With over twenty years of surgical experience, Jeelani performs between 200 to 300 complex craniofacial and neurosurgical procedures annually. He has previously been recognised in Time Magazine’s list of the top 100 surgeons in the UK in 2011 and top 100 paediatric specialists in 2012.

He is also the founder of Gemini Untwined, a global charity that facilitates life-saving surgeries for craniopagus twins—those conjoined at the head. Through this initiative, he has successfully led several high-risk separation surgeries, including those of Sudanese twins Rital and Ritag in 2011, Pakistani twins Safa and Marwa in 2019, Turkish twins Yigit and Derman in 2020, a set of Israeli twins in 2021, two Brazilian twin sets in 2022 and 2023, and another set of Pakistani twins in Turkey in 2024. His work has received extensive global media attention, with one BBC article on the 2019 surgery ranking as the sixth most-read article worldwide that year.

The MBE, established in 1917 by King George V, is part of the British order of chivalry and honours exceptional contributions to the arts, sciences, public service, and humanitarian work. The award recognises individuals who have had a significant impact either nationally or internationally.

In response to receiving the award, Jeelani expressed his gratitude to his colleagues at Great Ormond Street Hospital, University College London, and Gemini Untwined. He stated that the recognition was not just for his work, but for the collective effort of the entire team. “All children are equally precious, and it is our collective responsibility to look after them,” he said.