Rustom Jal Vakil (17 July 1911 – 20 November 1974) was a cardiologist from India who was awarded a Padma Bhushan for his contributions to medicine.
He was the first Indian to win a Lasker Award.
Born in Bombay in 1911, Vakil completed his medical education in London.
[1] He pioneered the use of reserpine to control hypertension.
Reserpine is derived from Indian Snakeroot, Rauwolfia serpentina, known in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh as Pagal-ki-dawa (‘'medicine for the insane'’) Himachal Pradesh.