Surgeon Vice Admiral Sheila Samanta Mathai, NM, VSM is a former flag officer in the Indian Navy.

She is the fourth woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to a three-star rank, after Surgeon Vice Admiral Punita Arora, Air Marshal Padma Bandopadhyay and Lieutenant General Madhuri Kanitkar.

She lost her parents early and joined the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune (AFMC), her father's alma mater.

She has also set up the neonatal intensive care units in service and cantonment hospitals in Mumbai and Pune.

As a Surgeon Commodore, she served as the Professor and Head of Department of Paediatrics at the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune.