Puttur: It’s another proud moment for Dakshina Kannada district as a Puttur woman will be felicitated with 2017 Ellis Island Medal of Honour, considered to be the highest civilian honour in USA along with five other eminent Indian-American personalities.

Officially recognized as the most prestigious award by both houses of American Congress, since its inception in 1986, The Ellis Island Medal of Honour founded by the National Ethnic Coalition of Organisations (NECO) is given annually to individuals whose accomplishments in their field and service to the country are cause for celebration.

Among the other Indian-Americans slated to receive the honor are PepsiCo CEO Indra Nooyi, author Fareed Zakaria, Harman International Industries chairman CEO Dinesh Paliwal, Yashvant Patel, Mohan H Patel. The awards will be conferred on May 13.

Born to Late Namadeva Prabhu and Late Pushpalata, Dr Annapoorna S Kini ((51), a native of Puttur is an internationally acclaimed cardiologist and has performed over 1,000 coronary interventions annually, the highest number by a female interventionist in the United States.

A recipient of many prestigious awards, Dr Annapoorna did her schooling from St Victor’s school here and completed her PU from Vivekananda College in 1984. She received her MBBS from Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru, Manipal University in 1991 with three honors and gold medals before moving to London for further studies. She is presently serving at the Mt Sinai School of Medicine New York as a cardiologist

Dr Annapoorna is married to Dr U Subhash Kini and the couple is blessed with two sons Akshay Kini and Sameer Kini. Her elder brother, Dr K Ashok Prabhu, has been serving as doctor in KMC Mangaluru, while younger brother, Radhesh V Prabhu, has been taking care of the family’s agriculture property.