Lieutenant General (Dr) Madhuri Kanitkar, AVSM, VSM currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Integrated Defence Staff (Medical) under the Chief of Defence Staff. Dr Kanitkar also serves on the Prime Minister’s Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC). She is the third woman in the Indian Armed Forces to be promoted to a Three-star rank.

Dr Kanitkar was commissioned in the Army Medical Corps in December 1982. She did her post-graduation in 1990, earning the Doctor of Medicine degree in Pediatrics. Post that she underwent training in Pediatric Nephrology at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. Kanitkar has also completed fellowships at the National University Hospital, Singapore and the Great Ormond Street Hospital, London and the FAIMER fellowship in Medical Education.

She had tenanted appointments of Associate Professor, Professor and Head of Department of Pediatrics at the Armed Forces Medical College, Pune. She has also served as a Professor at the Army College of Medical Sciences and at the Army hospital (Research & Referral).Dr Kanitkar was instrumental in setting up the first Pediatric Nephrology service in the Army Medical Corps and has served as the President of The Indian Society of Pediatric Nephrology. Dr Kanitkar has served as the Deputy Director General Armed Forces Medical Services (Dy DGAFMS) in the office of the DGAFMS in New Delhi.

Gen Kanitkar has been awarded the GOC-in-C Commendation Card and has been awarded the Chief of the Army Staff Commendation Card five times. She was also awarded the Vishisht Seva Medal in 2014 and the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal in 2018.