#  Sanjay Gulati 

Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, HMS

Deaf Service, Cambridge Hospital

Deaf Program, Boston Children's Hospital

 

 

 



   ![Sanjay Gulati is kissing his hearing dog, Plato, on the forehead. Plato's fur is black and brown.](/sites/g/files/omnuum11411/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/2026-05/39.Sanjay-Gulati-Questions.jpg?h=44eb8079&itok=_jLSKrLz) 

 



 





 

**What inspires or motivates you in your role at HMS/HSDM?**  
I first planned to be a physicist. Then I went deaf, an experience that was both catastrophic and transformative. Among the many surprising discoveries I made then was how helpful others can be in seeing further than you see yourself. That motivates me in helping patients and students make their own futures.

**In what ways do you feel you contribute to the Harvard community?**  
As a functioning deaf professional, I embody the concept of difference as simply different, rather than better or worse. I can serve as a voice for a Deaf Community that sometimes rightly feels misunderstood.  
And I can sensitize students to the sometimes awkward process of connecting authentically with those who are different, challenging the "healthy us" versus "sick them" dichotomy, questioning what "normality" and "cure" mean.

**What are you most proud of about your work at HMS/HSDM?**  
I'm most proud of filling a gap - the Deaf Community is woefully underserved. The gratitude I receive in this role is simply wonderful, as is the sense of belonging. I'm equally proud of bringing psychiatry to life for medical students - I think the field is a hidden gem,  
unglamorous perhaps, but a delightful and richly meaningful way to live.

**What unique skills and/or talents do you bring to your job?**  
I most enjoy the multidisciplinary nature of my work: weaving and weighing the aspects of medicine, audiology, linguistics, cognitive science, personal psychology, family dynamics, and cultural constructs that play parts in every deaf case.

**Are there activities outside of your job at Harvard that you feel enrich or inform who you are as an individual at Harvard?**  
While losing hearing represented the premature "death" of a part of my body, sports represent the body's untapped potential. I'm currently training for the Mount Washington road race, hoping simply to finish.

**What is the significance of the object you brought with you to the photo shoot?**  
Plato is my hearing dog, who listens for my name and brings me to anyone who calls. He's ears when I need them, and always good company. He is intuitive with patients too, hiding from fearful phobic or autistic patients, playing with children, and nuzzling those with anxiety or depression.



 

 

 



 [ View all Dimensions of HMS participants arrow\_circle\_right ](https://occe.hms.harvard.edu/dimensions-harvard-medical-school) 

 

 

 

 

 



 

 

- ## Person Categories
    
     [Dimensions](/person-categories/dimensions)
- ## Institution
    
     [Boston Children's Hospital](/institution/boston-childrens-hospital)