Dr. Rajendra Kapila was a professor at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and was a founding member of the New Jersey Infectious Disease Society.

The 81-year-old died in India on April 28, nearly three weeks after testing positive for COVID-19, according to the Hindustan Times.

Kapila's ex-wife, Dr. Bina Kapila, said he went to India — where the pandemic is raging — to help care for his family and had planned for it to be a brief trip, according to ABC New York station WABC.

MORE: Doctors of Indian descent try to help loved ones caught in COVID crisis far away

Rajendra Kapila received his medical degree in 1964 at the University of Delhi and completed his residency in India, according to his Rutgers biography. After moving to the United States, he was an intern, resident and fellow at a hospital in Newark, New Jersey.