A Bristol professor and a woman who helped set up a holistic cancer centre have been named women of the year.

Paediatric gastroenterologist Bhupinder Sandhu and Pat Pilkington, one of the founders of Penny Brohn Cancer Care, will be sitting down to a Women of the Year lunch on Monday to mark their achievements.

Professor Sandhu, 57, decided on a career in medicine while living in India, when she caught small pox aged eight. She saw the funeral procession of a girl who had died of smallpox from her window, and decided she wanted to be a doctor.

It was not an easy path. She came to England when she was 12.

Her school in Leicester did not cover physics and chemistry so she had to study for the qualifications in her own time so she could study medicine.

She said: "I asked my headmistress if I could have time off for the classes but her response was 'you people come over here and expect everything'."

"I studied on evenings and on Saturdays and got to medical school, but it was more difficult than if I had come from a more privileged background."

As well as rising to a top position in medicine, Prof Sandhu has had two daughters, who are following in her footsteps. One is a doctor working in London, while the other is at University College London.

Prof Sandhu has served on many medical boards and organisations outside of the field. She has been president of the Medical Women's Federation from 2005 to 2006, is chairwoman of the British Medical Association's Equal Opportunities Committee and president elect of the Commonwealth Association for Paediatric Gastroenterology and Nutrition.

She was named Asian Professional Woman of the Year in 2002 and serves on the board of governors at the University of the West of England.

She has been at Bristol Children's Hospital for 20 years, but when she arrived she was the only woman doctor on the site.

"Things have changed a lot in the last 20 years, I think for the better."

Pat Pilkington set up the Bristol Cancer Help Centre, now Penny Brohn Cancer Care, at her home in 1980.

Her friend Penny, an acupuncturist, had been diagnosed with cancer, and wanted to explore complementary medicine methods to help those living with the disease.

The organisation has grown and the Bristol Approach to cancer has gained worldwide recognition.

Penny Brohn lost her battle with cancer in 1999, but her name was taken for the centre after it moved to Pill.

Mrs Pilkington said: "I know it is the centre that is honoured, and as the remaining founder, as I approach my 80th birthday, it is thrilling.

"One feels humble and honoured and Penny would have been so, so thrilled.

"I will be taking her with me, and my husband Christopher, as it will be exactly a year since he passed away.

"It was his generosity and his money when the centre hit the rocks in the early 90s that kept us going."

The Women of the Year lunch brings together outstanding women from all ages, backgrounds and walks of life.