Govindarajan Padmanaban

Indian biochemist and biotechnologist

Govindarajan Padmanaban
Born (1938-03-20) 20 March 1938 (age 86)
Madras, India
NationalityIndian
Alma materIndian Institute of Science, Bengaluru
Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi
Presidency College, Chennai
AwardsPadma Bhushan (2003)
Padma Shri (1991)
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (1983)
Scientific career
FieldsBiochemistry
InstitutionsIndian Institute of Science
St Mary's Hospital Medical School
University of Chicago
Doctoral advisorP. S. Sarma

Govindarajan Padmanaban (born 20 March 1938, in Madras) is an Indian biochemist and biotechnologist. He was the former director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), and presently serves as honorary professor in the department of biochemistry at IISc and Chancellor of Central University of Tamil Nadu.[1]

Early life and education

Padmanaban was brought up in a family of engineers. He belongs to Tanjore district of Tamil Nadu but had settled in Bangalore. After completing his schooling in Bangalore, he joined an Engineering College. However, he found engineering uninteresting, and he joined the Presidency College in Madras to complete a bachelor's degree in chemistry. He completed his master's degree in Soil Chemistry at Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi and Ph.D. in biochemistry at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore in 1966.[2]

Research

In the early years of his research, he primarily worked in the transcriptional regulation of Eukaryotic genes in the liver. He was interested in elucidating the multifaceted role of heme in cellular processes. His group discovered the heme-biosynthetic pathway in the malarial parasite and showed it to be a drug target. He has also been interested in the area of vaccine development. His team was successful in showing the antimalarial property of Curcumin and its efficacy in combination therapy in 2004.[3]

Awards

References

  1. ^ "Chancellor". Central University of Tamil Nadu. Retrieved 27 June 2021.
  2. ^ Diamond, Bruce (2003). "Profile: Govindarajan Padmanaban". Nature Medicine. 9 (8): 985. doi:10.1038/nm0803-985. PMID 12894150. S2CID 29954165.
  3. ^ Reddy, Raju C.; Vatsala, Palakkodu G.; Keshamouni, Venkateshwar G.; Padmanaban, Govindarajan; Rangarajan, Pundi N. (2005). "Curcumin for malaria therapy". Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications. 326 (2): 472–4. doi:10.1016/j.bbrc.2004.11.051. PMID 15582601.
  4. ^ a b "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  5. ^ "List of Fellows NAMS" (PDF). National Academy of Medical Sciences. 2016. Retrieved 19 March 2016.
  • Siddharthan, Rahul (2007). "The case of the Padmanaban Committee". Current Science. 93 (3): 281–2.
  • Search Results for author Padmanaban G on PubMed.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Govindarajan Padmanaban.
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Preceded by Director, Indian Institute of Science
1994–1998 		Succeeded by
Govardhan Mehta
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