Satyavati Motiram Sirsat (7 October 1925 – 10 July 2010) was an Indian cancer researcher.

Early life

Sirsat was born in

Karachi Karachi is the capital city of the Administrative units of Pakistan, province of Sindh, Pakistan. It is the List of cities in Pakistan by population, largest city in Pakistan and 12th List of largest cities, largest in the world, with a popul ...

, but lived in various cities as a girl. Her Gujarati parents were

Theosophists Theosophy is a religious movement established in the United States in the late 19th century. Founded primarily by the Russian Helena Blavatsky and based largely on her writings, it draws heavily from both older European philosophies such as Neo ...

, and she attended

Kalakshetra Kalakshetra Foundation, formerly simply Kalakshetra, is an arts and cultural academy dedicated to the preservation of traditional values in Indian art and crafts, especially in the field of Bharatanatyam dance and Gandharvaveda music. Based in ...

, a theosophy-based school in

Chennai Chennai, also known as Madras (List of renamed places in India#Tamil Nadu, its official name until 1996), is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Tamil Nadu by population, largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and ...

, run by

George Arundale George Sydney Arundale (1 December 1878 in Surrey, England — 12 August 1945 in Adyar, India) was a Theosophist, Freemason, president of the Theosophical Society Adyar and a bishop of the Liberal Catholic Church. He was the husband of th ...

and Rukmini Arundale.Sirsat, Satyavati M
"Exploring Nature's Secrets"
in Rohini Godbole and Ram Ramaswamy, eds., '' Lilavati's Daughters: The Women Scientists of India'' (Indian Academy of Sciences 2008): 310-313. She earned a bachelor's degree in

microbiology Microbiology () is the branches of science, scientific study of microorganisms, those being of unicellular organism, unicellular (single-celled), multicellular organism, multicellular (consisting of complex cells), or non-cellular life, acellula ...

at St. Xavier's College in 1947, and completed doctoral studies in

pathology Pathology is the study of disease. The word ''pathology'' also refers to the study of disease in general, incorporating a wide range of biology research fields and medical practices. However, when used in the context of modern medical treatme ...

at Tata Memorial Hospital for Cancer in 1958. She pursued further studies in

electron microscopy An electron microscope is a microscope that uses a beam of electrons as a source of illumination. It uses electron optics that are analogous to the glass lenses of an optical light microscope to control the electron beam, for instance focusing i ...

in London in 1958.

Career

Sirsat began the first electron microscopy laboratory to study cancer in India. She was founder and president of the Electron Microscope Society of India. Her research, which focused on oral submucous fibrosis, was published in ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

'', ''

Carcinogenesis Carcinogenesis, also called oncogenesis or tumorigenesis, is the formation of a cancer, whereby normal cell (biology), cells are malignant transformation, transformed into cancer cells. The process is characterized by changes at the cellular, G ...

'', ''Tumori Journal'', ''

Journal of Cell Science The ''Journal of Cell Science'' (formerly the ''Quarterly Journal of Microscopical Science'') is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of cell biology. The journal is published by The Company of Biologists. The journal is partnered with P ...

,'' ''Journal of Investigative Dermatology,'' and other scholarly journals. She served on the editorial boards of other journals, including the ''Indian Journal of Experimental Biology Education'', and ''Journal of Biosciences.'' She became a fellow of the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and List of Nobel laureates, Nobel Laureate Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 27 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it ...

in 1975. Sirsat retired from research in 1985, and became a social worker and medical ethicist, and took an interest in

ayurvedic Ayurveda (; ) is an alternative medicine system with historical roots in the Indian subcontinent. It is heavily practised throughout India and Nepal, where as much as 80% of the population report using ayurveda. The theory and practice of ayur ...

interventions as cancer treatment. She was active in

hospice Hospice care is a type of health care that focuses on the palliation of a terminally ill patient's pain and symptoms and attending to their emotional and spiritual needs at the end of life. Hospice care prioritizes comfort and quality of life b ...

work, and wrote ''Death, the Final Freedom'' (1998) about this work. Sirsat advised aspiring scientists, "Be honest to your work and true to yourself. Be disciplined. Never disparage the work of your fellow scientists. Be observant — never distort your log or show records to fit a preconceived theory. Above all, life is to learn — so learn, learn and learn!"

Personal life

Satyavati Motiram married fellow cancer researcher M. V. Sirsat. She died from cancer in 2010, aged 84 years.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sirsat, Satyavati Motiram 1925 births 2010 deaths Indian women scientists Cancer researchers Electron microscopy Health professionals from Karachi Gujarati people