Padmanabhan Balaram is an Indian

biochemist Biochemists are scientists who are trained in biochemistry. They study chemical processes and chemical transformations in living organisms. Biochemists study DNA, proteins and Cell (biology), cell parts. The word "biochemist" is a portmanteau of ...

and a former director of the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, India. He is a recipient of the third highest Indian civilian honour of

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

(2014) as well as the

TWAS Prize This is a list of recipients of the TWAS Prize, awarded annually by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) since 1985. Summary Agricultural Sciences Biology Chemistry Earth Sciences Engineering Sciences Mathematics ...

(1994). He has been conferred the 2021 R. Bruce Merrifield Award by the American Peptide Society.

Education

Balaram received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from

Fergusson College Fergusson College is an autonomous public-private college offering various courses in the streams of arts and science in the city of Pune, India. It was founded in 1885 by Vaman Shriram Apte, Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Vishnushashtri Chiplunkar, Mah ...

University of Pune Savitribai Phule Pune University (SPPU), formerly the University of Pune, is a public state university located in the city of Pune, India. It was established in 1949, and is spread over a campus in the neighbourhood of Ganeshkhind. The uni ...

followed by a

master's degree A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

from the

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT- Kanpur or IIT-K) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. As an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), it was declared an Institute of National Importance by th ...

and his

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

from

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States. The institution was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools. In 1912, it became the Carnegie Institu ...

with Aksel A. Bothner-By. After a postdoctoral stint at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

with Nobel laureate

Robert Burns Woodward Robert Burns Woodward (April 10, 1917 – July 8, 1979) was an American organic chemist. He is considered by many to be the preeminent synthetic organic chemist of the twentieth century, having made many key contributions to the subject, esp ...

, he returned to the Indian Institute of Science, where he has been ever since as a faculty member in the Molecular Biophysics Unit. He presently holds a Chaired Professorship at the National Center for Biological Sciences, Bangalore. During his PhD, Balaram studied the use of negative

Nuclear Overhauser effect The nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) is the transfer of spin polarization, nuclear spin polarization from one population of Spin (physics), spin-active nuclei (e.g. 1H, 13C, 15N etc.) to another via Relaxation (NMR), cross-relaxation. A phenomenolog ...

signals as probes of macromolecular conformations. As a postdoc with Woodword, Balaram worked on the synthesis of the antibiotic

erythromycin Erythromycin is an antibiotic used for the treatment of a number of bacterial infections. This includes respiratory tract infections, skin infections, chlamydia infections, pelvic inflammatory disease, and syphilis. It may also be used ...

.Prof. P. Balaram lab Webpage at IISc
Retrieved 16 July 2012

Research

Balaram's main area of research has been the investigation of the structure, conformation, and biological activity of designed and natural peptides. To do this, he has extensively used techniques such as

Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) is a physical phenomenon in which nuclei in a strong constant magnetic field are disturbed by a weak oscillating magnetic field (in the near field) and respond by producing an electromagnetic signal with a ...

spectroscopy,

Infrared Infrared (IR; sometimes called infrared light) is electromagnetic radiation (EMR) with wavelengths longer than that of visible light but shorter than microwaves. The infrared spectral band begins with the waves that are just longer than those ...

spectroscopy, and

Circular Dichroism Circular dichroism (CD) is dichroism involving circular polarization, circularly polarized light, i.e., the differential Absorption (electromagnetic radiation), absorption of left- and right-handed light. Left-hand circular (LHC) and right-hand ci ...

, along with

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science of determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to Diffraction, diffract in specific directions. By measuring th ...

. He has been a major contributor to the evaluation of factors influencing the folding and conformations of designed peptides, and has investigated structural elements playing a key role in the formation of secondary structural motifs such as helices, beta turns, and sheets. Along with

Isabella Karle Isabella Helen Karle (; December 2, 1921 – October 3, 2017) was an American chemist who was instrumental in developing techniques to extract plutonium chloride from a mixture containing plutonium oxide. For her scientific work, Karle received t ...

, a frequent collaborator, he has also pioneered the use of alpha-amino isobutyric acid to induce and retain helicity and constrain peptide conformations. Balaram has authored more than 400 research papers, and is a fellow of the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three b ...

.National Knowledge Commission member P. Balaram
Retrieved 16 July 2012 He was the editor of the journal ''

Current Science ''Current Science'' is an English-language peer-reviewed multidisciplinary scientific journal. It was established in 1932 and is published by the Current Science Association along with the Indian Academy of Sciences. According to the ''Journal Cit ...

'' until June 2013.

Controversies and criticism

In Jan 27, 2025 on direction of 71st City Civil and Sessions Court, ''Sadashivanagara Police Station'' of

Bengaluru City Police The Bengaluru City Police (BCP), formerly Bangalore City Police, is the law-enforcement agency of the South Indian city of Bengaluru. The BCP works under the Karnataka Police, Karnataka State Police jurisdiction and is headed by the Commissione ...

booked Former director of

IISc The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The institute was established in 1909 wi ...

''Padmanabhan Balaram'' including 15 other members under

Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 was enacted by the Parliament of India The Parliament of India (ISO 15919, ISO: ) is the supreme legislative body of the Government of India, Government of ...

References

External links

Prof. Padmanabhan Balaram takes charge as new director of IIScIIT Kanpur Alumni Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Balaram, Padmanabhan Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering Living people Harvard University people Carnegie Mellon University alumni IIT Kanpur alumni Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni Directors of the Indian Institute of Science Year of birth missing (living people) Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering Scientists from Bengaluru Indian biochemists 20th-century Indian chemists 21st-century Indian chemists TWAS laureates Recipients of the Rajyotsava Award 2008