Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath (born 18 October 1953) is an Indian neuroscientist. She is currently a professor at the Centre for Neuroscience,

Indian Institute of Science 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, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute wa ...

in Bangalore. She was the founder director of the

National Brain Research Centre National Brain Research Centre is a research institute in Manesar, Gurgaon, India. It is an autonomous institute and a nodal center under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The institute is ...

, Gurgaon (2000-9) and founder chair of the Centre for Neuroscience at Indian Institute of Science. Her main area of interest is the study of brain related disorders including

neurodegenerative diseases A neurodegenerative disease is caused by the progressive loss of structure or function of neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Such neuronal damage may ultimately involve cell death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic ...

such as

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease that usually starts slowly and progressively worsens. It is the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As t ...

and

Parkinson's Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

. She serves as the founding director of the Centre for Brain Research in

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

Education and career

Ravindranath earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Andhra University, received her Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1981 from Mysore University, and worked at the

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

in the US as a postdoctoral fellow. She joined the

National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences The National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences is a medical institution in Bangalore, India. NIMHANS is the apex centre for mental health and neuroscience education in the country. It is an Institute of National Importance operates ...

in Bangalore, where she studied the metabolizing capacity of the human brain, focusing especially on psychoactive drugs and environmental toxins. In 1999, she helped Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India to establish National Brain Research Centre to co-ordinate and network neuroscience research groups in India.

Awards and recognitions

Ravindranath is an elected fellow of several Indian academies:

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, non-governmental organization. NAS is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, along with the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and the Nati ...

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Academ ...

and

National Academy of Medical Sciences National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), better known by its acronym, NAMS, is a nodal agency under the Government of India, which acts as an advisory body to the Government in matters related to National Health Policy and Planning and as a ...

, Indian Academy of Neurosciences and Third World Academy of Sciences. *

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, Applied science, applied or Fundamenta ...

for Science and Technology for Medical Sciences in 1996 * KP Bhargava Medal of Indian National Science Academy *

Om Prakash Bhasin Award Om Prakash Bhasin Award for Science and Technology is an Indian award, instituted in 1985 to recognize excellence in the areas of science and technology. The award, given individually or collectively to a group, is annual in cycle and carries a p ...

for Science & Technology in 2001 *J.C. Bose Fellowship (2006) * S.S. Bhatnagar Award of Indian National Science Academy (2016) *

Padma Shri Award Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conferred ...

in 2010

Publications

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References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ravindranath, Vijayalakshmi Living people Indian women biologists 20th-century Indian biologists Indian neuroscientists Indian women neuroscientists 1953 births Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering Fellows of the National Academy of Medical Sciences Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science Scientists from Chennai 20th-century Indian women scientists 21st-century Indian biologists Indian women medical researchers Indian medical researchers 21st-century Indian women scientists Women scientists from Tamil Nadu