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 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 ...

in Bangalore. She was the founder director of the National Brain Research Centre, 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 neurons, in the process known as neurodegeneration. Neuronal damage may also ultimately result in their death. Neurodegenerative diseases include amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, mul ...

such as

Alzheimer's Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

and

Parkinson's Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a neurodegenerative disease primarily of the central nervous system, affecting both motor and non-motor systems. Symptoms typically develop gradually and non-motor issues become more prevalen ...

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

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 ...

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 (NIMHANS) is a medical institution in Bengaluru, India. NIMHANS serves as the apex centre for mental health education and neuroscience research in the country. It is an Institute of N ...

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 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 ...

National Academy of Sciences The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) is a United States nonprofit, NGO, 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 ...

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 ...

and

National Academy of Medical Sciences National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), better known by its acronym, NAMS, is a non-constitutional, non-statutory advisory body to the Government in matters related to National Health Policy and Planning and as a promoting agency for contin ...

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

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Shanti or Shanthi may refer to: In Sanskrit * Inner peace, a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress * Kshanti, one of the paramitas of B ...

for Science and Technology for Medical Sciences in 1996 * KP Bhargava Medal of Indian National Science Academy * Om Prakash Bhasin Award for Science & Technology in 2001 *J.C. Bose Fellowship (2006) * S.S. Bhatnagar Award of Indian National Science Academy (2016) *

Padma Shri Award The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

in 2010

Publications

Ravindranath, V., & Sundarakumar, J. S. (2021). Changing demography and the challenge of dementia in India. In ''Nature Reviews Neurology'' (Vol. 17, Issue 12, pp. 747–758). Nature Research. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41582-021-00565-x

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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