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Govindarajan Padmanaban
Born	(1938-03-20) 20 March 1938 (age 86) Madras, India
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	University of Madras Indian Institute of Science Indian Agricultural Research Institute
Known for	Molecular Parasitology
Awards	Vigyan Ratna Award (2024) Padma Bhushan (2003) Padma Shri (1991) Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (1983)
Scientific career
Fields	Biochemistry
Institutions	Indian Institute of Science St Mary's Hospital Medical School University of Chicago
Doctoral advisor	P. 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.

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. He received his bachelor's degree in chemistry from the University of Madras and 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.

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.

Awards

• Vigyan Ratna Award (2024)
• Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (1983)
• Padma Shri (1991)
• Padma Bhushan (2003)
• Elected Fellowship of the National Academy of Medical Sciences

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. "Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) - 2024 : Final List of Awardees" (PDF). awards.gov.in. CASU, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
5. "Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar: Chandrayaan-3 team and 32 others selected for first ever edition". The Economic Times. 7 August 2024. Retrieved 15 August 2024.
6. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
7. "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.

• Living people
• 1938 births
• Indian biochemists
• Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering
• Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in science & engineering
• Indian Institute of Science alumni
• Directors of the Indian Institute of Science
• Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science
• Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy
• Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India
• Indian biotechnologists
• Fellows of the National Academy of Medical Sciences
• 20th-century Indian biologists
• 20th-century Indian chemists
• Scientists from Chennai
• Presidency College, Chennai alumni
• University of Madras alumni