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K. Vijayraghavan

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Krishnaswamy Vijayraghavan
FRS
Vijayraghavan in December 2017
3rd Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India
In office
April 2018 – 2 April 2022
PresidentRam Nath Kovind
Prime MinisterNarendra Modi
Preceded byRajagopala Chidambaram
Succeeded byAjay K. Sood
Personal details
Born (1954-02-03) 3 February 1954 (age 70)
NationalityIndia
Alma materIndian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
AwardsPadma Shri
Fellow of the Royal Society
Infosys Prize
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Foreign Associate, US National Academy of Sciences.
Scientific career
FieldsGenetics
Neurogenetics
InstitutionsThe National Centre for Biological Sciences

Krishnaswamy Vijayraghavan (born 3 February 1954) is an emeritus professor and former director of the National Centre for Biological Sciences.[1] On 26 March 2018, the Government of India appointed him as the Principal Scientific Adviser to succeed Dr. R Chidamabaram. His term as Principal Scientific Adviser ended on 2 April 2022. In 2012, he was elected a fellow of The Royal Society and in April 2014 he was elected as a foreign associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.[2] He was conferred the Padma Shri on 26 January 2013 and is also a recipient of the Infosys Prize in the life sciences category in 2009.[3][4]

Education and early career

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Vijayraghavan graduated with a Bachelor of Technology degree in chemical engineering from IIT Kanpur in 1975 and a master's in 1977. He completed his doctoral research in 1983 in the field of molecular biology and holds a Ph.D. from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research. During his post-doctoral work, from 1984 to 1985, he was a research fellow and then, from 1986 to 1988, a senior research fellow at the California Institute of Technology.[5]

Career in India

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In 1988, he joined the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research as a Reader and in 1992, when the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), which is under the aegis of Tata Institute of Fundamental Research was founded, joined NCBS. In August 1991, he moved to Bangalore and was instrumental in the establishment of NCBS in Bangalore.[6] He is an emeritus professor in the field of developmental genetics and former director of the National Centre of Biological Sciences.

His fields of specialization are developmental biology, genetics and neurogenetics. His research primarily focuses on the important principles and mechanisms that control the nervous system and muscles during development and how these neuromuscular systems direct specific locomotor behaviours. This was achieved by using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. By patterning the segmental organization of the fly body plan, his research was able to shed more light on the functions of Hox genes in directing neuromuscular connectivity and motor behaviours.

Vijayraghavan is a member of the board of governors of the Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology,[7] and a senior editor of the journal eLife.[8] Vijayraghavan was the secretary[9] of Department of Biotechnology (DBT), India, from January 2013 replacing Maharaj Kishan Bhan. to February 2018.[10]

Vijayraghavan led a 9 member committee, under the Prime Minister's Office, to advise on reforms for the DRDO, and the committee submitted its report in July 2024.[11]

Honors and achievements

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In 1997, he was elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences.[12]

In 1998, Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology award by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.[13] In 1999, he became an honorary faculty member of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research. In the same year, he became a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy. He became a member of the editorial board of Journal of Genetics in the year 2000 and a member of the Asia-Pacific International Molecular Biology Network in the year 2001.[14]

In 2003, he received the Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT Kanpur.[15]

In 2006, he was awarded the J. C. Bose Fellowship.[16]

In 2010, he was elected fellow of TWAS, the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World.[17]

In 2012, he received the H. K. Firodia Award "for his original contributions to the field of life sciences, particularly to developmental biology, genetics and neurogenetics."[18] In the same year he became Fellow of Royal Society.

In 2013, he was conferred the Padma Shri by the President of India.[19]

In April 2014, he was elected [20] a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.

In March 2018, he was appointed [21] as Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India.

In 2021 he was elected to the American Philosophical Society.[22]

References

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  1. ^ "Management and Administration of NCBS".
  2. ^ "April 29, 2014: NAS Members and Foreign Associates Elected". 18 August 2015. Archived from the original on 18 August 2015. Retrieved 28 May 2020.
  3. ^ "List of Padma Awardees – NDTV". Retrieved 26 January 2013.
  4. ^ "Infosys Prize laureate in life sciences in 2009 – Prof. K. VijayRaghavan". Archived from the original on 20 April 2011. Retrieved 17 January 2012.
  5. ^ "Prof. K. VijayRaghavan". IIT Kanpur. Retrieved 4 December 2024.
  6. ^ "History of National Centre of Biological Sciences". Retrieved 18 January 2012.
  7. ^ Board of Governors | Okinawa Institute of Science and Technology Graduate University OIST. Oist.jp. Retrieved on 8 October 2013.
  8. ^ K Vijay Raghavan, Senior editor – Genetics & genomics Archived 25 September 2013 at the Wayback Machine. elifesciences.org
  9. ^ "Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT, India)". Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 1 July 2016.
  10. ^ Events:: DBT - Department of Biotechnology Archived 9 November 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Dbtindia.nic.in (28 January 2013). Retrieved on 8 October 2013.
  11. ^ Pandit, Rajat (30 July 2024). "DRDO overhaul on course, government to also take final call on 'contentious' reforms". The Times of India. ISSN 0971-8257. Retrieved 27 October 2024.
  12. ^ "Fellow Profile of Prof. Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan". Retrieved 18 January 2012.
  13. ^ "Recipients of S. S. Bhatnagar Award in biological sciences". Archived from the original on 10 February 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  14. ^ "Recipients of Prizes, Travelships, Scholarships (April'99-March'01) in NCBS". Archived from the original on 13 January 2012. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  15. ^ "Distinguished Alumnus Award of IIT Kanpur". Archived from the original on 27 September 2011. Retrieved 19 January 2012.
  16. ^ "Research Fellowships granted under the Research & Development Support (SERC) scheme during 2006–07" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2011.
  17. ^ "News- K. VijayRaghavan elected Fellow of TWAS". International Centre for Theoretical Sciences. 20 October 2010.
  18. ^ "H K Firodia award for scientists Ramakrishnan and Raghavan". The Times of India. 30 August 2012. Archived from the original on 26 January 2013.
  19. ^ "Padma Awards" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India. 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on 15 October 2015. Retrieved 21 July 2015.
  20. ^ "April 29, 2014: NAS Members and Foreign Associates Elected". Archived from the original on 18 August 2015. Retrieved 31 December 2016.
  21. ^ "Events:: DBT - Department of Biotechnology". Archived from the original on 9 November 2013. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
  22. ^ "The American Philosophical Society Welcomes New Members for 2021".
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