The next Distinguished Scientist Seminar at the University of South Alabama College of Medicine will feature Dr. Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath, professor and chair of the Centre for Neuroscience at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.The lecture, titled "The Degenerating Brain: Mechanisms to Therapy," will take place Oct. 11, 2012, at 4 p.m. in the Medical Sciences Building auditorium on USA's main campus.
Dr. Ravindranath’s research focuses on understanding pathogenic mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative disorders with a goal to discover drug targets that can be used to develop disease-modifying therapies.
Dr. Ravindranath obtained her Ph.D. from the University of Mysore in 1981. In 1986, after completing her postdoctoral training at the National Cancer Institute and the National Institutes of Health in the United States, she joined the Department of Neurochemistry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, (NIMHANS) in Bangalore.
In 1999, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India asked her to help establish the National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), an autonomous institution of DBT, Ministry of Science and Technology as a centre of excellence and to coordinate and network neuroscience research groups in the country. She continued as Director of NBRC until May 2009 and then accepted the position of professor and chair of the newly created Centre for Neuroscience at the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.
During her tenure as Director of NBRC, she provided visionary leadership, and in a very short period attained a position of being an internationally acclaimed centre of excellence. In a short span of five years, Dr. Ravindranath established a state-of-the-art institute in a rather remote location and created a new paradigm for research by integrating mathematical and computational science into the understanding of complex biological systems.
NBRC was granted University status in May 2002 to help promote human resource development in an inter-disciplinary manner. Dr. Ravindranath networked 45 institutions around the country with NBRC with a goal to share resources and promote neuroscience.
Dr. Ravindranath is elected fellow for all three science academies in the country, namely Indian National Science Academy; Indian Academy of Sciences; and National Academy of Sciences, India. She is also a fellow of the National Academy of Medical Sciences, India; Indian Academy of Neurosciences; and Third World Academy of Sciences. She is a recipient of the prestigious S.S. Bhatnagar award (1996), Omprakash Bhasin Award (2001), J.C. Bose National Fellowship (2006), and Padma Shri (2010).
For more information on Dr. Ravindranath, click here.
To learn more about the lecture series visit http://www.usahealthsystem.com/DSS
