Govindarajan Padmanaban

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.^[1]

Govindarajan Padmanaban
Born	(1938-03-20) 20 March 1938 (age 87) 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
Doctoral students	P. N. Rangarajan Sendurai Mani M. R. S. Rao Varadharajan Sundaramurthy Varavani Dwarki

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.^[2]

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.^[3]

Awards

Padmanabhan receiving the Vigyan Ratna Award from President Droupadi Murmu in August 2024.

• Asian Scientist 100 (2025)
• Vigyan Ratna Award (2024)^[4][5]
• Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (1983)^{[citation needed]}
• Padma Shri (1991)^[6]
• Padma Bhushan (2003)^[6]
• Elected Fellowship of the National Academy of Medical Sciences^[7]