Birendra Nath Mallick (born 1 August 1956) is an Indian
neurobiologist and a professor of neurobiology at the School of Life Sciences of
Jawaharlal Nehru University
Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...
. Known for his research on the
Neuroscience of sleep
The neuroscience of sleep is the study of the neuroscientific and physiological basis of the nature of sleep and its functions. Traditionally, sleep has been studied as part of psychology and medicine. The study of sleep from a neuroscience pers ...
, Mallick has authored and edited articles and in the first monograph on
REM Sleep. He is a J. C. Bose National Fellow of the
Department of Biotechnology
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is an Indian government department, under the Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for administrating development and commercialisation in the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. It ...
and an elected fellow of all the three major Indian science academies viz.
National Academy of Sciences, India
The National Academy of Sciences, India, established in 1930, is the oldest science academy in India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president.
Fellows
*Suddhasatwa Basu
* Sudha Bhattacharya
* Ch ...
,
Indian Academy of Sciences
The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...
, and
Indian National Science Academy
The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology.
In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Acade ...
.
The
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the ...
, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology
The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, ...
, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Medical Sciences in 2001.
Biography
B. N. Mallick, born on 1 August 1956 at
Jamalpur, a small village in the Indian state of
Bihar
Bihar (; ) is a state in eastern India. It is the 2nd largest state by population in 2019, 12th largest by area of , and 14th largest by GDP in 2021. Bihar borders Uttar Pradesh to its west, Nepal to the north, the northern part of West ...
to Manju Mukherjee and Baidya Nath Mallick. He received his BSc hons at the
University of Calcutta
The University of Calcutta (informally known as Calcutta University; CU) is a public collegiate state university in India, located in Kolkata, West Bengal, India. Considered one of best state research university all over India every year, ...
in 1978 winning B. K. S. Medal for standing first in
City College, Kolkata
City College is a composite fully state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta. Established in 1881, it is one of the heritage institutions of Kolkata, and played a prominent role in the wake of the Bengal ...
and earned a master's degree in physiology in 1981 with a University Gold Medal for securing the first rank in the university.
While pursuing his master's studies, he simultaneously did a medical course at
Calcutta Homoeopathic Medical College and obtained a degree in homeopathic medicine (DMS) from the
Central Council of Homoeopathy.
Career
Mallick carried his doctoral research on sleep and wakefulness on to his later career and worked on the neural mechanisms involved with sleep.
His studies combined the electrophysiological and biochemical aspects of
rapid eye movement sleep
Rapid eye movement sleep (REM sleep or REMS) is a unique phase of sleep in mammals and birds, characterized by random rapid movement of the eyes, accompanied by low muscle tone throughout the body, and the propensity of the sleeper to dream ...
(REM sleep)
and he established that the increased production of
noradrenaline
Norepinephrine (NE), also called noradrenaline (NA) or noradrenalin, is an organic chemical in the catecholamine family that functions in the brain and body as both a hormone and neurotransmitter. The name "noradrenaline" (from Latin '' ad'', ...
activated neuronal
Na+/K+-ATPase
NA, N.A., Na, nA or n/a may refer to:
Chemistry and physics
* Sodium, symbol Na, a chemical element
* Avogadro constant (''N''A)
* Nucleophilic addition, a type of reaction in organic chemistry
* Numerical aperture, a number that characterizes a ...
, triggering REM sleep-loss and resultant brain excitability.
According to him, REM sleep maintains brain excitability and suggested that this unique phase of sleep could be regulated by ceasing REM-off neurons present in the
locus coeruleus; his research has been documented by way of texts and articles
Besides, he has published four books viz. ''Rapid Eye Movement Sleep'',
''Sleep-Wakefulness'',
''Environment and Physiology''
and ''Rapid Eye Movement Sleep: Regulation and Function'';
the first listed, which is a
monograph co-edited with Shojiro Inoue, is reported to be the first book published on REM sleep.
He has also contributed chapters to books published by others
and his work has been cited in a number of publications.
He is a member of the Neurobiology Task force of the
Department of Biotechnology
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is an Indian government department, under the Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for administrating development and commercialisation in the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. It ...
.
Awards and honors
Mallick received B. K. Anand Prize of the Association of Physiologists and Pharmacologists of India in 1984 for the best research paper in physiology
and the Shakuntala Amir Chand Award of the
Indian Council of Medical Research
The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest and largest medical research bodies in the world.
The ICMR is funded by the Gove ...
in 1992.
He was one of the first recipients of the
National Bioscience Award for Career Development of the
Department of Biotechnology
The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is an Indian government department, under the Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for administrating development and commercialisation in the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. It ...
in 1999.
The
National Academy of Sciences, India
The National Academy of Sciences, India, established in 1930, is the oldest science academy in India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president.
Fellows
*Suddhasatwa Basu
* Sudha Bhattacharya
* Ch ...
elected him as a fellow in 2000
and he received the Chandra Kanta Dandiya Prize of P. C. Dandiya Trust in 2001.
The
Council of Scientific and Industrial Research
The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the ...
awarded him
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize
The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, applied or fundamental, in biology, ...
, one of the highest Indian science awards the same year
and he became an elected member of
Guha Research Conference Guha Research Conference (GRC) is a professional society set up by Indian scholars to develop the field of Biochemistry. It was established in 1960, and is named after Biresh Chandra Guha (1904-1962).
The first four GRC meetings were held alongsid ...
in 2004. The
Indian National Science Academy
The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology.
In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Acade ...
elected him as a fellow in 2005
and he became a fellow of the
Indian Academy of Sciences
The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...
in 2010,
the same year as he was awarded the J. C. Bose National Fellowship by the
Science and Engineering Research Board
Science and Engineering Research Board is a statutory body under the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, established by an Act of the Parliament of India in 2009 ( SERB ACT,2008). The Board is chaired by the Secretary to t ...
of the
Department of Science and Technology.
The award orations delivered by him include the Ramendra Sundar Sinha Memorial Oration Award (2001) as well as Platinum Jubilee Lecture (2009) of Physiological Society of India and J. N. Mukherjee Memorial Lecture of
City College, Kolkata
City College is a composite fully state government-aided public college, affiliated to the University of Calcutta. Established in 1881, it is one of the heritage institutions of Kolkata, and played a prominent role in the wake of the Bengal ...
(2007).
Selected bibliography
Books
Chapters
*
*
*
See also
*
Sleep and learning
Multiple hypotheses explain the possible connections between sleep and learning in humans. Research indicates that sleep does more than allow the brain to rest; it may also aid the consolidation of long-term memories.
REM sleep and slow-wave slee ...
*
Dopamine
*
Lucid dream
A lucid dream is a type of dream in which the dreamer becomes aware that they are dreaming while dreaming. During a lucid dream, the dreamer may gain some amount of control over the dream characters, narrative, or environment; however, this is ...
*
Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder
Rapid eye movement sleep behavior disorder or REM behavior disorder (RBD) is a sleep disorder in which people act out their dreams. It involves abnormal behavior during the sleep phase with rapid eye movement (REM) sleep. The major feature of ...
References
External links
*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Mallick, Birendra Nath
1956 births
Living people
People from Purba Bardhaman district
Scientists from West Bengal
Indian medical writers
University of Calcutta alumni
City College, Kolkata alumni
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi alumni
Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University
University of California, Los Angeles faculty
Academic staff of Côte d'Azur University
Harvard Medical School faculty
Fellows of The National Academy of Sciences, India
Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences
Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy
Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Medical Science
N-BIOS Prize recipients
Indian neuroscientists