Srinivas Kishanrao Saidapur (born 17 July 1947) is an Indian reproductive biologist, academic and a former vice chancellor of

Karnatak University Karnatak University is a public state university in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, India. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). As of 2014, ...

. He is known for his studies on comparative endocrinology of amphibians and the reproductive biology of the

vertebrates Vertebrates () comprise all animal taxa within the subphylum Vertebrata () (chordates with backbones), including all mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish. Vertebrates represent the overwhelming majority of the phylum Chordata, with c ...

and is an elected 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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable deve ...

. 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, in 1991, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography

Srinivas Saidapur, born on 17 July 1947 in the

South Indian South India, also known as Dakshina Bharata or Peninsular India, consists of the peninsular southern part of India. It encompasses the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, and Telangana, as well as the union territ ...

state of

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, did all his college education, except the post-doctoral studies, at

from where he secured his graduate, master's and doctoral degrees. After completing his master's degree, he joined the university as a lecturer of zoology in 1972 and spent his entire academic career there, superannuating in 2010. In between, he obtained his PhD in 1974 and did his post-doctoral studies at

University of Kansas Hospital The University of Kansas Health System, commonly known as KU Med and formerly known as The University of Kansas Hospital, is a nonprofit, academic medical center located in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, with branch hospitals and education c ...

during 1976–79 and on an Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, he did research at

University of Mainz The Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (german: Johannes Gutenberg-Universität Mainz) is a public research university in Mainz, Rhineland Palatinate, Germany, named after the printer Johannes Gutenberg since 1946. With approximately 32,000 stud ...

during 1989–90. At Karnatak University, he served as a professor from 1988 till he was appointed as the vice chancellor of the university in 2006, a post he held till 2010. He also served as a visiting scientist at the

National Institute for Basic Biology, Japan The (NIBB) is a research institute and post graduate university in Okazaki City, Aichi Prefecture, Japan. It was founded in 1977 to promote biological research in Japan in cooperation with public and private universities, and research institute ...

and had two short stints in Germany at

Ruhr University Bochum The Ruhr University Bochum (, ) is a public research university located in the southern hills of the central Ruhr area, Bochum, Germany. It was founded in 1962 as the first new public university in Germany after World War II. Instruction began in ...

in 1995 and

University of Würzburg The Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg (also referred to as the University of Würzburg, in German ''Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg'') is a public research university in Würzburg, Germany. The University of Würzburg is one of ...

in 2004 as an INSA-DFG Exchange Program fellow of the

and

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft The German Research Foundation (german: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft ; DFG ) is a German research funding organization, which functions as a self-governing institution for the promotion of science and research in the Federal Republic of Germ ...

(DFG). Focusing his researches on

comparative endocrinology Comparative endocrinology is concerned with the many complexities of vertebrate and invertebrate endocrine systems at the sub-molecular, molecular, cellular and organismal levels of analysis. It is an interdisciplinary knowledge in the fields of b ...

of amphibians, Saidapur explained the different types of reproductive processes followed by the tropical

anurans A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" ''Triadobatrachus'' is ...

and their control mechanisms. His studies are reported to have widened the understanding of the reproductive biology of the

and concentrating his researches on Indian Bullfrog, he proposed

gametogenesis Gametogenesis is a biological process by which diploid or haploid precursor cells undergo cell division and differentiation to form mature haploid gametes. Depending on the biological life cycle of the organism, gametogenesis occurs by meiotic di ...

methodologies for producing frogs of predetermined sex. His studies also covered the behavioral ecology of anuran

tadpoles A tadpole is the larval stage in the biological life cycle of an amphibian. Most tadpoles are fully aquatic, though some species of amphibians have tadpoles that are terrestrial. Tadpoles have some fish-like features that may not be found in ...

and agamid lizards with regard to their

foraging Foraging is searching for wild food resources. It affects an animal's fitness because it plays an important role in an animal's ability to survive and reproduce. Foraging theory is a branch of behavioral ecology that studies the foraging behavi ...

techniques, food identification, kin detection and predator-prey relationships and he developed new ways for the captive breeding of reptiles. On the academic front, it was under his leadership Karnatak University introduced new academic courses on

molecular biology Molecular biology is the branch of biology that seeks to understand the molecular basis of biological activity in and between cells, including biomolecular synthesis, modification, mechanisms, and interactions. The study of chemical and physi ...

animal behavior Ethology is the scientific study of animal behaviour, usually with a focus on behaviour under natural conditions, and viewing behaviour as an evolutionarily adaptive trait. Behaviourism as a term also describes the scientific and objectiv ...

and

evolutionary biology Evolutionary biology is the subfield of biology that studies the evolutionary processes ( natural selection, common descent, speciation) that produced the diversity of life on Earth. It is also defined as the study of the history of life ...

. He is a former member of the INSA council and served as its vice president during 2012–14. He has also published several articles and has mentored 13 scholars in their doctoral researches.

Awards and honors

The

awarded Saidapur the

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, in 1991. Two years later, the

elected him as a fellow and the

followed suit, a year later. He received the fellowships of the

and

in 2009 and 2010 respectively. He has also delivered many award orations which included the 2007 Professor MRN Prasad Memorial Lecture and 2010 Professor Har Swarup Memorial Lecture.

Selected bibliography

* Madgiri, Pancharatna and Saidapur, Srinivas Kishanrao. (1985). Effects of homoplastic pituitary pars dista1is homogenate (PDH), PMSG, HCG, GH, and estradiol-17B on the ovarian maintenance in the hypophysectomized frog, Rana cyanoph1yctis (Schn.). Zool. Anz., Jena 215:1/2, 109-120. * * *

Notes

References

External links