Gaya Prasad Pal (born 1950) is an Indian anatomist, professor and the director of Modern Institute of Medical Sciences, Indore. An elected fellow of the

National Academy of Medical Sciences National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), better known by its acronym, NAMS, is a nodal agency under the Government of India, which acts as an advisory body to the Government in matters related to National Health Policy and Planning and as a ...

, Indian Academy of Sciences and

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 ...

, Pal is known for his researches on biomechanics and load transmission of human spinal column. 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 l ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards for his contributions to Medical Sciences in 1993.

Biography

Born on 7 June 1950 in Indore, an industrial city in the Indian state of

Madhya Pradesh Madhya Pradesh (, ; meaning 'central province') is a state in central India. Its capital is Bhopal, and the largest city is Indore, with Jabalpur, Ujjain, Gwalior, Sagar, and Rewa being the other major cities. Madhya Pradesh is the seco ...

to Baboolal Kalideen and Kaserben, G. P. Pal graduated in medicine from Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College, Indore in 1973 after which he joined the institution as a demonstrator, simultaneously studying for MS in Anatomy which he earned in 1977. He moved to the Government Medical College,

Surat Surat is a city in the western Indian state of Gujarat. The word Surat literally means ''face'' in Gujarati and Hindi. Located on the banks of the river Tapti near its confluence with the Arabian Sea, it used to be a large seaport. It is now ...

as an assistant professor at the department of anatomy and was serving as an associate professor when he was appointed as the professor and head of the department of anatomy at MP Shah Medical College,

Jamnagar Jamnagar () is a city located on the western coast of India in the state of Gujarat of Saurashtra (region), Saurashtra region. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jamnagar district and the fifth largest city in Gujarat. The city lies ...

in 1992. Later, he joined Modern Institute of Medical Sciences, Indore where he heads the department of anatomy and serves as the director. In between, he also worked as a visiting faculty at Medical College of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia during 1985–86 and 1987–90. Pal is married to Pushpa Verma and the couple has two children, Sandeep and Neeta. The family lives in Padmavaty Colony, Indore.

Legacy

Focusing his researches on the biomechanics of human spinal column, Pal elucidated the roles played by

vertebral arches The vertebral column, also known as the backbone or spine, is part of the axial skeleton. The vertebral column is the defining characteristic of a vertebrate in which the notochord (a flexible rod of uniform composition) found in all chordate ...

and their

zygapophyseal joints The facet joints (or zygapophysial joints, zygapophyseal, apophyseal, or Z-joints) are a set of synovial, plane joints between the articular processes of two adjacent vertebrae. There are two facet joints in each spinal motion segment and e ...

in weight transmission along the

vertebral column The vertebral column, also known as the backbone or spine, is part of the axial skeleton. The vertebral column is the defining characteristic of a vertebrate in which the notochord (a flexible rod of uniform composition) found in all chordata, ...

. These studies have assisted in the understanding the spinal disorder called '' idiopathic

scoliosis Scoliosis is a condition in which a person's spine has a sideways curve. The curve is usually "S"- or "C"-shaped over three dimensions. In some, the degree of curve is stable, while in others, it increases over time. Mild scoliosis does not t ...

''. His researches have been documented by way of several articles and the online repository of scientific articles of the Indian Academy of Sciences has listed a number of them. Besides, he has published several books which include ''Illustrated Textbook of Neuroanatomy'', ''Text Book of Histology'', ''Basics Of Medical Genetics'', ''Human Embryyology'', ''General Anatomy (basic Concepts In Human Gross Anatomy)'', ''Human Osteology: Text and Colour Atlas'' and ''Medical Genetics'' and his work has been cited in many text books on anatomy. He also serves as the editor of the Histology section of the ''Journal of Anatomical Society of India''.

Awards and honors

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 science, applied or Fundamenta ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards in 1993. The Indian Academy of Sciences elected him as a fellow in 1994 and the

and the

followed suit in 1995 and 1996 respectively. He is also a founder fellow of the Anatomical Society of India.

Selected bibliography

Books

* * * * * * *

Articles

* * * * * * *

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Pal, Gaya Prasad 1950 births Indian medical writers Living people Indian anatomists Indian medical administrators Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Medical Science Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India Fellows of the National Academy of Medical Sciences Scientists from Indore 20th-century Indian medical doctors Medical doctors from Madhya Pradesh