Kalpathy Ramaier Katchap Easwaran (born 1939) is an Indian molecular biophysicist, academic and a former Astra Chair Professor and chairman of the department of molecular biophysics of the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute was ...

. He is known for his contributions in the development of anti-fungal drugs and for his researches on

ionophores In chemistry, an ionophore () is a chemical species that reversibly binds ions. Many ionophores are lipid-soluble entities that transport ions across the cell membrane. Ionophores catalyze ion transport across hydrophobic membranes, such as liq ...

and ion-transport across membranes. He is an elected fellow of 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 ...

and 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 ...

. 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 1984, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography

Kalpathy Easwaran, born on 7 July 1939 in the

South India 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 ...

n state of

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

in a brahmin family, graduated in science from

Government Victoria College, Palakkad The Government Victoria College in Palakkad, is the oldest institution of higher learning in the Malabar region of Kerala. It holds a rich educational heritage in the history of malabar region. It is affiliated to the Calicut University and ...

and secured his master's degree (MSc) from the

University of Mumbai The University of Mumbai is a collegiate, state-owned, public research university in Mumbai. The University of Mumbai is one of the largest universities in the world. , the university had 711 affiliated colleges. Ratan Tata is the appointed h ...

in 1962 to pursue his doctoral studies at the department of physics of the

, which he obtained in 1967. His post-doctoral research was at

Tata Institute of Fundamental Research Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) is a public deemed research university located in Mumbai, India that is dedicated to basic research in mathematics and the sciences. It is a Deemed University and works under the umbrella of the ...

during 1966–67 and later at the

University of Washington The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seattl ...

after which he spent a year at Jožef Stefan Institute as a visiting scientist. Returning to India in 1970, he resumed his career at the Indian Institute of Science, holding such positions as Astra Chair professorship (1994–97), chair of the department of molecular biophysics (until 2006) and as

Senior Scientist (2006–07) until his superannuation in 2007. In between, he served as a visiting faculty at institutions such as

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from H ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private research university in the Georgetown (Washington, D.C.), Georgetown neighborhood of Washington, D.C. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789 as Georg ...

United States Naval Research Laboratory The United States Naval Research Laboratory (NRL) is the corporate research laboratory for the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps. It was founded in 1923 and conducts basic scientific research, applied research, technological ...

and National University of Singapore. Post retirement, he is involved with ABL Biotechnologies, a

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

-based biotechnology institution. Easwaran lives in Bengaluru.

Legacy

Easwaran's studies are known to have contributed to a wider understanding of ion-transport across membranes and assisted in developing a molecular model for transmembrane cation transport. He elucidated the conformational, mechanistic and kinetic aspects of transmembrane ion transport mediated by carrier

, and this helped in the design and development of anti-fungal drugs, lipids and membrane structures. He also contributed in the spectroscopic analysis of

peptide Peptides (, ) are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. Long chains of amino acids are called proteins. Chains of fewer than twenty amino acids are called oligopeptides, and include dipeptides, tripeptides, and tetrapeptides. ...

s and proteins. His researches are documented in over 90 articles and six review papers. He has mentored 14 scholars in their doctoral studies and edited two books, one of which is ''Biomembrane Structure and Function: The State of the Art''. Easwaran is reported to have been among the scientists of IISc who established the departments of Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics as centres of excellence. He led a team of scientists working on

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, most commonly known as NMR spectroscopy or magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS), is a spectroscopic technique to observe local magnetic fields around atomic nuclei. The sample is placed in a magnetic fie ...

and membrane biophysics and served as the founder chairman of the International Relations Cell of the institute. He sat in several committees 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 ...

, Department of Science and Technology, Indian National Science Academy and the National University of Singapore and is also known to have been active in promoting life science education programs in Bengaluru. He was one of the Indian scientists who successfully campaigned for the XIII International Biophysics Congress held in New Delhi during 19–24 September 1999 and has participated in several conferences and seminars to delivery keynote addresses.

Awards and honors

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded him 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 1984. The Indian Academy of Sciences elected him as their fellow in 1984 and the Indian National Science Academy followed suit in 1989. A life member of the Indian Biophysical Society, Easwaran received the Ranbaxy Research Award in 1994.

Notes

References

External links