Sir Ram Nath Chopra CIE, IMS (17 August 1882 – 13 June 1973) was an

Indian Medical Service The Indian Medical Service (IMS) was a military medical service in British India, which also had some civilian functions. It served during the two World Wars, and remained in existence until the independence of India in 1947. Many of its officer ...

officer and a

doyen Doyen and doyenne (from the French word ''doyen'', ''doyenne'' in the feminine grammatical gender) is the senior ambassador by length of service in a particular country. In the English language, the meaning of doyen (feminine form: doyenne) ha ...

science Science is a systematic endeavor that Scientific method, builds and organizes knowledge in the form of Testability, testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earli ...

and

medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...

of India. He is considered the "Father of Indian Pharmacology" for his work on pharmaceuticals and his quest for self-sufficiency of India in drugs through the experimental evaluation of indigenous and traditional drugs. After service in the army, he established a research laboratory where he worked as a professor of a pharmacology at the

Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine (CSTM) is a medical institute from Kolkata, India dedicated in the field of tropical disease. It was established in 1914 by Leonard Rogers (1868–1962) of the Indian Medical Service, professor of pathology ...

which was established in 1921. Chopra was born in Gujranwala. His father Raghu Nath was a government official. After school in Lahore he went to the Government College there and then went to England in 1903 and studied at the Downing College, Cambridge. In 1905 he qualified in the Natural Sciences Tripos and was admitted BA. He received a B.Chir. in 1908 and an MA in 1909. He worked under Walter E. Dixon professor of the newly established position in pharmacology. He was inspired by the experimental approaches in pharmacology. While at St. Bartholomew's Hospital in London, Chopra wrote the examination for the Indian Medical Service and stood third in it. Chopra was commissioned a lieutenant in the Indian Medical Service on 1 August 1908 and promoted to captain on 1 August 1911. He saw active service in East Africa and in the Afghan War of 1919. He was promoted to the temporary rank of major on 7 May 1919 and confirmed in the substantive rank on 1 August 1920, (back-dated to 1 February 1920). In 1922 he was appointed Professor of Pharmacology at the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine which had been established the year before. He took a special interest in indigenous drugs and noted that a key aim for India should be self-sufficiency in drug resources. He conducted pioneering studies on herbal remedies including ''

Rauvolfia serpentina ''Rauvolfia serpentina'', the Indian snakeroot, devil pepper, or serpentine wood, is a species of flower in the milkweed family Apocynaceae. It is native to the Indian subcontinent and East Asia (from India to Indonesia). ''Rauvolfia'' is a pe ...

''. He headed a Drugs Enquiry Committee of 1930–31 which examined the need for imports, control and legislation. Chopra took an interest in public health. He was invested as a Companion of the

Order of the Indian Empire The Most Eminent Order of the Indian Empire is an order of chivalry founded by Queen Victoria on 1 January 1878. The Order includes members of three classes: #Knight Grand Commander (GCIE) #Knight Commander ( KCIE) #Companion ( CIE) No appoi ...

(CIE) in the

1934 New Year Honours The 1934 New Year Honours were appointments by King George V to Orders, decorations, and medals of the United Kingdom, various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of the United Kingdom and British Empire. They were an ...

list and knighted in the 1941 New Year Honours list. Government of India issued a postal stamp on his 101st birth anniversary with a denomination of Fifty paise

Bibliography

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References

External links

Glossary Of Indian Medicinal Plants – with S.L. Nayar and I.C. Chopra (1956)

A review of work on Indian medicinal plants – with I.C. Chopra (1955)

A Handbook of Tropical Therapeutics (1936)

Indigenous Drugs of India (1933)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chopra, Ram Nath Indian pharmacologists Indian Knights Bachelor Knights Bachelor Companions of the Order of the Indian Empire 1882 births 1973 deaths 20th-century Indian medical doctors Medical doctors from Punjab, India People from Gujranwala Expatriates of British India in the United Kingdom