Google on Monday dedicated a doodle to Indian cell biologist Dr Kamal Ranadive to mark her 104th birth anniversary. India-based artist Ibrahim Rayintakath illustrated the doodle depicting Dr Ranadive looking at a microscope.
Dr Kamal Kamal Samarath, better known as Kamal Ranadive, is best known for her groundbreaking cancer research and devotion to creating a more equitable society through science and education. She was born in 1917 in Pune, India. Though her father had encouraged her to pursue a medical education, Ranadive’s interest was in biology. In 1949, she received a doctorate in cytology, the study of cells, while working as a researcher in the Indian Cancer Research Center (ICRC). After completing a fellowship at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, USA, she returned to Mumbai (then Bombay) and the ICRC, where she established the country’s first tissue culture laboratory.
Ranadive was one of the first researchers in India to propose a link between breast cancer and heredity as the director of the ICRC and a pioneer in animal modelling of cancer development. Ranadive had studied Mycobacterium leprae, the bacterium causing leprosy, and aided in developing a vaccine.
With the aim of supporting women in scientific fields, Dr. Ranadive and 11 colleagues founded the Indian Women Scientists’ Association (IWSA) in 1973.
“Ranadive also encouraged students and Indian scholars abroad to return to India and put their knowledge to work for their communities. After retiring in 1989, Dr Ranadive worked in rural communities in Maharashtra, training women as healthcare workers and providing health and nutrition education. The IWSA now has 11 chapters in India and provides scholarships and childcare options for women in science,” Google said in a statement.
Dr Kamal Ranadive passed away in 2001.
The Google Doodle has reached audiences in India, US, Canada, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Iceland, and other regions.
