Kamal Ranadive
An Indian biomedical researcher who established India’s first tissue culture lab, studying pathophysiology of various cancers and leprosy bacteria.
Featuring artwork by Arghya Manna & words by Dr. Roopali Chaudhary, Sci-Illustrate Stories. Set in motion by Dr. Radhika Patnala.
STEM fields continue to be male-dominated, with women still fighting the “double burden” phenomenon of managing families and careers. Though husbands may be supportive, the extended family and burdens put on women are still affecting their STEM careers in India. These same issues were recognized and highlighted by Dr. Kamal Ranadive in 1973 (!!) when she, along with 11 other women scientists, started the Indian Women Scientists’ Association (IWSA) to promote scientific accomplishments among women scientists in India.
Early life and influences
Dr. Kamal Ranadive, born Kamal Samarath, was an Indian biomedical researcher who established India’s first tissue culture lab at the Indian Cancer Research Centre in Mumbai (then Bombay). Born in 1917 to an educated family, Kamal’s father, a biologist who taught at the Fergusson College in Pune, envisioned Kamal having a successful career as a doctor. In fact, he also wished his daughter would marry one! Kamal, however, decided to study Zoology and Botany at Fergusson College, attaining her BSc in 1934. She then moved to work and later pursue her masters (c. 1943) at the Agricultural College in Pune.
In 1939, Kamal married J.T. Ranadive, a mathematician, who was a huge supporter for Kamal to continue pursuing post-graduate studies. Kamal moved to Bombay with her husband, and enrolled in Bombay University under Dr. V. R. Khanolkar, a pathologist known for founding the Indian Cancer Research Centre. Kamal studied cytology, an emerging field at the time, and completed her PhD in 1949.
In the post-independent India, it was a common practice to send top students for postgraduate training to Western countries considered to be leaders in medicine and research. Khanolkar encouraged Kamal to continue her career as a postdoctoral fellow, and she did at John Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA. Kamal worked under Dr. George Gey (famous for propagating the commonly used HeLa cell line) learning new tissue culture techniques of primary and secondary cell lines.
Returning home
With many of India’s top students leaving for postgraduate training abroad, Khanolkar was afraid of the “brain drain” happening in India. He always encouraged (and recruited) his top students to return to India and develop their research programs in the country to attract younger local researchers into their fields. As a staunch nationalist, this was important to Kamal as well. Upon returning to Bombay, she was instrumental in establishing the Experimental Biology Laboratory and Tissue Culture Laboratory in Bombay. Kamal began mentoring students in tissue culture, and she encouraged her students to pursue diverse training, but to come back and contribute to research advancements in India. Kamal had a unique quality to foster individual scientific talent, and a way to recruit talent back to India. This quality of hers was integral in developing 3 other research units including carcinogenesis, cell biology and immunology.
Utilizing mouse models, Kamal’s research focused on the pathophysiology of cancers like leukaemia, breast cancer and oesophageal cancer. She was among the first to recognize the connection between cancer susceptibility and interactions between hormones and tumour virus. In addition, Kamal continued to work on leprosy bacteria, which was fundamental for the development of the Leprosy vaccine. As an active researcher, Kamal published 200 papers on cancer and leprosy. She received many prestigious awards, including the Padma Bhushan in Medicine.
Kamal’s colleagues and students fondly addressed her as “Bai” (a sign of endearment and respect). Her labs were often busy till late at night, and Kamal instilled the importance of hard work amongst her students. Those who knew her recounted her as a generous and hospitable woman. Discussions with her often surrounded topics of science, new ideas, achievements, what needs to be pursued, and what was relevant to the country’s needs.
Being a nationalist and a feminist
Kamal believed that for India’s scientific development, there needed to be an equitable scientific career platform, knowing that a high percentage of the country’s female talents were leaving STEM fields due to cultural and societal norms. Kamal founded the Indian Women Scientists’ Association with 11 other members, recognizing her social responsibility to the less privileged women in India who were denied an education, or to those who were forced out of their jobs due to patriarchal norms. The idea behind IWSA was simple: promote scientific accomplishments among women scientists while understanding the problems faced by women in science, and providing solutions for women empowerment. Today the IWSA has 11 branches across India with ~2000 members, providing day cares, nursery schools, scholarships and awards, to promote mothers in science and tech.
In a book chapter titled “Indian Women in Science & Their Role in National Development” published in 1978, Kamal summarized the status of women in India. Kamal wrote that despite facing discrimination in Indian laboratories, there is a steady increase of women scientists in diverse scientific research fields. Interestingly, Kamal writes about changing attitudes of men, women and families about women scientists and their work/careers, and facilitating better opportunities for married women and childcare support; issues that are relevant and still being discussed in today’s 2019 science policy. Kamal recognized women as the key to educating rural families, and the need to educate rural and tribal women on scientific progress for national development. She strongly encouraged women scientists to continue work in science education after retirement in the underdeveloped parts of the nation.
True to her word, upon retirement in 1989, Kamal worked with Satya Niketan, a voluntary organization with whom she collected data on nutritional conditions of tribal children in the state of Maharashtra. She also spent her time providing advice and education to women in rural villages and tribes in the area on health and medical care through government sponsored projects under the IWSA.
Reading Kamal’s work, you get a glimpse of a staunch feminist who recognized the needs and inequities in society, while also a true scientist continually promoting STEM education. Kamal was known to be a private yet warm-hearted person. She may be forgotten in the books, but her obsession with the advancement of excellence in science and giving back to her nation continue to impact the Indian STEM society today.
Timeline
1917 Born in Pune, India
1934 Received her Bachelor’s in Botany and Zoology at Fergusson College
1943 Earned her MSc. in Cytology from Agriculture College in Pune. Moved to Bombay with her husband and joined the Bombay University as a PhD candidate
1949 Completed her PhD in Cytology under Dr. V.R. Khanolkar and moved to John Hopkins University in Baltimore, USA for a post-doctoral fellowship under Dr. George Gey
1952 Returns home to India and joins as a Senior Research officer at the Indian Cancer Research Center (ICRC)
1952–1962 Works as the Head of the Department of Experimental Biology
1962–1966 Becomes the Acting Director of ICRC
1966–1977 Works as the Head of the Biology Division, Cancer Research Institute (formerly ICRC), Tata Memorial Center
1973 Founds and establishes the Indian Women Scientists’ Association (IWSA)
1977–1979 Serves as the IWSA President
1982 Is awarded the Padma Bhushan (one of many awards over the years)
1989 Retired as an active scientist, but continues to volunteer and work on projects with the IWSA
2001 Passes away leaving a legacy behind.
Artist’s Note
During 50s, Ranadive worked at George Gey Lab. This lab is famous in science history due to their effort to prepare HeLa Cell Line. So the image of the lab in my artwork is the exact portraiture of Gay’s lab at that time. You can find an image of Henrietta Lacks on the wall.
Sources:
About the author:
DR. ROOPALI CHAUDHARY
Content Editor Women in Science, Sci-Illustrate Stories
Dr. Chaudhary has an MSc in Genetics (University of Waterloo, Canada) studying Drosophilaembryogenesis (fruit fly embryo development), and a PhD in Cellular & Molecular Biology (McMaster University, Canada) studying intestinal inflammation in a novel mouse model. She furthered her career in a 3-year post-doctoral fellowship studying the immune memory in food allergies (McMaster University, Canada). Dr. Chaudhary’s continually strives to make science accessible, be with through her edible science art (custom cakes), teaching or her outreach activities.
About the artist:
ARGHYA MANNA
Contributing Artist, Sci-Illustrate stories
Arghya Manna is a comics artist and illustrator. He began his biomedical career as a doctoral student at Bose Institute, India working on Tumor Cell migration in a 3D environment, but soon left wet lab research and his doctoral studies to find refuge in art. Finding himself becoming increasingly passionate about visual science communication through comics, he now is an History of Science enthusiast and showcases his work through his blog “Drawing History of Science”.
Arghya, through his artwork, aspires to engage the readers of history and science with the amalgamation of images and texts.
About this series:
These are stories I wish I knew when I was growing up.
There are the stories of persistence, ingenuity, calibre, scientific achievement against all odds.
These are the stories of Indian women who were the pioneers of Science in India.
These are stories of lives that must be remembered and cherished.
Sci-Illustrate stories is proud to add a new chapter in our WIS series where through the words of the sci-illustrate team, complimented by the artwork of a very talented Indian artist Arghya Manna, we will be revisiting and highlighting the lives of some incredible Indian women in science.
— Dr. Radhika Patnala, Series Director
