Vulimiri Ramalingaswami


Vulimiri Ramalingaswami was an Indian medical scientist. His pioneering research on nutrition got him elected to the National Academy of Sciences, Russian Academy of Medical Sciences and the Royal Society of London.
He was also the director of All India Institute of Medical Sciences and later on director general of Indian Council of Medical Research and President of the Indian National Science Academy. He was regarded a teacher of international repute in the areas of nutritional deficiency. He has been honoured with Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award. by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research in 1967 and Padma Shri in 1969, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan by Government of India, KK Birla National Award, and Basanti Devi Amirchand Prize in 1966. Leon Bernard Foundation Award was presented to him by Sir Harold Walter, president of the 1976 World Health Assembly.

Early life

He was born in a Telugu speaking family in Srikakulam, Andhra Pradesh, South India to V. Gumpaswami and V. Sundaramma. His father was a government servant. He received his medical education from Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam and then went on a scholarship to Oxford.
He became the Director of the All India Institute of medical sciences. He became the Director General of Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi. In remembrance of his great service, the Indian Government has decided to name the Indian Council of Medical Research building after him. He was also President of the Indian National Science Academy. He was Special Advisor to World Health Organization and President of National Institute of Immunology.
He has served as Chair of the International Task Force on Health Research for Development in Geneva. He was Secretary-General of the International Conference on Nutrition, in Rome in December 1992. He was appointed to the Board of Governors of the International Development Research Centre, Canada in 1999.

Fellowships

  1. Ramalingaswami, V., Sriramachari, S., and Patwardhan, V. N., Ind. J. Med. Sci., 8, 433.
  2. V. Ramalingaswami, Prevention of Micronutrient Deficiencies: Tools for Policymakers and Public Health Workers, The National Academies Press.
  3. V. Ramalingaswami, The Public health imperative of permanent elimination of iodine deficiency, 2000.