MD. TARIQUL ISLAM: Started Details.

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{{Short description|Indian computational biologist, bioinformatician and professor}}
{{Use British English|date=March 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = R. Sowdhamini
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1964|5|24}}
| birth_place = [[Tamil Nadu]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| fields = {{ublist | [[Protein Science]] | [[Genome sequencing]] }}
| workplaces = {{ublist | [[National Centre for Biological Sciences]] | inStem }}
| alma_mater = {{ublist | [[IIT Madras]] | [[Indian Institute of Science]] | [[Birkbeck, University of London]] | [[University of Cambridge]] }}
| doctoral_advisor = {{ublist | [[Tom Blundell]] }}
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Computational studies on [[Protein Science]]
| awards = {{ublist| 2007 [[National Bioscience Award for Career Development|N-BIOS Prize]] | 2010 [[Human Frontier Science Program|HFSP]] Award | [[India International Friendship Society|IIFS]] Bharat Jyoti Award }}
}}
'''Ramanathan Sowdhamini''' (born 24 May 1964) is an Indian computational biologist, [[bioinformatician]]. She is a professor at the department of biochemistry, biophysics and bioinformatics of the [[National Centre for Biological Sciences]], a [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research|TIFR]] research facility located in [[Bengaluru]]. Known for computational studies in the field of [[Protein Science]], Sowdhamini is also associated with the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine as a collaborator and is an elected fellow of the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] as well as the [[Indian National Science Academy]]. The [[Department of Biotechnology]] of the Government of India awarded her the [[National Bioscience Award for Career Development]], one of the highest Indian science awards, for her contributions to biosciences in 2007.

== Biography ==
[[File:NCBS Bangalore Campus.JPG|thumb|left|[[National Centre for Biological Sciences|NCBS]] Campus]]
Born on 24 May 1964<ref name="Fellow profile">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ias.ac.in/describe/fellow/Sowdhamini,_Dr_Ramanathan |title=Fellow profile |date=26 December 2017 |publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> in the south Indian state of [[Tamil Nadu]], Sowdhamini earned a post graduate degree from the [[Indian Institute of Technology, Madras]] in basic chemistry and enrolled at the [[Indian Institute of Science]] for her doctoral studies from where she secured a PhD.<ref name="Speaker: R. Sowdhamini - Bioinformatica Indica 2016">{{Cite web |url=https://sites.google.com/site/bioindica2016/news-and-updates/speakerrsowdhamini |title=Speaker: R. Sowdhamini – Bioinformatica Indica 2016 |date=26 December 2017 |website=BioIndica – Google |access-date=26 December 2017 }}{{Dead link|date=November 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Subsequently, she did her post-doctoral work in the UK, first at [[Birkbeck, University of London]]{{Refn|group=note|Under the guidance of [[Tom Blundell]], a [[Knight Bachelor]]}} and later, at the [[University of Cambridge]]. On her return to India, she joined the [[National Centre for Biological Sciences]] (NCBS), a research facility in [[Bengaluru]], jointly funded by the [[Tata Institute of Fundamental Research]] and the [[Department of Atomic Energy]] as a member of faculty<ref name="Indian fellow">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail/P09-1497 |title=Indian fellow |date=21 December 2017 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=21 December 2017 |archive-date=23 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171223220241/http://insaindia.res.in/detail/P09-1497 }}</ref> where she serves as a professor at the department of biochemistry, biophysics and bioinformatics.<ref name="Faculty - NCBS">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty |title=Faculty – NCBS |date=26 December 2017 |website=National Centre for Biological Sciences |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> She also serves as a collaborator at the Centre for Cardiovascular Biology and Disease of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem) of the [[Department of Biotechnology]].<ref name="Faculty - InStem">{{Cite web |url=https://instem.res.in/faculty |title=Faculty – InStem |date=26 December 2017 |website=Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine |access-date=26 December 2017 |archive-date=26 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171226143620/http://instem.res.in/faculty }}</ref>

== Legacy ==
[[File:Starr 080117-1577 Ocimum tenuiflorum.jpg|thumb|150px|[[Tulsi]] plant]]
Sowdhamini's research is in the fields of computational studies of [[Protein Science]] as well as [[genome sequencing]] and she is reported to have done advanced research in the code development for studying [[Protein folding]] and unfolding.<ref name="WestmorelandKollman2013">{{cite book|author1=Phillip R. Westmoreland|author2=Peter A. Kollman|author3=Anne M. Chaka, Peter T. Cummings, Keiji Morokuma, Matthew Neurock, Ellen B. Stechel, Priya Vashishta|title=Applying Molecular and Materials Modeling|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DIPrCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA184|date=17 April 2013|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-94-017-0765-7|pages=184–}}</ref> She leads a group of scientists engaged in the computational studies of proteins with regard to their ''random rearrangements during evolution''<ref name="Lab Members - NCBS">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty/mini-lab-members |title=Lab Members – NCBS |date=26 December 2017 |website=ncbs.res.in |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> and they have carried out genome surveys of several [[protein families]] and [[Protein superfamily|superfamilies]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty/mini |title=Prof. R. Sowdhamini – NCBS |date=26 December 2017 |website=National Centre for Biological Sciences |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> Her team was successful in preparing the draft genome of [[Ocimum tenuiflorum]] (commonly known as Tulsi), a plant with medicinal properties, for the first time which assisted in identifying the genes responsible for the production of [[Ursolic acid]], a [[triterpenoid]] and [[Eugenol]], a [[phenylpropanoid]], compounds responsible for the medicinal properties of the plant.<ref name="Scientists decode humble tulsi">{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/home/science/Scientists-decode-humble-tulsi/articleshow/48893673.cms |title=Scientists decode humble tulsi |date=10 September 2015 |work=The Times of India |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Medicinal properties of tulsi unravelled">{{Cite news |url=http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/health/medicinal-properties-of-tulsi-unravelled/article7593813.ece |title=Medicinal properties of tulsi unravelled |last=Prasad |first=R. |date=30 August 2015 |work=The Hindu |access-date=26 December 2017 |issn=0971-751X}}</ref> She was the lead developer of ''3DSwap'', a database of 3D domain-swapped proteins.<ref name="Swapping long-drawn data searches for ingenuity: 3DSwap">{{Cite news |url=http://news.ncbs.res.in/archivednews/story/swapping-long-drawn-data-searches-ingenuity-3dswap |title=Swapping long-drawn data searches for ingenuity: 3DSwap |date=13 March 2012 |work=NCBS news |access-date=26 December 2017 }}</ref> Besides, along with [[James Spudich]] of the [[Stanford University]] and Henrik Flyvbjerg of the [[Technical University of Denmark]], she led the project for studying coiled coil interactions in proteins, a collaborative project of the two institutions and the National Centre for Biological Sciences.<ref name="VLife to develop Advanced Technology for NCBS, Bengaluru, Stanford University and Technical University of Denmark">{{Cite news |url=http://businesswireindia.com/news/news-details/vlife-develop-advanced-technology-ncbs-bengaluru-stanford-university-technical-university-denmark/22023 |title=VLife to develop Advanced Technology for NCBS, Bengaluru, Stanford University and Technical University of Denmark |date=25 March 2010 |work=Business Wire India |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> Her studies have been documented by way of a number of articles<ref name="Browse by Fellow">{{Cite web |url=http://repository.ias.ac.in/view/fellows/Sowdhamini=3ARamanathan=3A=3A.html |title=Browse by Fellow |date=26 December 2017 |publisher=Indian Academy of Sciences |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref>{{Refn|group=note|Please see ''Selected bibliography'' section}} and [[ResearchGate]], an online repository of scientific articles has listed 427 of them.<ref name="On ResearchGate">{{Cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Ramanathan_Sowdhamini |title=On ResearchGate |date=21 December 2017 |access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref> She sits in the editorial board of ''Bioinformation'' journal<ref name="Editorial Board Bioinformation">{{Cite web |url=http://www.bioinformation.net/journal/editorialbrd.htm |title=Editorial Board Bioinformation |date=26 December 2017 |website=bioinformation.net |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> and has also mentored many post-graduate, doctoral ad post-doctoral scholars in their research.<ref name="Nitish Sathyanarayanan NCBS">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty/student/135/457 |title=Nitish Sathyanarayanan NCBS |date=26 December 2017 |website=ncbs.res.in |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Shaik Naseer Pasha NCBS">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty/student/135/452 |title=Shaik Naseer Pasha NCBS |date=26 December 2017 |website=ncbs.res.in |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref><ref name="Oommen K. Mathew NCBS">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty/student/135/458 |title=Oommen K. Mathew NCBS |date=26 December 2017 |website=ncbs.res.in |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref>

== Awards and honours ==
The [[Department of Biotechnology]] of the Government of India awarded Sowdhamini the [[National Bioscience Award for Career Development]], one of the highest Indian science awards in 2007.<ref name="Awardees of National Bioscience Awards for Career Development">{{Cite web |url=http://dbtindia.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/list_of_bioscience_awardees.pdf |title=Awardees of National Bioscience Awards for Career Development |year=2016 |publisher=Department of Biotechnology |access-date=20 November 2017 |archive-date=4 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304191331/http://dbtindia.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/list_of_bioscience_awardees.pdf }}</ref> She was elected as a fellow by the [[Indian Academy of Sciences]] in 2010<ref name="Fellowship - Indian Academy of Sciences">{{Cite web |url=http://www.ias.ac.in/listing/fellows/women |title=Fellowship – Indian Academy of Sciences |date=21 December 2017 |website=ias.ac.in |access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref> and she received the [[Human Frontier Science Program]] Award the same year.<ref name="Prof. R. Sowdhamini: HFSP Awardee - NCBS news">{{Cite web |url=http://news.ncbs.res.in/archivednews/story/prof-r-sowdhamini-hfsp-awardee |title=Prof. R. Sowdhamini: HFSP Awardee – NCBS news |date=23 April 2011 |website=news.ncbs.res.in |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> A year later, The [[Indian National Science Academy]] elected her as a fellow in 2011.<ref name="INSA Year Book 2016">{{Cite web |url=http://www.insaindia.res.in/pdf/YearBook_2016.pdf |title=INSA Year Book 2016 |date=26 December 2017 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> She is also a recipient of the Bharat Jyoti Award of the [[India International Friendship Society]].<ref name="Prof. R. Sowdhamini - News - NCBS">{{Cite web |url=https://www.ncbs.res.in/faculty/mini-news |title=Prof. R. Sowdhamini – News – NCBS |website=ncbs.res.in |access-date=26 December 2017}}</ref> She is a J. C. Bose National Fellow of the [[Department of Science and Technology (India)|Department of Science and Technology]] since 2016.

== Selected bibliography ==
* {{Cite journal |last1=Madan |first1=Lalima L. |last2=Veeranna |first2=S. |last3=Shameer |first3=Khader |last4=Reddy |first4=Chilamakuri C. S. |last5=Sowdhamini |first5=R. |last6=Gopal |first6=B. |date=13 September 2011 |title=Modulation of Catalytic Activity in Multi-Domain Protein Tyrosine Phosphatases |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=6 |issue=9 |article-number=e24766 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0024766 |pmid=21931847 |issn=1932-6203|pmc=3172300 |bibcode=2011PLoSO...624766M |doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Syamaladevi |first1=Divya P. |last2=Sowdhamini |first2=R. |date=26 September 2011 |title=Evolutionary traces decode molecular mechanism behind fast pace of myosin XI |journal=BMC Structural Biology |volume=11 |page=35 |doi=10.1186/1472-6807-11-35 |pmid=21942950 |issn=1472-6807|pmc=3209465 |doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Jitendra |last2=Choudhary |first2=Bikash C. |last3=Metpally |first3=Raghu |last4=Zheng |first4=Qun |last5=Nonet |first5=Michael L. |last6=Ramanathan |first6=Sowdhamini |last7=Klopfenstein |first7=Dieter R. |last8=Koushika |first8=Sandhya P. |date=4 November 2010 |title=The Caenorhabditis elegans Kinesin-3 Motor UNC-104/KIF1A Is Degraded upon Loss of Specific Binding to Cargo |journal=PLOS Genetics |volume=6 |issue=11 |article-number=e1001200 |doi=10.1371/journal.pgen.1001200 |pmid=21079789 |pmc=2973836 |issn=1553-7404 |doi-access=free }}

== See also ==
{{Div col}}
* [[Computational chemistry]]
* [[Protein tyrosine phosphatase]]
{{div col end}}
{{portal|India|Biology}}

== Notes ==
{{reflist|group=note|2}}

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite news |url=http://www.deccanherald.com/content/500915/indian-scientists-decode-tulsi-plant.html |title=Indian scientists decode Tulsi plant genome |date=14 September 2015 |work=Deccan Herald |access-date=26 December 2017}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WRsuyM6348w |title=Genes to Olfaction: 60 Years in Science: Jan3 Reminiscences |date=6 January 2012 |publisher= TheNCBSnewsteam |format=YouTube video |access-date=26 December 2017}}
* {{Cite web |url=http://cdfd.org.in/labpages/LCB_usr.html |title=CDFD :: Computational Biology :: Dr. U S Raghavender |date=26 December 2017 |website=cdfd.org.in |access-date=26 December 2017}}

{{N-BIOS Laureates 1999–2009}}
{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sowdhamini, R.}}
[[Category:N-BIOS Prize recipients]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian biologists]]
[[Category:1964 births]]
[[Category:Scientists from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Indian biochemists]]
[[Category:Indian bioinformaticians]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:IIT Madras alumni]]
[[Category:Indian Institute of Science alumni]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the National Centre for Biological Sciences]]
[[Category:Alumni of Birkbeck, University of London]]
[[Category:Alumni of the University of Cambridge]]
[[Category:Indian women scientists]]
[[Category:Indian women biologists]]

R. Sowdhamini - Revision history

MD. TARIQUL ISLAM: Started Details.