Alla Venkata Rama Rao

Alla Venkata Rama Rao (born 2 April 1935) is an Indian inventor and chemist, known for his pioneering research in the field of drug technology. He is the founder of the A. V. Rama Rao Research Foundation, a non governmental organization promoting research and doctoral studies in chemistry and Avra Laboratories, an organization dealing in intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients, used in therapeutics. An elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences, India, and Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Rama Rao is a recipient of several awards such as TWAS Technology Award, and Om Prakash Bhasin Award. The Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri in 1991 and the Padma Bhushan in 2016.

Biography Rama Rao was born in a Kapu family on 2 April 1935 in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh to a government employee as one of his nine children. to obtain a PhD in 1965. He continued his research at NCL, working there as a B Grade Scientist, till 1975 when he joined Elias James Corey, 1991 Nobel laureate in Chemistry, at Harvard University for a two-year stint at research along with the American organic chemist. After his superannuation from IICT, he founded Avra Laboratories, at Hyderabad, then capital of Andhra Pradesh, for high-end contract research and manufacture of intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients for the medical industry. The company operates out of three centres in Hyderabad and one in Visakhapatanam. during his early years at NCL and the couple has two sons, Chandra and Ramakrishna, The family lives in Hyderabad, attending to the businesses of Avra Laboratories and Avra Synthesis, a sister concern.

Legacy Rao's research, in the beginning, was focused on synthetic dyes and advanced studies on plant and insect pigments. for chemical synthesis and isolation processes, many of which are in use with drug manufacturers in the US and India. Besides being a member of many government policy-making bodies, he has been associated with the World Health Organization and the Ozone Cell of United Nations Environmental Programme. A. V. Rama Rao Research Foundation, the science forum he founded, promotes research, conducts doctoral courses in association with Osmania University

Awards and recognitions The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru, elected Rao as their Fellow in 1985. He is also a recipient of P. C. Ray Medal, Dr. Y. Nayudamma Gold Medal, INSA Viswakarma Medal, Ranbaxy Research Foundation Award and FICCI Award. Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), in association with Avra Laboratories, has also instituted an award lecture in his honour. Archive for Organic Chemistry issued a commemorative issue in 2005, to mark the 70th birth year of Rama Rao.