T. A. Venkitasubramanian

Tathamangalam Ananthanarayanan Venkitasubramanian (1924–2003), popularly known as TAV, was an Indian biochemist, known for his researches on tuberculosis and the biochemistry of bacillus. He was a professor and the head of the department of biochemistry at Vallabhbhai Patel Chest Institute, Delhi. The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1968, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography Born in Thrissur district of the south Indian state of Kerala on 1 January 1924 to T. P. Ananthanarayana Iyer and Narayani Amma, Venkitasubramanian did his early schooling at a local school before securing his bachelor's (BSc) and master's (MSc) degrees from Maharaja's College, Ernakulam. His work also helped in understanding the biochemical pathology of tuberculosis. He also worked on Aspergillus parasiticus, a type of mold which produces aflatoxin and in the biosynthesis of those cancer-causing chemicals. He published over 250 articles in peer-reviewed journals, detailing his research findings; PubMed, an online knowledge repository have listed 247 of them.

The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research awarded Venkitasubramanian the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for his contributions to biological sciences in 1968. He was married to L. Sarada, a biochemist, and the couple had two daughters, Viveka and Divya.

Selected articles