Sarah Khatkhatay, SK Somaiya Vidhyadhar
BIOXONE BIOSCIENCES SERIES – “Extraordinary Women in Biosciences”- Day 2.
“Women have to first believe in themselves in order to take over the position of leadership” -Chandrima Shaha.
Chandrima Shaha inherited this belief right from her very own DNA, her father being a photographer teaching her to see the extraordinary in the ordinary. Her mother an artist that helped her grow imagination and pushed her to think, unlike others. Born on 14th October 1952 to Shambhu and Karuna Shaha, Chandrima Shaha is the first women president of the Indian National Science Academy. She credits her parents for inculcating her scientific temperament and streak for adventure from a very young age. Shambhu Shaha was a well-known photographer and was especially known for the photographs he took of Sir Rabindranath Tagore in the end years of the Nobel laureate’s life.
Early life:
Shaha fondly remembers her father giving her a simple telescope to look at how vast the universe was. However, an antique microscope eventually helped her find her calling. It was this very lens that changed Chandrima’s view of life. To pacify her insatiable hunger for knowledge she would collect water from different sources near her house and observe the samples under the microscope. As it is popularly said that small things matter much, these brief incidents motivated her to transform into a biologist.
On the other hand, her mother Karuna Shaha, left no stone unturned when it came to her daughter’s bringing up. She was a painter and a feminist even before the concept of feminism was born and known. She was not only one of the first women students at the government college of arts and crafts in Calcutta but also amongst the first women artists who insisted on claiming professional space in their own right.
Educational background:
Chandrima Shaha completed her graduation from the University of Calcutta and achieved her doctoral grant for research in the year 1980 from the Indian Institute of chemical biology. She studied at the University of Kansas medical center, in the United States, from the year 1980 to 1982 and then at the population council in New York City for the next two years for her postdoctoral position. Regardless of receiving higher education from universities abroad, Chandrima knew that her roots were buried deep back at home in India. Hence, in the year 1984, she connected with the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi as a scientist.
Awards and achievements:
Patience and perseverance may seem bitter and blue at first but it eventually bears sweeter fruits. Dr. Shaha received her first award which was the Shakuntala Amirchand Award of the Indian council of medical research in the year 1992 in New Delhi, India. She was then applauded with yet another special award for the 50th anniversary of DNA double helix discovery in the year 2003. The two awards that she received were for the significant contribution and efforts which she put in towards understanding the process of cell death in different model organisms.
Her list of awards and achievements are never-ending, from this list two such significant awards were the National and Indian academy of sciences that she received in the years 1999 and 2004, respectively. She was honored with a Sunday Standard Devi award for achieving excellence in the field of sciences in the year 2015. She was then elected as a fellow member of The World Academy Of Sciences (TWAS), in the year 2014, in Italy. The most recent award that she received was the D.P Burma Memorial Lecture Award in the year 2019 and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar medal, INSA in the same year. This award was for her outstanding lifetime contribution in the field of biological sciences.
Current position: The first-ever woman president of The Indian National Science Academy
The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) which was established in the year 1935 aims in promoting science in India and harnessing scientific knowledge to benefit humanity and prosperity in the nation and around. During its 85 years of existence, not once has the academy appointed a woman president. However, Chandrima Shaha was an exception, a biologist that changed that old ‘normal’ and broke this streak and took over the office in the year 2020. She was first elected to INSA in the year 2008 and worked as a vice president from the year 2016 to 2018. She has also played several key positions in science academia over the years. Shaha is also an elected fellow of the World Academy of Sciences. She served as a director of the National Institute of Immunology.
Shaha’s research: understanding cells
The main objective of Shaha’s research was to understand the mechanism that brings about cell death. The sheer excitement of looking at the core of her life; i.e. a cell and staring at them under the microscope for hours inspired Shaha for the research. She explained the connection between the mechanism of cell death and the pathways involved in making successful drugs. She worked extensively with the Leishmania parasite, which causes Kala Azar, a disease that failed to be taken care of. The research demonstrated the potential of the Leishmania parasite to execute death phenotypes along with experimental evidence showing the involvement of the single mitochondrion in apoptosis-like death in early eukaryotes. Host-parasite studies suggest the involvement of Bcl2 proteins in the survival of the parasite. Cancer and mammalian germ cells provide insights into various pathways triggered by stress and show functional relevance in the survival of the cell.
Research publications:
Shaha along with co-authors wrote papers on her research. Her research about cell death and leishmania was well worth it. She also wrote about geosciences like geoinformatics, geochemistry, remote sensing, and gaia hypothesis. Along with research papers, there were reports as well published by Dr. Shaha. She also wrote a book “Captured moments”. It was published by seagull books, Calcutta. It was a life story of her father, patiently sketching a scene or clicking away with his camera. The book, for the first time, brings together his best-known photographs, sketches along with a comprehensive biographical essay. Even though he was best known as Rabindranath Tagore’s photographer, his work also portraits other famous personalities and national leaders. His work also presents royal weddings, street life encompassing industrial photography, and its architecture. Chandrima took comprehensive documentation and cataloging of her parents’ work.
Thesis:
She completed her thesis in the year 1979, at the University of Calcutta. The title of her thesis was – Antifertility and related studies on the extractives of Aristolochia indica LINN. Her thesis appears under the Department of Science and consists of 150 pages. The motive of her project was to experiment with non-steroidal compounds that promise effects of antifertility in animal models such as mice and hamsters in both sexes, which may be recognized as antifertility agents for males in the future and as an abortifacient in females.
She focused her thesis on the plant Aristolochia indica that possesses the property of acting as an abortifacient and as an emmenagogue, respectively. Three pure extractives were selected from the roots of the plant to carry out further research. The requisites for the fractions were to be non-toxic and at the same time cause complete reabsorption of fetuses. She used the extractives and after inoculation, she investigated the teratological effects in mice, carried out a toxicity test in female mice to give non-toxic results, and then finally studied the hormonal aspects of the experiment.
Major accomplishments:
The country’s scientific community is extremely talented, given the limited amount of funding the Indian researchers have made a remarkable process and achievement, says Shaha. She served as a council member at the National academy of sciences, Allahabad from 2016 to 2017, the Indian Academy of Sciences (2013-2015), Indian National Science Academy INSA (2015-2018). In 2012, as the director of the NII, she started a program called science setu which allowed the scientists to teach the undergraduates and allowed the students to visit the NII laboratories. Currently, as the president-elect of INSA, she hopes in taking similar initiatives at a larger scale to effectively combat pseudoscience. During her stint, she also wants to encourage collaboration between scientists coming from different fields to solve problems using a multi-disciplinary approach.
Stepping stones:
Behind every successful woman, is an obstacle that mimics a stepping stone. Shaha often felt invisible as a young scientist among her male colleagues. Her presence was acknowledged only by a few. But little did this deter this feisty woman from fighting through these gender biases and reach heights that few dare to reach. From facing gender biases to being elected by a council consisting of mainly male members, Shaha made herself acknowledged. She thinks that attitudes are changing and society is in self-correcting mode, diversity in science is very important, and equal participation of both is required in research. The nature of a woman is more sincere and particular about specific things and thus their participation will pave a long way towards the country’s scientific endeavors.
Message to take home:
The world surely needs more like Dr.Chandrima Shaha that dare to believe in themselves and march for the empowerment of other women. Her knowledge and dedication in the field of science have been apar. She has left her footprints along her journey on all those around her to aspire and inspire. Shaha proved that – life is our empty canvas and we indeed should make it beautiful and memorable by doing what we love. She’s a living example that sometimes an entire universe can be found under a simple microscope.
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References:
- Basu, Mohana. “Chandrima Shaha, First Woman Set to Head Science Academy, Was Also a Cricketer, Commentator.” The Print, 10 Aug. 2019, https://theprint.in/science/chandrima-shaha-first-woman-set-to-head-science-academy-was-also-a-cricketer-commentator/273673/.
- Chhatlani, Harshita. “Meet Chandrima Shaha, The First Woman President of The INSA.” Feminism In India, 14 Aug. 2019, https://feminisminindia.com/2019/08/14/meet-chandrima-shaha-first-woman-president-insa/.
- Collaborators, et al. “Overview of Leishmaniasis with Special Emphasis on Kala-Azar in South Asia.” Neglected Tropical Diseases – South Asia, edited by Sunit K. Singh, Springer International Publishing, 2017, pp. 1–63. DOI.org (Crossref), https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-68493-2_1.
- INSA :: Indian Fellow Detail. https://www.insaindia.res.in/detail.php?id=P08-1469#:~:text=Awards%20and%20Honours%3A%20Dr%20Shaha,Processes%20in%20different%20Model%20Organism
- Shaha, Chandrima. “Antifertility and Related Studies on the Extractives of Aristolochia Indica LINN.” University, 1979. shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8080, http://shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8080/jspui/handle/10603/159745. Accessed 23 Aug. 2021.
- Thumbnail image: https://www.shethepeople.tv/news/chandrima-shaha-elected-first-woman-president-insa/
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