India is a country of diversity, culture, heredity, dreams and undiscovered gems in every other corner!

A country where the purest souls and bravest hearts are born, a country that's immense culture and noble deeds are in such a broad aspect, that sometimes we couldn't find gems in the sea of diversity

Here, we'll be enlightening those little-known stories of India’s unsung heroes, and today we pay our tribute to the remarkable scientist, Dr Kamal Ranadive.

In the early 1900s, very few families in Maharashtra would consider educating their daughters. But, Luck must have been shining brightly on Kamal Samarth, better recognised as Kamal Ranadive, one of the unsung heroes of our nation who introduced and made science accessible to all woman, and also, she was the first to depict the correlation between breast cancer occurrence and heredity, when she took birth in Dinkar Samarth’s home on 8 November 1917 in Pune to Dinkar and Shantabai, Dinkar, a Biology professor at Fergusson College in Pune was not one to give in to irrational societal norms. He always wanted that all his children would receive the best education, especially his daughters. So that they are able to live a life on their own feet, create a better world around themselves!

His daughter Kamal was remarkably well in academics she was always ahead of the lot and always opted for something new. She completed her schooling with excellent grades from the prestigious Huzurpaga High School

Dinkar wanted to make her a doctor. But Kamal chose to pursue her graduation in Botany and Zoology at Fergusson College and went on to come forward as one of India’s first and leading women scientists. She was also a chief founding member of the Indian Women Scientists’ Association (IWSA).

Later, Kamal married mathematician J T Ranadive.

After she completed her graduation, she did her Masters of Science with specialisation in cytogenetics in 1943 from the College of Agriculture, Pune.

Kamal’s relocation to Bombay (now Mumbai) post her marriage proved to be hugely conducive for her career, as if she now had the chance to work with Dr V R Khanolkar, the founder of Indian Cancer Research Centre (ICRC). Kamal continued her doctoral research under the stalwart’s guidance at the University of Bombay.

In 1949, as Kamal successfully added the Doctoral (Dr) epithet before her name, Khanolkar then made her to opt for a postdoctoral degree at a foreign university. Kamal soon happened to have secured a fellowship at Johns Hopkins University, USA and also got the opportunity to assist Dr. George Otto Gey. It must be needed to be mentioned here that Dr Gey was a leading cell biologist hailed for his work on HeLa cell line – the ‘immortal’ cell line used in cancer research.

At that time, even after the phase of Independent India, scientific research was still in its budding stage. Kamal could have continued her research in the USA, but she decided not to do so. She was always been wanting to contribute to the Indian scientific domain, she joined ICRC as a Senior Research Officer, Bombay and later served as its Director from 1966 to 1970.

Kamal recruited a huge number of aspiring biologists and biochemists to expand and broaden the scope of cancer research.

Though she was always known as a strict disciplinarian, Kamal was a favourite among her students, and they lovingly and fondly addressed her as ‘Bai’. Her team and students naturally imbibed her sincere passion for work, which is why her lab would often be found operating at full pace even in the midnight hours or the wee hours of the early.

Kudos to her tireless efforts, ICRC soon announced of having the first Tissue Culture Laboratory in the entire country. Soon, Kamal also founded the Experimental Biology Laboratory and integrated new research units in Carcinogenesis, Cell Biology and Immunology.

Kamal also happened to be one of the first scientists to pioneer cancer study through animal models which helped to provide amazing insights into the origin of leukaemia, breast cancer and oesophageal cancer.

The scientist successfully proved the relation between susceptibility of cancer and the interaction between hormones and tumour virus. Her work on leprosy bacteria led to the discovery of the necessary upgrade on Leprosy vaccine in India.

Kamal was aware of the fact that many women give up their dreams of pursuing science, being overwhelmed by the responsibilities of motherhood and family. To bring them under the shelter of science in India, the brave scientist, along with a few of her colleagues, founded the Indian Women Scientists’ Association (IWSA) in Bombay in 1973. Today, with eleven branches all over India and more than 2,000 women scientists, the organisation remains among the top scientific associations in India. IWSA also provides hostel and day-care facilities to married women, so that they no longer have to choose between science and family.

In 1982, Kamal Ranadive received the Padma Bhushan for her extraordinary contribution to science. She was also the recipient of the prestigious G J Watumull Foundation Prize in microbiology.

She breathed her last on 10 April 2001, leaving behind a legacy to be cherished forever.