Raj Shankar
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/* Early career */
{{Infobox Person
| name = Raj Shankar
| image = Raj_Shankar_for_work_on_Alzeimer's_Disease.jpg|100px|right
| image_size = 100 px
| caption = Raj Shankar
| birth_date = [[2nd April 1947]]
| birth_place = [[Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh , India]]
| death_date = [[22nd August 2000]]
| death_place = [[Varanasi , India]]
| death_cause = [[Massive Cardiac Arrest]]
| nationality = [[India]]n
| known_for = his discovery that the cognitive defects in [[Alzheimer's disease]] are caused by a phosphorylation-related problem with protein folding.
| education = Phd , University Of British Columbia ( UBC ), Vancouver B.C , Canada
| title = Professor of Biochemistry , Banaras Hindu University , Varanasi India ( Gave 29 years of dedicated service to BHU )
| website = [http://www.raj.timespiders.co.in] }}
'''Raj Shankar''' ([[2 April]] [[1947]], [[Gorakhpur]], [[India]]-[[22 August]] [[2000]]), was an Indian [[biochemist]]. <ref name="raj"> {{cite web
| last = Shankar
| first = Raj
| title = Professor Raj Shankar's Homepage
| url = http://www.timespiders.co.in/raj
| accessdate = 2007-07-06}}</ref> His main fields of specialization were neurobiochemistry and clinical biochemistry. His contributions on [[neurochemistry]] are well recognized and he had been invited to deliver lectures in various prestigious conferences.
Shankar studied developmental neurobiology with special emphasis on [[malnutrition]] during the brain growth spurt. His work clearly established that undernutrition during brain development causes some irreversible changes. In 1991, work carried out in Texas and [[Yale]] with [[Magnetic Resonance Imaging]] by other workers confirmed some of the conclusions of Shankar's work. Work done during last few years of his life on developing brain show that [[signal transduction]] mechanisms are affected due to nutritional stress during brain development.
He also studied biochemical aspects of mode of action of drugs on the [[central nervous system]]. Apart from work on [[reserpine]] done earlier and published in ''Nature'' and ''Biochemical Pharmacology'', in 1987 he established that the [[barbiturate]] [[pentobarbitone]] affects protein [[phosphorylation]] in the brain. This work is important for the mode of action of drugs like [[haloperidol]] and [[trifluoperazine]]. Shankar's work in clinical biochemistry was mainly concerned with [[lipoprotein]] [[metabolism]]. At the time of his death, he had over 80 publications in international and national academic journals.
==Early career==
In 1964 he obtained his [[Bachelor of Science|B.Sc.]] degree with major courses in [[Botany]], [[Zoology]], and [[Chemistry]] from Deen Dayal Upadhyay [[Gorakhpur University]]. In 1966 he received his [[Master of Science|M.Sc.]] degree in [[Biochemistry]] from the [[Lucknow University]]. Shankar began his career studying lipid metabolism in mycobacteria at the [[University of Delhi]]. He then traveled to the [[University of British Columbia]] (UBC) to study for his [[Doctor of Philosophy|Ph.D.]] degree in Biochemistry under Professor [[Judah Hirsch Quastel]],a British-Canadian biochemist who pioneered diverse research in [[neurochemistry]], soil metabolism, [[metabolism|cellular metabolism]], and [[cancer]]. At UBC, Shankar studied cerebral metabolism during [[anoxia]]. This work showed that [[tetrodotoxin]] stimulates [[anaerobic glycolysis]] and these findings led to the conclusion that at the onset of anoxia,and in the absence of tetrodotoxin [[action potentials]] are generated. <ref name="raj"/>
Upon graduation, he returned to India and joined the faculty of [[Banaras Hindu University]] ( Department of Biochemistry , [[IMS-BHU]] ), in [[Varanasi]], India. Here he began his work on malnutrition and brain development. His work with malnourished rats demonstrated that [[Sodium potassium pump|Na<sup>+</sup>K<sup>+</sup> ATPase]] (an essential neuronal enzyme) show decreased activity during malnutrition.He also chaired as the Head Of the Department Of Biochemistry at [[IMS-BHU]].
==Contributions to the field==
He and his team later found that [[reserpine]] is a strong inhibitor of lipid [[peroxidation]] and protein [[phosphorylation]] in the brain. Shankar's work established that reserpine affects the [[cation]]ic content of the rat brain and proposed that this may be related to release of [[monoamines]] at the [[synapse]]. <ref name="raj"/>
In the early 1980s, Shankar demonstrated that there is a relationship between [[high density lipoprotein]] and premature [[atherosclerosis]] in patients with [[renal failure]] <ref name="raj"/> published in The LANCET.
==Legacy==
One of Shankar's most lasting contributions is his discovery that the cognitive defects in [[Alzheimer's disease]] are caused by a phosphorylation-related problem with protein folding. <ref name="raj"/> This influenced Alzheimer's research for years to come.
In his last work he showed that sites in proteins damaged due to free radicals can be accurately determined by carbonylation studies and could have been developed as an accurate method to denote relation between chronological age and biological age after free radical induced damage.
Paying tribute to him, the Professor Raj Shankar Memorial Gold Medal is given to a top student in Biological Sciences every year at Deen Dayal Upadhyay [[Gorakhpur University]] (Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.)
==Awards and Fellowships==
*1960-62 Awarded Merit Scholarship under 2nd year plan in India.
*1964-66 Awarded Atomic Energy Scholarship by the Atomic Energy Commission (INDIA).
*1966-67 Awarded CSIR Junior Research Fellowship at V.P Chest Institute,University of Delhi.
*1967-71 Awarded various scholorships including prestigious UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA GRADUATE FELLOWSHIP at the University of British Columbia,Vancouver B.C,Canada.
*Elected member of International Brain Research Organization in 1979.
*In 1999 elected as Executive member of Neuroscience Society of India.
* Elected Lifetime Member of Association of Clinical Biochemists Of India.
==References==
<references/>
==See also==
*[[List of neuroscientists]]
*[[List of biochemists]]
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shankar, Raj}}
[[Category:1947 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:Indian scientists]]
[[Category:Neuroscientists]]
[[Category:People from Gorakhpur]]