Inspirational women scientists who made India proud

Anandibai Joshi

Anandibai Joshi (Wikimedia Commons) (Others)

The first female physician in the country to practice western medicine, she was motivated to become a doctor when her new-born baby died soon after birth.

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Anna Mani

Anna Mani (Others)

A student of renowned scientist CV Raman, she earned global fame for her work on meteorologicalinstrumentation.

Janaki Ammal

Janaki Ammal (Wikimedia Commons) (Others)

The Indian botanist conducted scientific research in phytogeography and cytogenetics. The Padma Shree awardee is most known for her research on sugarcane and the eggplant.

Asima Chatterjee

Asima Chatterjee (Image Courtsey: Indian Academy of Sciences) (Others)

She is most known for her research in phytomedicine and organic chemistry to develop cancer medicine, anti-epileptic and anti-malarial drugs. Being the first woman to be named a Doctor of Science by an Indian university, she broke stereotypes and inspired many.

Charusita Chakravarty

Charusita Chakravarty (Image Courtsey: IIT Delhi, Official Website) (Others)

Charusita Chakravarty was a professor of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi. She was honoured with several awards for her work, most notably, the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize.

Tessy Thomas

Terry Thomas (Youtube) (Others)

Known as the 'Missile Woman' of India, Tessy is the first female engineer to head a missile project in the country. Thomas is an engineer and the Project Director for Agni-IV missile in Defence Research and Development Organisation.

Rajeshwari Chatterjee

Rajeshwari Chatterjee (@nirbhaavuka) (Twitter)

The first woman engineer from Karnataka, she was given a scholarship by the government of Delhi to study abroad She studied at the University of Michigan where she obtained her Master’s degree in electrical engineering. She returned to India to join the Department of Electrical Communication Engineering at IISc where she set up a microwave research laboratory. Her research on Microwave Engineering in greatly acknowledged.

Aditi Pant

The oceanographer was a part of the Indian expedition to Antarctica in 1983. She became the first Indian woman to visit Antarctica.

Kalpana Chawla

Kalpana Chawla (NASA, Public Domain by WikiMedia Commons) (Others)

The first Indian woman in space flew on Space Shuttle Columbia in 1997 as a mission specialist and primary robotic arm operator. In the unfortunate disaster of Space Shuttle Columbia in 2003, Chawla was one of the seven crew members killed.

Sudha Bhattacharya

Sudha Bhattacharya (Image Courtsey: Jawaharlal Nehru University, Official Website) (Others)

Anacademic, scientist andwriter, she is recognised for her in-depth study of Entamoeba histolytica, an amoebiasis causing parasitic protozoan. Her laboratory was the first to detectRibosomal RNA genes on Circular DNA.

Indira Nath

The immunologist is known for her researchon the cellular immune responses in human leprosy. She has over 120 publications, reviews, opinions on recent developments in international journals. Her pioneering work is a remarkable step towards the development of vaccines for leprosy.

Shubha Tole

Shubha Tole (Image Courtsey: Tata Institute Of Fundamental Research) (Others)

The neurologist is most known fordiscovering a gene that is crucial to the proper formation of the hippocampus, amygdala, and cortex of the brain.She has won many accolades for her work, the Infosys Prize in the Life Sciences category being the most noteworthy.

Qamar Rahman

The scientist studied the physiological effects of nanoparticles. She isinternationally acclaimed for her research on asbestosis, effects of slate dust and particulate pollution and methods for improving occupational health

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