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Venkatraman Ramakrishnan

1 April 1952 – present

Venkatraman "Venki" Ramakrishnan is an Indian-born British and American structural biologist who shared the 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome. Trained first as a physicist, he moved into biology and worked at Brookhaven National Laboratory, the University of Utah and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. He served as President of the Royal Society from 2015 to 2020.

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Life events

Born in Chidambaram, Tamil Nadu, India
1 April 1952

Born to a family of scientists; he grew up mainly in Vadodara, Gujarat.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Birth ✓
Graduated with a bachelor's degree in physics from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda
1971
Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Received a PhD in physics from Ohio University
1976

Completed doctoral work on theoretical physics before switching fields.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Began graduate study in biology at the University of California, San Diego
c. 1976 – 1978

Spent two years retraining as a biologist after completing his physics doctorate.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Joined Brookhaven National Laboratory
1983 – 1995

Worked as a staff scientist on ribosome structure for more than a decade.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Became a professor of biochemistry at the University of Utah
1995 – 1999
Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Moved to the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England
1999

Took up a group leader position where he continued his ribosome research.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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Published the atomic structure of the 30S ribosomal subunit
2000

His laboratory reported the structure and its complexes with antibiotics in Nature.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
2009

Awarded jointly with Thomas Steitz and Ada Yonath for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
Achievement ✓
Became President of the Royal Society
2015 – 2020

Served a five-year term as head of the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences.

Source: en.wikipedia.org
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