Dr. A. DHARMARAJAN
Dr. A. Dharmarajan - Professor, Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research
Global Achievement Award for Scientific Cancer Research - Citation
Educated in a country of fascinating contrasts and bewitching beauty, he entered the world's top research medical institution — the birthplace of modern medicine, Johns Hopkins in the USA — for postdoctoral work in a domain traditionally considered forbidden territory: where fibroids are the rewards of virtue and children the fruit of sin.
Back in Australia — a continent boasting over ten thousand beaches, featuring kangaroos on its coat of arms because they cannot walk backwards — Professor Dharmaraj never walks or thinks of yesterday, except to give succour to women suffering from the malfeasance of the dreaded monster: cancer and cancer stem cells.
He discovered a protein — a wonder of the Almighty — that gives complex biomolecules to regulate body tissues and organs. He spent two score years in the international arena in the fields of reproduction, endocrinology, and cancer biology.
His focus was on the corpus luteum and the formation of follicles preparing the body for childbirth — an area where even gods dread to walk: the mystery of creation.
His is a splendour that can never die, born of wisdom quiet and profound. He meandered into the literary world of international journals, touching the frontiers of endocrinology, reproductive health, oncology, biochemistry, and cell biology.
His publications, research articles, supervision of research and postdoctoral fellows, and the number of speeches he has delivered are staggering and mind‑boggling.
Recognition came seeking him from many Western countries for his contribution to ovarian cancer. Sri Lanka nominated him for an honorary MD degree.
He was Research Professor and Professor of Eminence in the Faculty of Clinical Research. He is Emeritus Professor of Human Science at the University of Western Australia and Adjunct Professor at Curtin Medical School.
The Western world of medicine and research embraced him as their own son.
He belonged to the type who always soar, but never roam — true to kindred points of heaven and home.
It is our privilege, pleasure, and indeed an honour to bestow this Citation of Appreciation upon Dr. A. Dharmarajan for his eminent services in medical research at the international level.