Gopalan Shyamala was a biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, whose work in isolating and characterizing the progesterone receptor gene stimulated advances in breast biology and oncology.
17 Facts About Shyamala Gopalan
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Shyamala Gopalan's parents were from two villages near the town of Mannargudi in Madras Province.
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Shyamala Gopalan's father began his professional life as a stenographer, rising through the ranks in the civil service, moving the family every few years between Madras, New Delhi, Bombay, and Calcutta.
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Shyamala Gopalan studied for a BSc in Home Science at Lady Irwin College in Delhi.
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In 1958, aged 19, Shyamala Gopalan unexpectedly applied to a master's program in nutrition and endocrinology at the University of California, Berkeley, and was accepted.
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Shyamala Gopalan's parents used some of their retirement savings to pay her tuition and board during the first year.
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Shyamala Gopalan earned a PhD in nutrition and endocrinology at UC Berkeley in 1964.
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Shyamala Gopalan conducted research in UC Berkeley's Department of Zoology and Cancer Research Lab.
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Shyamala Gopalan worked as a breast cancer researcher at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and University of Wisconsin.
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Shyamala Gopalan worked for 16 years at Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research and McGill University Faculty of Medicine.
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Shyamala Gopalan served as a peer reviewer for the National Institutes of Health and as a site visit team member for the Federal Advisory Committee.
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Shyamala Gopalan served on the President's Special Commission on Breast Cancer.
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Shyamala Gopalan's research led to advancements in the knowledge of hormones pertaining to breast cancer.
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Wanda Kagan, one of Kamala's high school friends in Montreal, described how after she told Kamala her stepfather was molesting her, Shyamala Gopalan insisted she move in with them for her final year of high school.
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Kagan said that Shyamala Gopalan helped her navigate the system to get the support she needed to live independently of her family.
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Shyamala Gopalan died of colon cancer in Oakland on February 11,2009 at aged 70.
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Shyamala Gopalan requested that donations be made to the organization Breast Cancer Action.