Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath

Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath (born 18 October 1953) is an Indian neuroscientist. She is currently Professor, Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She was the Founder Director of the National Brain Research Centre, Gurgaon (2000-9) and founder Chair of the Centre for Neuroscience at Indian Institute of Science. Her main area of interest is the study of brain related disorders including neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.
Education and career.
Ravindranath earned her B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees from Andhra University and received her Ph.D. (Biochemistry) in 1981 from Mysore University and worked at the National Cancer Institute, USA as a Postdoctoral Fellow. She joined the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bangalore, where she studied the metabolizing capacity of the human brain, focusing especially on psychoactive drugs and environmental toxins. In 1999, she helped Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India to establish National Brain Research Centre (NBRC), an autonomous institution of DBT to co-ordinate and network neuroscience research groups in India. 
Awards and recognitions.
Ravindranath is an elected fellow of several Indian academies: Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy and National Academy of Medical Sciences, Indian Academy of Neurosciences and Third World Academy of
Sciences.