P K Rajagopalan

Pylore Krishnaier Rajagopalan is an Indian vector control scientist, biologist and acarologist, known for his pioneering contributions to the control programmes against vector-borne diseases in India. He is a former director of the Indian Council of Medical Research managed Vector Control Research Centre, Pondicherry. He graduated in 1949 from the Banaras Hindu University and completed his master's degree in science there itself in 1951. In 1952 he joined the fledgling Virus Research Centre in Pune, and worked under the supervision of some of the finest vector control specialists such as Dr T Ramachandra Rao. In 1957 he was awarded a Fellowship by the Rockefeller Foundation to pursue a Master's program in Public Health from the University of California. He went on to secure a Diploma in Acarology from the University of Maryland at College Park. He returned to India in 1960 and rejoined the Virus Research Centre and was asked to lead the investigation into the mysterious Kyasanur Forest Disease in rural Karnataka. His pioneering work on the role of migratory birds in spreading disease vectors as part of the investigation into KFD, conducted under the supervision of the eminent ornithologist the late Dr Salim Ali, lead to his doctoral degree from Pune University.

Rajagopalan, after his superannuation in 1990, served the World Health Organization as a member of their steering committees on Filariasis and on biological control of vectors. He is a fellow of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine, UK and is credited with several articles on vector control and acarology. A recipient of Om Prakash Bhasin Award in 1985, Rajagopalan was awarded the fourth highest civilian award of Padma Shri in 1990 by the Government of India.