Veena Parnaik obtained her PhD from the Ohio State University, Columbus, USA, in 1979. Her main research area was to understand the functional role of the nuclear lamina, especially fibrous proteins found in the nuclear lamina that provide structural support and are essential for proper cell differentiation and gene regulation. Through her research, she made considerable progress in understanding the role of nuclear lamins during embryonic development. She was the President of the Indian Society of Cell Biology (2011-13); was a member of the Centre for DNA fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad ( 2006-15). She received the Shakuntala Devi Amirchand Prize of ICMR in 1992. She was the recipient of the J C Bose National Fellowship. She was an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore.

Kamala Sohonie, the first Indian Woman to gain a PhD in science, obtained her PhD from the Cambridge University, Uk in 1939. Her research topics were proteins in milk, pulses and legumes. She discovered the enzyme Cytochrome C which plays an important role in the electron transport chain found in plants, human and animal cells. She did pioneering work on Neera (sap extract from the inflorescence of various species of toddy palms) by finding important qualities of Vitamin A, Vitamin C and iron. She was awarded Rashtrapati Award for her work. She was Elected President (1982-83) of the Consumer Guidance Society of India.

11-16 June, 2023

At Bryant University, Smithfield, United States.