Renowned microbiologist Dr Shivaji Sisinthy passes away in Hyderabad

Dr Shivaji Sisinthy, a noted microbiologist and senior scientist at LVPEI, passed away earlier this month. Known for studying microbes in extreme environments, he was the first Indian biologist to join both Arctic and Antarctic expeditions and published over 375 papers

Hyderabad: Senior scientist and microbiologist, Emeritus Director of Research at L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), Dr Shivaji Sisinthy, passed away due to illness in November.

Dr Shivaji has published over 375 research papers and is famous for being the first Indian biologist to have been part of expeditions to both the Arctic and Antarctic. He spent a few weeks at India’s Dakshin Gangotri station near the Schirmacher oasis.

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His work on the microbiota at the Earth’s poles, including the Himalayas and the higher altitudes of the atmosphere, and their survival mechanisms at temperature extremes, earned him a unique position in Indian science.

He ended up identifying 3 novel bacterial clusters unique to these extreme regions. Shivaji graduated with an MSc in Biology from BITS Pilani in 1973. He went to do his PhD from Delhi University in 1978, and post-doctoral research at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. He then joined the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad in 1980 as a microbiologist.