Prof V. S. Ramachandran | one of the world's most influential scientists, also known as the 'Marco Polo' of neuroscience
Center for Brain and Cognition, University of California, San Diego, USA | United States

V.S. Ramachandran is Director of the Center for Brain and Cognition and distinguished Professor with the Psychology Department and Neurosciences Program at the University of California, San Diego. He initially trained as a doctor and subsequently obtained a Ph.D. from Trinity College at the University of Cambridge. Ramachandran's early work was on visual perception but he is best known for his experiments in behavioral neurology. He has been called the 'Marco Polo “ of neuroscience, by Richard Dawkins, and 'The modern Paul Broca', by Nobel Laureate, Eric Kandel. In 2005 he was awarded the Henry Dale Medal and was elected honorary life member by the Royal Institution of Great Britain. His many other honours and awards include fellowships from All Souls College, Oxford, and from Stanford University and the Presidential Lecture Award from the American Academy of Neurology. In 2003 he gave the annual BBC Reith lectures and was the first physician/experimental psychologist to do so since the series was begun in 1949 by Bertrand Russell. In 2007 the President of India conferred on him the second highest civilian award and honorific title in India, the Padma Bhushan. Ramachandran was named in 2011 by TIME magazine as one of the 100 most influential persons in the world. He has published over 200 papers in scientific journals (including five invited review articles in the Scientific American). Ramachandran is author of the book 'Phantoms in the Brain' that has been translated into nine languages and formed the basis for a two part series on Channel Four TV (UK) and a one hour PBS special in USA.