A. S. PaintalFRS | |
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| Born | (1925-09-24)24 September 1925 |
| Died | 21 December 2004(2004-12-21) (aged 79) Delhi, India |
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| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physiology |
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Awards[1] | |
Autar Singh PaintalFRS (24 September 1925 – 21 December 2004)[2] was an Indianmedicalscientist who made pioneering discoveries in the area ofneurosciences andrespiratory sciences. He is the first Indian Physiologist to become the Fellow of the Royal Society, London.
His major contribution to the world of science is the development of a single-fiber technique for recording afferent impulses from individual sensory receptors. Paintal discovered several sensory receptors including atrial B receptors, pulmonary J-receptors, ventricular pressure receptors, stomach stretch receptors, and muscle pain receptors. They have set the beginning of new era in physiological understanding.
Autar Singh Paintal was born on September 24, 1925 to aPunjabiSikh family inMogok,British Burma (nowMyanmar) to Man Singh and Rajwans Kaur.[3] His father was born in the small village of Pandori inAmritsar district, but left for Burma in 1903 at 7 years old, moving in with his paternal uncle Sundar Singh there after most of his family in Punjab died in abubonic plague epidemic.[3] Man Singh followed in Sundar Singh's footsteps by becoming a physician after graduating fromRangoon Medical College.[3] Rajwans Kaur was the daughter of a general in the army of theMaharaja of Kapurthala, and the couple had six children of which Autar was the oldest.[3]
As a boy, Autar Singh Paintal switched schools often as his parents moved, studying atSt. Paul's inRangoon (now Yangon), followed bySt. Peter's inMandalay, and thenKingswood inKalaw, before studying at Khalsa High School inLahore after 1939, being sent there by his parents to live with his aunt in advance of a loomingJapanese invasion.[3] Paintal then studied atForman Christian College before moving with his family toLucknow in 1943, where he studied for the next five years atKing George's Medical University, receiving an MD in physiology, before completing hisPhD under the supervision ofDavid Whitteridge at theUniversity of Edinburgh, where he studied under aRockefeller Fellowship.[3]
Paintal returned to India in 1953 and joined theAll India Institute of Medical Sciences,New Delhi. He later became Director of the Vallabhai Patel Chest Institute. He was also the first Principal ofUniversity College of Medical Sciences, Delhi.[4] Paintal subsequently was elevated to Director General of theIndian Council of Medical Research and he was also the founder president of Society of Scientific Values.[5]
Paintal had three children by his first wife Iris Paintal. His second daughterPriti Paintal is a music composer in the UK. His second wifeDr Ashima Anand-Paintal is also a scientist.[citation needed]
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