An Immigrant's Story

An Immigrants Story

A short personal story of an eight-dollar immigrant, revealing the pain and pleasures of his journey through the life in the USA, for over half a century.

?It was the summer of 1959, when I met Mr. ?P.S. Ganapathy, a graduate in Botany from Central College, Bengaluru, India. I had just finished my Master’s in Zoology from the University of Poona. We both joined as honorary (pay less) research assistants, at the newly formed Commonwealth Institute of Biological Control (CIBC), Bengaluru. Our assignment was to extract sugar cane borers, from sugar cane stems for research purposes. We were provided a working table and couple of stools in the garage. We worked eight hours a day, just pulling out the larvae of sugar cane pest. It was just a time-consuming boring assignment. Those were the days, when Ganapathy?used to discuss his future educational plans, which included further studies in the USA. His close friend and associate, Sharath Chandra had already started his post graduate work at the Berkeley campus of the University of California, in the USA. By the time we finished our internship in this Institute, Ganapathy had convinced me, that I should try and go to the USA for my higher studies. My academic credentials were not that great. Hence, I had to take very circutous route to get tinto the USA.

In early 1960, I joined Central Food Technological Research Institute (CFTRI) as a Junior Fellow of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), to work towards my PhD. The laboratory in which I was working was. ‘Infestation Control and Pesticides (ICP).’ The work was mostly on stored grain and grain product pest control. I have no idea as to what would have happened, if everything had gone smooth and I was able to finish my PhD work at this Institute. However, at that time, ?CFTRI was not a recognized as a degree granting institution. Therefore, there was no way I could get my PhD at this institute. That was one of the reasons, I had to renew my efforts to go abroad for higher studies. By this time, I was aware of the work going on in the UK and USA on scientific storage of grains and control of stored food pests. In addition, those days, India was importing wheat from the USA under the PL480 laws, and we did not have good storage facilities for the huge amounts of wheat that was imported. I started corresponding with Dr. Winteringham and Dr. Howe ?of Pest Infestation Laboratory (PIL), Slough, Bucks, UK. Dr Howe had published several articles on stored product pests and Winteringham on biochemical studies on pesticides and fumigants. The IPL was ready to have me as a trainee, provided I did not ask them for any financial assistance. On my way to the USA, I spent a few days at IPL, -met Dr Parkin, Burns Brown, Dr. CJ Loyd, Dr Haseltine.

I also started corresponding with Donald A. Wilbur, Professor of Entomology at the Kansas State University, Manhattan, Kansas. I also corresponded with Dr Galen White of the USDA laboratory at Manhattan Kansas. Now, ?probably this laboratory is Grain Marketing and Production Research Center (GMPRC/OGAHR). During a recent visit to Sough, in ?the UK, I inquired about IPL. It no longer exists. I had read an article by Cotton and Wilbur on Stored grain insects, and I was quite impressed. Hence, I started writing to him about my interest in working with him. His initial response was positive but did not provide me any hint about whether I will get admission to a Ph. D., program at the KSU. I organized a Pest Control Seminar at CFTRI and invited Dr Lallan Rai as the Chief Guest. He was also a student at KSU Entomology Department. After getting to know him, I requested him to write a letter of recommendation to Prof. Wilbur. A letter from Lallan Rai did work in my favor and Prof. ?Wilbur wrote back saying that he would recommend my admission but did not assure me any financial support. Those days there was no way we could get any foreign exchange for higher studies (just eight dollars). I took a bold step, and told him that I will secure the needed finances from my friends (Patric Tauro, KA Ranganath and GT Mrthyunjaya) who were studying in the USA at that time. This desperate attempt convinced him of my determination, and he assured me an assistantship of USD180 per month in the month of July 1965. I left for USA on August 22nd, 1965, via Frankfurt, and London. I visited Degussa in Frankfurt as their guest ( Dr. Rauscher), as I was interested in their Phostoxin applications. I also spent few days at IPL, Slough, Bucks with Dr Howe, ?and Dr Winteringham. I completed my ?research ?requirements for Ph.D., by mid 1968. With the help of Prof. Wilbur, a rough typewritten draft got approved by the committee. I have not seen my final version of the thesis, as Prof. Wilbur got it retyped and submitted it on my behalf. I left for College Station, Texas, by October of ?1968,-(Dr Perry Adkinson a student of KSU (1965) was the HOD?Entomology at Texas A& M University). I returned to KSU in 1969 to receive my degree. I worked with Dr Larry Keeley on a project aimed at “Isolation and characterization of virions of polyhedrosis virus, a pathogen of cotton borers.” After working for a year, I moved to the University of Minnesota, to work with Dr. Phillip Harein, another KSU student (1961). At U of M, I worked on Stored product fungi, isolated aflatoxins, and Fusarium. In 1970, I joined Department of Pharmacology at the U of M and worked with Dr Marion Anders, on drug metabolism using liver enzymes (P450). I also did work on isolation and characterization of aflatoxins by HPLC and Mass Spectroscopy.

In 1971, I joined Department of Pediatrics as a research assistant and started working with Dr James G. White to help him develop an analytical biochemistry laboratory. Since he had joint appointments with both the Department of Pediatrics and Laboratory Medicine and Pathology (LMP), I moved to LMP as an associate scientist, and continued my research with (Late) James White for the next four decades. Dr white and I shared NIH grants, including a prestegious Merit award, for almost three decades. It was a learning experience every day. We worked on ultrastructure, biochemistry, physiology, and function of blood platelets. By the time we both retired, we had over 1000 publications from our laboratory. Complete bibliography is reproduced in one of my recent books on blood platelets. During my tenure in LMP, I did a sabbatical at the Royal College of Surgeons (Biochemistry Department), and one summer at the Kings College, ?London ( Pharmacology and Surgery), then another summer at the Thrombosis Research Institute, Chelsea, London. I also taught couple of summers at the Institute of Human Physiology, University of Padua, Italy. After getting trained at these various research centers, I decided to visit India to explore bilateral collaborations.

It is time, I explain why I was obsessed to develop bilateral programs with India. As you already know from my earlier writing, I had promised Professor Wilbur, - that my one and the only goal in life was to get higher education in Grain Science and Technology and return to India and serve my country in some small way. That desire kept me haunting all the time. Moreover, in one of his letters, Professor Wilbur reminded me and expressed his disappointment, that I did not go back to India as promised. I wrote to back to him, saying that I will go back as soon as I get a job that suits my qualifications. I also wrote to him that I would seek his advice as well as recommendations for my attempt to obtain a job in India. Another factor that added to this problem was my wife who is a clinician wanted to get her post graduate training in the USA. She got her training in Radiology at St John’s Hospital, St. Paul, ?and Radiation Oncology at the University of Minnesota. She completed the requirement for these two ‘Board’s in 1978. During this period, I tried for an entire decade for jobs in India, and I did not get any job in India. I even wrote to the Director General CSIR, requesting him to create special position for research in Grain Sciences. By this time, I was an Assistant Professor in LMP and had published several articles on blood platelets. Finally, Prof. Wilbur wrote a letter in which he thought I was doing great in the USA, and he has no regrets supporting me for higher studies at KSU. After receiving his assurance and his blessing for my continued stay in this country, I started consolidating my position at the University of Minnesota, as well as started training myself for a greater purpose in life.

I got promoted as an Associate Professor with tenure in 1981. In 1982, I obtained a National Science Foundation Travel Grant and visited India to explore bilateral research opportunities. Prof John W Eaton, a molecular anthropologist accompanied me, to India for this exploratory visit. We visited 21 different research centers covering entire India from North to South and East to West, including Bombay Blood Club, Genetics Laboratory, Mumbai; National Malaria Institute, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi;?Medical College, Jaipur; PGI Chandigarh; Medical College, Srinagar; Post Graduate Institute (PGI), Central Drug Research Institute (Lucknow); Osmania University, and Nizam's Institue for Medical Sciences, Hyderabad; PGI, Taramani, Madras; Christian Medical College & Hospital, Vellore; Indian Institute of Sciences, Bengaluru. We proposed to the CMC, Vellore, a ?program for developing state-of-the-art Laboratory Medicine and Pathology. My dialogue with the ICMR developed into a healthy relationship. We signed an MOU between the U of M Academic Health Center and the ICMR. This NSF funded visit to India, gave me an idea of the strength and weakness of medical research in India. It took another decade to develop a strategy to transform my career from an Entomologist to that of an Health Sciences Specialist. From 1980 to 1990, I spent several summers doing sabbatical, -at various research centers in the UK, Italy, ?Germany and Japan.

Now that I was familiar with the scientific research and education in Indian Medical Institutions, I wanted to concentrate developing bilateral educational projects in selected Indian Medical Institutions. To accomplish this, I applied for a unique program developed by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), called TOKTEN, which stands for Transfer of Knowledge Through Expatriate Nationals. My application was sponsored by Dr Khalulullah HOD of the Cardiology Division of G. B Pant Hospitals and Maulana Azad Medical School and Hospitals, New Delhi. Three successive summers in 1990, 1991, and 1992, I spent four weeks in India working with different medical groups, including Cardiology and Clinical Biochemistry at G B Pant, Hematology and Physiology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Indian Council of Medical Research, New Delhi; Institute of Immunohematology, Mumbai; Jayadeva Institute of Cardiology and Research, Bengaluru. I organized the first International Conference on Blood Platelets at G.B. Pant Hospital in 1992. I also offered a series of lectures on the Role of Platelets in Hemostasis, Thrombosis and Stroke for clinical biochemists at G. B. Pant hospital. I published our first article on the risk factors for coronary artery disease in the Indian Heart Journal.

I started attending Various scientific conferences, to get to know the prominent scientists around the world. My focus was on basic as well as applied sciences. The professional society meetings that I attended those days included, American Society Hematology, American Heart Association, Federation of American Societies of Experimental Biology and Association of Scientists of Indian Origin in America (ASIOA). I also started regularly attending conferences of International Society on Thrombosis and Hemostasis (ISTH) from 1977, -which was held in Philadelphia. During the ISTH meetings in Tokyo, Japan in 1989, I came across an announcement, -‘Reach out the World.’ ?It was a funding opportunity for young investigators. I applied for this grant, -a proposal to conduct a workshop in India on the topic of Thrombosis and Hemostasis. I received a USD 10,000 seed grant. I used the funds to start a professional society; South Asian Society on Atherosclerosis and Thrombosis (www.sasat.org) at the University of Minnesota in 1993, with the idea of offering international conferences and workshops on Thrombosis and Hemostasis. We organized the first international conference in Mumbai, India, in 1994.

We continued these series of international conferences every other year in different major cities in India (Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Hyderabad, and Bengaluru. SASAT activity was recognized by other professional societies like North American Thrombosis Forum (NATF, Harvard Campus) and International Union of Angiology (IUA, France). I served as the Founding CEO of SASAT from 1994 to 2010. Once I retired from the University of Minnesota, I dissolved the US office of SASAT and moved it to New Delhi in India. It is now headquartered at ?Medanta Hospitals in the Division of Clinical and Preventive Cardiology. We sponsor an online journal; Journal of Clinical and Preventive Cardiology (jcpconline). We also offer a series of webinars on topics associated with cardiac care. We also cosponsored satellite conferences with the NATF and IUA at various countries. I served as scientific adviser to the Presidents of NATF and IUA. We have published several books of cardiometabolic diseases under the aegis of SASAT. After my retirement, I have been spending considerable time in India, on projects related to the development of medical devices for diagnostics, as well as for developing digital healthcare platforms.

In conclusion, I sincerely offer my apologies through this essay, to my mentor and benefactor, Professor (Late) Donald A Wilbur. I miss him very much. I also thank him on this annual Thanksgiving Day for his generosity as well as a letter that he wrote?to me, in which he reminded me of my promise to him about my responsibilities to my home country,-India. Noticing my insurmountable problems in the early days of my career, he graciously forgave me, and blessed me and encouraged to me to stay in this country and continue research activities. If he had not done that, I would have felt guilty all my life. ?I also want to thank my friends, Ganapathy (CIBC), Sreenath and Vijayendra (CFTRI), Patric Tauro, Ranganath and Mruthyunjaya (USA) for timely support and encouragent

Now that I have retired, I look back at my half a century of work in this country, and my ongoing activities in India, and have a great feeling of satisfaction. Yes, I did not return to India as promised to Prof. Wilbur. However, I have not forgotten that promise for a single day. I have done my best to serve my country in every possible way. Even if I had returned to India immediately after my Ph.D. in entomology, I am sure I would not have done any better. I have concluded that so called “American Dream” can be achieved only in America not anywhere else. Just think of an Entomologist becoming a tenured professor in a reputed Medical School, changing the research from agriculture to applied medical sciences. No regrets whatsoever.

Gundu H. R. Rao, Potomac, Maryland, November 25th 2021

Rao, GHR, V.J. Kakkar: Coronary Artery Disease in South Asians: Epidemiology, Risk Factors, Prevention. Jaypee Medical Publishers, New Delhi, India, 2001.ISBN # 81-7179-811-X.

Rao, GHR, S. Thanikachalam: Coronary Artery Disease: Risk Factors, Pathophysiology and Prevention. Jaypee Medical Publishers, New Delhi, India. 2005.ISBN # 81-8061-450-6.

Rao, GHR, L Jagannathan, T Eastlund: Handbook of Blood Banking and Transfusion Medicine, Jaypee Medical Publishers, New Delhi, India, 2006.ISBN # 81-8061-718-1.

V. Mohan, Rao GHR: ?Diabetes Mellitus (Type-2): Epidemiology, Risk Management and Prevention. Jaypee Medical Publishers, New Delhi, India. 2007. ISBN # 81-8061-936-2.

Rao, GHR, E Kalidoki, W. Leong. ?J Fareed:?Management of Antithrombolytic and Thrombolytic Therapy. Kontentworkx, India. 2014. ISBN # 978-93-83988-01-3.

Rao, GHR, Reddy M: Handbook of Biotechnology, Bioengineering and Biomedical applications. NDRF (DRDO), Institution of Engineers, Bangalore. 2015.

Rao, GHR: Handbook of Coronary Artery Disease. MacMillan Medical Communications, Springer Healthcare, New Delhi, 2017. ISBN # 978-93-80780-96-2.

Rao GHR: Blood Platelet Morphology, Physiology and Pharmacology of Blood Platelets. Jaypee Medical Publishers, New Delhi, India 2020. ISBN # 978-93-5270-202-2.

Rao GHR: Clinical Handbook of ??Coronary Artery Disease. Jaypee Medical Publishers. New Delhi, India. 2020. 978-9389-188-301.

V. Mohan, Shekar MA and Rao GHR: Current Trends in Diabetes: Focus on South Asians. Jaypee Medical Publishers, New Delhi, 2021. ISBN # 978-93-90020-17-1.

?WIKIPEDIA: Gundu Hirisave Rama Rao

https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Gundu_Rao/?ev=hdr_xprf

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