Mahendra Pal

Mahendra Pal is a veterinary scientist and teacher often called the father of veterinary mycology in India, for his work on fungi that cause disease in animals. He was named for the Padma Shri in 2023 in the field of science and engineering, from Gujarat ^[1].

Degrees and teaching

Pal was born on 10 April 1946 ^[2]. He took his veterinary degree in 1969, a master’s in veterinary public health in 1975, a PhD in 1981 and a DSc in 2008 ^[2]. He has taught in veterinary and medical colleges in India and abroad, and worked in countries including Belgium, New Zealand and Ethiopia ^[2].

Fungi and disease

His research has shown the part played by many fungi in animal diseases, and charted how widely different fungi occur in countries around the world ^[2]. He has also worked on zoonoses, diseases that pass between animals and people ^[2]. He has published more than 575 papers and eight books, and many of his studies were the first reliable work in their areas ^[2].

He devised several laboratory tools, including APRM agar, a sunflower seed medium known as Pal medium, and the PHOL and Narayan stains, and he showed that culture media could be made from vegetarian ingredients ^[2].

Firsts and honours

He was the first Indian veterinarian to be a visiting scientist of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science at the University of Tokyo, and the first Asian deputy editor of an international journal of medical and veterinary mycology published in Germany ^[2]. He is a fellow of the National Academy of Veterinary Sciences, and the Indian Association of Veterinary Public Health Specialists has named a zoonosis award after him ^[2].