Abstract
Professor Krishan Chandra Singhal, a distinguished neuropharmacologist, passed away at his residence on 19 April 2025, at the age of approximately 84. He is survived by his wife, one son, two daughters, and a large community of pharmacology researchers who had the privilege of training under his guidance.
Dr K. C. Singhal was born on 16 June 1941 at Aligarh in a reputed family. He did his MBBS and MD (Pharmacology) from King George Medical College, Lucknow; PhD (1976) from Sardar Patel Medical College, Bikaner and DSc (2001) from Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh. He joined the Department of Pharmacology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College of Aligarh Muslim University as Assistant Research Officer under a project of Indian Council of Medical Research on 29 January 1968. He worked as Demonstrator then as Lecturer, Reader and Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College. He served the department as ‘Chairman’, twice from 8 August 1990 to 7 August 1996 and from 8 August 1999 to 7 August 2002. After retirement he became founder vice chancellor of NIMS University, Jaipur, India. His contribution in the field on Pharmacology are immense and inspirational. He standardised the screening of antifilarial agents using Setaria cervi as test organism. He is one of the foremost pioneers in the field of Indian Pharmacovigilance and founded the Society of Pharmacovigilance, India (SoPI) in 1999. His services were recognised internationally when he became the Visiting Professor at the University of Tennessee (Memphis, USA) and Honorary Consultant, WHO Collaborating Centre for International Drug Monitoring (Uppsala, Sweden). In India he is the recipient of many awards including SS Parmar Foundation Award of Indian Academy of Neuroscience (IAN), B Mukherjee Prize of Indian Pharmacological Society (IPS), G Achari Oration Award of IPS, Col RN Chopra Oration Award of IPS, BC Sharma Memorial Research Award of Indian Medical Association (IMA), Platinum Jubilee Oration Award of Indian Science Congress Association (APPI), John Autian Oration of SoPI, Major General SL Bhatia Oration Award of Association of Physiologists and Pharmacologists of India (APPI), Life Time Achievement Award of APPI and during the Inaugural Program of the International Conference on Alternatives to Animal Experiments and the 6th Annual Meeting of the Society for Alternatives to Animal Experiments (SAAE-I AC 6). He was a fellow of Royal College of Physicians (Edinburgh), Indian Pharmacological Society (FIPS), Indian Academy of Neuroscience (FIAN), Society of Pharmacovigilance India (FiPv). He was elected as Treasurer, IPS in 1982 and 1983; Chief Editor of Indian Journal of Pharmacology (IJP) during 1989 to 1991 and President of Indian Pharmacological Society (IPS) in 1992. He also served as Editor (Pharmacology Section), Indian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology.
Dr Singhal played a pivotal role in the founding of the IAN. He was responsible for drafting the Academy’s constitution and actively participated in its inaugural conference, held at Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, AMU, Aligarh, on 5–6 February 1983, under the chairmanship of Professor P. N. Saxena, Head of Pharmacology. Dr Singhal served as the Treasurer of IAN from 1982 to 1993 and later as its President from 1998 to 1999. He also served as the Organising Secretary for the Fifth Annual IAN Conference, which took place in Aligarh from 7 to 9 December 1986. During this conference, the decision was made to introduce a new category of membership that is Fellow; being awarded to members with distinguished contributions. Dr Singhal was honoured as one of the eight founding Fellows during the first convocation, held at the Auditorium of the M. U. Institute of Ophthalmology, Gandhi Eye Hospital, Aligarh.
Dr K. C. Singhal will be fondly remembered by the countless students whose lives he touched. May his soul rest in peace.
