Presidents of 'THE INDIAN SOCIETY OF HUMAN GENETICS'
Dr. J.V. Undevia, Ph.D (Bombay) - 1982
Dr Undevia and the
Parsies of Bombay are inseparable in the world of human genetics, for,
that is the range, depth and thoroughness with which he explored their
genetic characteristic and explained the intriguing health and community
characteristics through the role of malaria, G6PD deficiency,
inbreeding, mortality and morbidity. His magnum opus "Population
Genetics of the Parsies" published by Field Research Projects,
Miami (USA) tells the story in detail. Dr Undevia is also known for the
studies he carried out on blood groups, G6PD and enzyme polymorphisms in
several populations like the Jats, Vania, Sonis and the Dhangars. Dr
Undevia has the distinction of being the first person in India to
initiate HLA studies and for the development of HLA typing sera
indigenously.
A widely travelled person to several countries like USA, UK and other
European and Scandinavian countries in pursuit of the Parsi studies, Dr
Undevia is the recipient of Wenner-Gren Foundation Fellowship. DR J.G.
Parekh Oration, H.M Bhatia Oration Award and the L.D Sanghvi Oration
Award of ISHG.
In addition to ISHG, he served as President of the Bombay Heamtology
Group and Vice President of the Indian Society of haematology and Blood
Transfusion. He also served as Member of the TaskForce on
Histocompatibility Testing ICMR.
