Ms. Savita Satakopan
Date of Birth: September 9, 1927
Place of Birth: Chennai.
Details of family: Her father was Barister T V Satakopachari who was twice the Member of Parliament and a freedom fighter too, and her mother was Smt. Rajalakshmi. She was the youngest daughter to her parents. Her elder sister Dr. Padma Chari was the Dean of Maharaj Sayaji Rao University, Vadodara.
Educational Qualifications:-
Miss Savita Satakopan’s schooling was at a German Mission School, Tanjore. She got graduated B.Sc Natural Sciences from Presidency College, Chennai. Then completed Bachelor of Teaching from Lady Willington College, Chennai in the year 1953 and she did her M.Sc in Botany from MS University, Vadodara, Gujarat during 1955 to 1957.
Professional Trajectory:-
Ms. Savita Satakopan worked as Research Assistant in the Department of Pharmacology, Medical College, Baroda from 1958 to 1961 and set up a laboratory for the pharmacognostic studies of medicinal plants used in Ayurveda that are controversial in identity and nomenclature. In the year 1962, she joined as a regulatory Analyst in Food & Drugs Laboratory, Vadodara, Gujarat under the Directorate of Drugs Control Administration of the Gujarat State, (Gandhi Nagar) and retired as Senior Scientific Officer in 1985. She had spent the major part of her professional career spanning 45 years in the area of Analytical Pharmacognosy, with particular reference to the development of mandatory standards and analytical methods for the classical drugs of the Ayurvedic systems of medicine.
Other responsibilities held:- Ms. Satakopan was selected as a WHO representative in 1970, which took her to Moscow in the then Soviet Union, London in the United Kingdom and Chicago and Washington D.C in the USA. She also picked up work experience in the Chelsa Polytechnic (later changed its name to Chelsa College of Science and Technology), in the Jodrell Laboratory, Kew gardens, London, McCrone Research Institute of Chicago (USA) and laboratories of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Federal Food and Drug Administration, both in Washington D.C., USA. Ms. Satakopan was a member of the Indian Pharmacopoeia Committee till 1985 and member of one of the Standing Committees under the I.S. (now BIS), for drafting standards. She was also a member of Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of Central Council for Research in Ayurveda & Siddha and Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia Committee of the Dept. of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
As a member of Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) Ms. Satakopan was one of the Members in the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) of Central Council for Research in Ayurveda & Siddha.
As a member of Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia Committee (APC) She had taken active part in the development of pharmacopoeial standards for ASU drugs as a member of the Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia Committee of the Dept. of AYUSH, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, since its formation in 1963. She served as its Chairman for a period, and then Chairman of the Pharmacognosy Sub-committee of Ayurvedic and Siddha Pharmacopoeia Committees and also served as Chairman of the Pharmacology Sub-committee for Siddha Pharmacopoeial work. She had helped in bringing out several volumes of Ayurvedic Pharmacopoeia of India, Part I & II, Ayurvedic Formulary of India and Siddha Pharmacopoeia of India.
Awards & Honors:- Ms. Satakopan received the Indian Drug Manufacturer’s Association (IDMA) award for Best Research Paper, which was on Compound formulation of Ayurveda. She was awarded the B.V.Patel Memorial Oration Medal in 1985. Ms. Satakopan was conferred the honor of “Scientist Emeritus” by the CCRAS, under the Ministry of Health and family Welfare, Government of India in 2011. Ms. Satakopan was deputed to the Government of Myanmar (then Burma) in 1981, as a WHO consultant for dealing with their indigenous drugs under that Country’s legal provisions.
Publications:- She had published a number of papers both by herself and with her colleagues while at Vadodara laboratory. She had served the Editorial Boards of well-known Indian Pharmaceutical Journals and had reviewed several research papers dealing with Ayurvedic drug analysis.