Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana
Dr. Bendapudi Venkata Satyanarayana (30 January 1927 – 15 August 2005) was known as 'the doyen of dermatology' in Andhra Pradesh, India.[1]
Family
He was born in 1927 in Eluru, West Godavari district, Andhra Pradesh in a well known family of Bendapudi. He is survived by two sons, one of them is also dermatologist.
Education
He graduated from Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam in 1952. He was awarded the Diploma in Venereology by Dr. P. Rangaiah and Dr. M. V. Krishnamurthy. In 1955, he was deputed to the Calcutta School of Tropical Medicine for advanced training in dermatology.
Academic career
He was posted as the Lecturer and Head of the Department of Dermatology, Andhra Medical College, in 1956.[2] Earlier Dr. Govindan Nair was heading both the departments of Dermatology and Venereology. He was the first qualified dermato-venereologist in India, with an MD (Dermatology) from All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, in 1962. Dr. K. C. Kandhari was his teacher.
He was the first qualified teacher in dermatology in Andhra Pradesh. His post in Andhra Medical College was elevated to that of Professor in 1965 and he served the Department untiringly for more than twenty years. He started post-graduate courses in dermatology, Diploma in Dermatology in 1964 and MD in Dermatology in 1967, being the second after AIIMS, New Delhi. He was formulating the syllabus and structure of Diploma in Leprology, the first of its kind in India. He was the first dermatologist to be awarded MAMS, Dermato-venereology in 1968 by the National Academy of Medical Sciences. He was a post-graduate examiner in practically all Indian universities.
During his long tenure as a Professor, the Department of Dermatology in Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam was well known for research and postgraduate teaching. The Department contributed many articles to many journals and about 25 candidates qualified for MD in Dermatology and 23 for Diploma in Dermatology.
Publications
- Ratnam A.V, Brahmayya Sastry P, Satyanarayana B.V. : Ascorbic acid and melanogenesis, British Journal of Dermatology, 97 (2), 201 - 204, 2006.