Who was Shyamala Gopalan? Kamala Harris' influential mother
Kamala Harris introduced herself to America as the official presidential nominee at the Democratic Party convention in Chicago on Thursday. In her acceptance speech, she pledged to be a "president who unites" Americans and expressed gratitude to her late mother, Dr. Shyamala Gopalan, who helped her get to where she is now. Harris said her mother traveled from India to California alone at 19 with a dream to cure breast cancer.
Shyamala Gopalan Harris: A woman of courage and determination
Born and raised in Chennai, then known as Madras, Shyamala was the eldest of four children in her family. In 1960, she made a bold decision to leave her conservative Tamil Brahmin community and move to the United States. There, she pursued a doctorate in endocrinology at the University of California Berkeley. By age 25, she had earned her doctorate and was on her way to becoming a renowned breast cancer researcher.
Harris remembers her mother in acceptance speech
Shyamala's marriage and family life
During her time at Berkeley, Shyamala met Donald Harris. The couple got married in 1963 and divorced in 1971. Harris, during her speech, emphasized that it was primarily her mother who raised them. She fondly recalled their humble beginnings in a small rented apartment in East Bay, a working-class neighborhood populated by firefighters, nurses, and construction workers.
Shyamala's legacy as a breast cancer researcher
Shyamala left an indelible mark in the field of breast cancer research. According to Breast Cancer Action, Shyamala groundbreaking discovery related to the hormone-responsiveness of breast tissue has led to many subsequent advances. She also worked at various top research institutions in the US and around the world, including stints at the University of Illinois, University of Wisconsin, and internationally in France and Italy.
Shyamala's groundbreaking discovery and honors
She also spent 16 years at McGill University's Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research at Jewish General Hospital in Canada. During the last decade of her career, she returned to UC Berkeley to conduct research within the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She went back to India after she was diagnosed with cancer. Shyamala died in February 2009 at 70 from colon cancer.
