Shyamala Gopalan Harris

Shyamala Gopalan Harris
Born
Gopalan Shyamala

(1938-12-07)December 7, 1938
DiedFebruary 11, 2009(2009-02-11) (aged 70)
Education
Known forProgesterone receptor biology and applications to breast cancer, mother of former U.S. vice president Kamala Harris
Spouse
(m. 1963; div. 1971)
Children
Parent(s)P. V. Gopalan (father)
Rajam Gopalan (mother)
Scientific career
Institutions
ThesisThe isolation and purification of a trypsin inhibitor from whole wheat flour (1964)
Doctoral advisorRichard L. Lyman

Shyamala Gopalan Harris (born Gopalan Shyamala; December 7, 1938 – February 11, 2009) was an Indian-born American biomedical scientist at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, whose work in isolating and characterizing the progesterone receptor gene has stimulated advances in breast biology and oncology. She was the mother of Kamala Harris, the former vice president of the United States who also served as attorney general of California and senator, and Maya Harris, a lawyer and political commentator.