 The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences in 2002.Born on 18 August 1960 in the south Indian state of Kerala, Radhakrishna Pillai earned a PhD in tumor immunology from the University of Kerala and did his post-doctoral work in molecular biology and immunopharmacology at the University of Arizona.Returning to India, he joined the Regional Cancer Centre, Thiruvananthapuram in his home state where he served as the head of the Department of Molecular Medicine, Drug Development and Chemoinformatics.