Cheppail Ramachandran May 22, 1953 - April 4, 2024

Miami, Florida - Dr. Cheppail Ramachandran of Miami, FL passed away on April 4, 2024 at the age of 69. He had been staying with his eldest daughter and her family where he had taken on his second career as “Appupa” (maternal grandfather) to her two daughters. Born in Thrissur in Kerala, India, Dr. Ramachandran was the third child among four brothers and two sisters. He showed an early interest in academics after seeing his two older brothers go to school and wanting to attend himself. To do so, his parents modified his birth certificate to reflect a birth date a year earlier. He excelled in his studies and became the first in his family to attend college at Kerala Agricultural University where he received his undergraduate and master’s degrees. He then received his doctorate at the Indian Institute of Agricultural Research in New Delhi in Plant Breeding and Genetics. He was the first in his family to travel outside of India after receiving postdoctoral positions in Wales and the Netherlands. Dr. Ramachandran returned to Kerala, joining the faculty of his alma mater and shortly after, married his wife of 37 years, Meera – an agricultural researcher and later, a microbiologist and Professor at Miami-Dade College.

Although comfortable in his faculty position, Dr. Ramachandran continued to seek opportunities to secure a better future for his family. In 1988, he emigrated to the United States for a postdoctoral fellowship at Ohio State University within the Department of Biology where he studied the molecular genetics of plants. Later that year, his wife and eldest daughter joined him where they lived together in a studio apartment on campus. Afterward, he joined the Department of Radiation Oncology at the University of Miami as a Research Associate Professor, shifting his career away from plants to humans, applying molecular genetics to study disease. Miami not only provided an escape from winter, but also a home with a backyard where he used his green thumb to grow mangoes, bananas, lychees, jackfruit, coconuts, moringa, and much more, all of which he shared with his friends and neighbors.

He would later join the Department of Pathology at Miami Children’s Hospital as a Senior Research Scientist. As his two daughters continued their education, he did as well, receiving a Master’s in Business Administration. He then became Chief Science Officer of Dharma Biomedical, where he continued identifying and testing plant-derived compounds, and commercializing promising products to help treat conditions including cancer. After retiring, Dr. Ramachandran applied the same discipline he did with his lab experiments to his newfound passion of cooking, meticulously going through recipes, testing their success with his family members, and making adjustments as necessary. These skills became invaluable in taking care of his granddaughters, who he visited often in New Haven, Connecticut.

Dr. Ramachandran is survived by his wife, Meera Nair as well as his two daughters, Reshma and Renuka, son-inlaw, James, and his granddaughters, Meena and Esha. He is deeply missed by his family, friends, and community. Messages of condolence can be sent to https://www. vanorsdel.com/obituaries/ Cheppail-Ramachandran/#!/ TributeWall. In lieu of flowers, please consider making an online donation to the Chinmaya Organization for Rehabilitation & Development by Undertaking Sustainable Activities (CORDUSA) at https://cordusa.org/ support-us/online-donation/.