Om Bahl, 77, Research Led to Home Pregnancy Tests

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Om Parkash Bahl, professor in the UB Department of Biological Sciences who conducted the fundamental research that led to the development of the home pregnancy test, died on Dec. 10 in Millard Fillmore Hospital following a stroke. He was 77. 

Following a memorial service that will be held on the UB campus in the spring, his family will travel to India to scatter his ashes in the Ganges River.

Bahl is best known for his research into the pregnancy hormone, human chorionic gonadotropin, or hCG. Early-pregnancy tests used today are designed to detect hCG in urine and they are based on the results of Bahl's research in the 1970s, determining the hormone's complete structure. His research later was licensed from UB by Carter-Wallace, Inc.

Bahl received many awards and honors, including the Dernham Fellowship of the American Cancer Society in 1965, the American Chemical Society's Schoellkopf Medal in 1978 and the Life Science Award from the second annual convention of Asian Indian Organizations in North America.

He also received the Padma Bhushan, the highest civilian award conferred by the government of India. The award, presented to him by Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, was in recognition of his scientific achievement, concentrating on his work in the fields of reproductive biology and pregnancy control.

Bahl served on a variety of editorial boards for scientific journals. He also was an advisor to the Population Council, the World Health Organization and the Population Research Committee of the National Institutes of Health.

Bahl joined the UB faculty as an assistant professor of biochemistry in 1966 and was named a professor in 1971. He was the first chair of the UB Department of Biological Sciences from 1976-83, advancing the department's national reputation for research and teaching.

He continued his research into hCG, attempting to find safer means of contraception, and investigating the relationship between cancer and the abnormal production of the pregnancy hormone, leading to earlier detection of certain cancers, and providing better prognosis for patient survival. He continued his research and teaching until the time of his death.

Outside of the classroom and laboratory, Bahl's life was characterized by a commitment to his family and social causes. After his family lost almost everything it owned during the partition of India in 1947, he took over support of his family, lecturing, tutoring chemistry and writing textbooks that still are being used. He was passionately involved in the Indian Independence movement and was the founding president of the All-India Student Association, now one of the largest student groups in India.

Born in Lyallpur, India, in 1927, Bahl earned undergraduate and graduate degrees in organic chemistry and biochemistry at Lahore Government College and Punjab University, respectively, and earned his doctorate from the University of Minnesota. He did post-doctoral work at the University of California at Los Angeles.

Bahl is survived by his wife, Nirmal; two daughters, Vinita of Ann Arbor, Mich., and Meena Barton of Doylestown, Pa.; his son, Vic of Lancaster, N.Y.; three sisters, Swaran Arora of Bombay, India, Bimla Kapoor of Ahmebad, India, and Rani Gaba of New Delhi, India; three brothers, Sat of Stroudsburg, Pa., and Prem and Ved, both of New Delhi; and three grandchildren.