Alla Venkata Rama Rao is an Indian inventor and chemist, known for his pioneering researches in the field of drug technology. He is the founder of the A. V. Rama Rao Research Foundation, a non governmental organization promoting research and doctoral studies in chemistry and Avra Laboratories, an organization dealing in intermediates and active pharmaceutical ingredients, used in therapeutics. An elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, India, and Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), Rama Rao is a recipient of several awards such as TWAS Technology Award, VASVIK Industrial Research Award and Om Prakash Bhasin Award. The Government of India awarded him Padma Shri in 1991 and Padma Bhushan in 2016.