editorial teampibphoto.nic.in/documents/rlink/2020/feb/p202022601.pdf · 2020. 2. 26. · har...

Editorial Team

Dr. Meenakshi Munshi, Scientist GDr. Kakali Dey Dasgupta , Scientist EDr. Deo Prakash Chaturvedi, Scientist C

Published by:Department of BiotechnologyMinistry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India

PurposeThe Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award (IYBA), renamed as Har Gobind Khorana-Innovative

Young Biotechnologist Award, was instituted by the Department of Biotechnology in 2005. This is

a career-oriented award to identify and nurture outstanding young scientists with innovative ideas

who are desirous of pursuing research in frontier areas of Biotechnology.

Nature of AwardUpto 15 awards are given per year. The award carries a fellowship of Rs.1.00 Lakh/annum for

candidates who are in permanent faculty position and Rs.75000/- per month for those candidates

who is working on a soft position along with a project grant (Equipment-Upto Rs.10.00 Lakh,

Manpower-One, Consumables-Rs.10.00 Lakh/year, travel, contingency, Overhead-As per DBT norms)

to pursue their innovative ideas at the beginning of their career. Such candidates who are not in

regular employment must be attached to a senior faculty scientist (mentor) in a University/ Research

Institute/ Medical/Agriculture/ Veterinary College or any other research institute of repute.

Eligibility• The applicant shouldbe an Indian citizenwith an excellent academic credentials and track

record, high impact peer reviewed publications or should have developed technologies, Indian

and/or International patents, with research work proposed under the award must be of very

high scientific quality with innovativeness.

• TheapplicantmusthaveaPhDinanybranchofLifeSciences,ComputationalSciences(applied

to Biotechnology, Medicine or Biological Sciences), Veterinary Sciences, Pharmaceutical

Sciences and Agricultural Sciences; Master degree holders in Medicine or Dentistry (MD/MS/

MDS or IMC designated equivalent) and Engineering/Technology (M.Tech or AICTE designated

equivalent) are also eligible to apply.

• Theresearchworkcanbecarriedoutatanyrecognizedresearchinstitution/universityinIndia

having adequate facilities.

• Agelimitis35yearsofageonthelastdateofsubmissionofapplication.Agerelaxationof5

years is made for candidates belonging to SC/ST/OBC, Women and differently abled candidates.

Submission of applicationsApplicants are sought in response to advertisement every year published in DBT website/national

dailies/sciencemagazines.

HAR GOBIND KHORANAInnovative Young Biotechnologist Award

VI

PurposeThe Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science & Technology, instituted the National

BioscienceAwardforCareerDevelopmentintheyear1999torecognizeoutstandingcontributions

of young scientists below 45 years of age who are engaged in basic and applied research in Biological

Sciences including Biotechnology, Agricultural, Medical, and Environmental Sciences. The Award has

been renamed as S. Ramachandran- National Bioscience Award for Career Development in honour of

Dr.S.Ramachandran,founderSecretaryofDBT.Theawardrecognizesthesignificantcontributions

made by the scientists in their respective domain research areas with potential for product and

technology development and to provide a research grant to boost their research initiatives in their

career development pathway.

Nature of AwardUpto 10 awards per year, subject to availability of suitable candidates are given. Each award carries

acashprizeofRs2.00lakh,acitationandatrophyalongwithresearchprojectgrantofRs15.00lakh

(Rs.5.00Lakh/year)foraperiodof03years.

Eligibility• AnycitizenofIndiawhoisengagedinbasicandappliedresearchintheareasofBiosciences

and Biotechnology in the country.

• He/SheshouldhavemadeoutstandingcontributionintheareasofBiosciences/Biotechnology

during last 5 years and the work must have been carried out entirely in India.

• He/Sheshouldbebelowtheageof45yearsasonclosingdateofapplicationsubmission.

Nominations for AwardNominations from individuals sponsoring their own names are not considered. Nominations for the

applicantsforwardedthroughHead/ExecutiveauthorityoftheInstitutes/ScientificOrganizations/

Scientific Departments/approved Scientific Academies or Societies are considered for selection. The

nominationsincludeabriefprojectproposalofproposedresearchfor3years.

S. RAMACHANDRANNational Bioscience Award for Career Development

PurposeThe Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, instituted the National Women

Bioscientist Award in the year 1999 to recognize the contributions of senior and youngwomen

scientists in the country who are working in the areas of Biology and Biotechnology. The National

Women Bioscientist Award is conferred under two categories-Senior and Young. The Award has

been renamed as Janaki Ammal- National Women Bioscientist Award in honour of notable Indian

botanist Dr. Janki Ammal Edavalath Kakkat.

Nature of Award

National Women Bioscientist Award (Senior Category) Theseniorcategoryawardrecognizeslifetimecontributionsofscientistswhohavedoneexcellent

research in the country with translational research outcomes for benefit of students and society. The

AwardcarriesacashprizeofRs5.00lakhalongwithcitationandtrophy.

National Women Bioscientist Award (Young Category)The young category award is given to women scientists below 45 years of age who have made

significant contributions in basic and applied research in the areas of Biosciences and Biotechnology

including Basic research, Agricultural, Biomedical and Environmental sciences with potential for

productandtechnologydevelopment.TheAwardcarriesacashprizeofRs1.00lakhwithcitation

and a gold medal and Research Grant of Rs 5.00 lakhs per annum for a period of 5 years.

Eligibility• AnycitizenofIndiawhoisengagedinbasicandappliedresearchintheareasofBiosciences

and Biotechnology in the country. The work (of last 5 years) for which nomination is made must

have been carried out in Indian institutes and acknowledged in the publications.

• Theseniorcategoryaward is forexcellence inresearch(not forgovernance/managementof

Science) and there is no age limit. For the young category, the candidate should be below 45

years of age as on closing date of application submission.

Nominations for AwardNominations from individuals sponsoring their own names are not considered. Nominations for the

applicantsforwardedthroughHead/ExecutiveauthorityoftheInstitutes/ScientificOrganizations/

Scientific Departments/approved scientific academies or societies are considered for selection.

JANAKI AMMALNational Women Bioscientist Award

VIII

PurposeTata Innovation Fellowship is a highly competitive scheme instituted by the Department of

Biotechnology,MinistryofScience&Technology,Govt.of India in2007 to recognizeand reward

scientistsbelowtheageof55yearswithsignificanttrackrecordandhavemadeexcellentscientific

contributions in Life sciences and Biotechnology including Fundamental research, Healthcare,

Agriculture & allied areas and Environmental sciences. The major emphasis is on innovation and

translationalresearchwithapotentialtowardscommercialization.

Nature of AwardUpto 5 Fellowships are conferred to the scientists in a year. The amount of the fellowship is Rs.

25,000/- per month in addition to regular salary from the host institute. Each Fellow will receive

acontingencygrantofRs.6.00lakhperannumformeetingtheexpensesinconnectionwiththe

implementationoftheresearchprojectunderthefellowship.Thedurationofthefellowshipisfor3

yearsandextendablebyanother2yearsbasedonfreshappraisal.

Eligibility• TheapplicantshouldpossessaPh.DdegreeinLifeSciences,Agriculture,VeterinaryScienceor

a Master’s degree in Medical Sciences, Engineering or an equivalent degree in Biotechnology /

related areas. The applicant must have outstanding contribution and publication in the specific

area.

• ThecandidatemusthavearegularpermanentpositioninaUniversity/Institute/Organization

and should be engaged in research and development. If he/she is availing any other fellowship,

he/she will have to opt for only one of the fellowships.

• Theapplicantshouldhavespentatleast5yearsinIndiabeforeapplyingforthefellowship.

• OpentoIndianNationalsresidinginIndiawhoarebelowtheageof55yearsasonclosingdate

of application submission. The fellowship is co-terminus with the superannuation of fellow in

his/herorganization.

Submission of applicationsApplicants are sought in response to advertisement every year published in DBT website/national

dailies/sciencemagazines.

TATA INNOVATION FELLOWSHIP

Purpose:Biotechnology as an emerging area has an immense potential to improve the lives of socially and

economicallyweakersectionsofthesociety.Therearemanydedicatedindividuals/organizations,

who are working at the grass-root level for societal development through application of

biotechnological interventions in agriculture and allied areas, healthcare and hygiene empowering

people in livelihood generation, skill development and entrepreneurship for self employment etc.

Torecognizesuch,individuals/socialorganizations(NGOs,trustsetc.)DepartmentofBiotechnology

has instituted ‘Biotechnology Social Development Awards’ since 2015.

Nature of Award:Threeawardsareconferredannuallyintwocategories:(i)Individualcategory(ii)asanOrganization.

EachawardcarriesacashprizeofRs.5.00Lakhsalongwithacitationandatrophy.

Eligibility:The applicantmust be a citizen of India and can be an individual/ extension scientist/ teacher/

NGO/ social organizationhavingdoneoutstandingwork towards societal development through

biotechnological interventions. Scientists/academicians working on a research projects funded by

DBT are also eligible to apply for the award.

Submission of applications:Applicants are sought in response to advertisement published every year on the DBT website and

nationaldailies/sciencemagazines.

BIOTECHNOLOGY SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT AWARD

1

Har Gobind Khorana-Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award

Dr Anjana Badrinarayanan is interested in understanding how cells maintain

chromosome integrity for their survival. Her lab investigates the regulation of

DNA damage response and repair in microbial systems using a combination

of genome-scale assays, quantitative live cell imaging techniques along with

genetic and cell biological read-outs. Dr Badrinarayanan received her PhD

degree from the University of Oxford from David Sherrattand laboratory and

investigated the role of SMC proteins in bacterial chromosome organization

and segregation. She initiated her work on bacterial DNA repair as an HFSP

postdoctoral fellow with Michael Laub at MIT, USA. Here she developed novel

assays to probe DNA damage repair in vivo in bacteria. This work provided new

insight into the process of recombination and opened the doors to addressing

numerous fundamental questions in the repair field in a highly tractable model

system. She aims to bring an inter-disciplinary approach to scientific questions

and have established fruitful collaborations to answer mechanistic questions in

the field of chromosome biology. She started her independent research group

at NCBS in December 2016 and currently holds an HFSP Career Development

Award.

Dr Anjana Badrinarayanan is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young

Biotechnologist Award’ (IYBA) 2019-20’ for her overall career endeavour and

proposed study of “Characterization of a novel translesion-synthesis repair

pathway in bacteria: Mechanism of action, regulation and impact on stress-

induced mutagenesis”.

Dr. Anjana BadrinarayananNational Centre for Biological Sciences,

Bengaluru

2


Dr. Anshika Srivastava is an Assistant Professor at the Department of

Medical Genetics, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences

(SGPGIMS), Lucknow, U.P., India. She received her postgraduate degree

from the department of Biochemistry, University of Lucknow (2005-2007), and

completed her Ph.D. at SGPGIMS, Lucknow. She moved to Ann Arbor, Michigan,

USA, for her postdoctoral training in the department of human genetics, where

she performed research at the interface of patient care and basic science.

Dr. Srivastava’s studies of neurologic and cardiac Mendelian diseases have

advanced current understanding of: i) gene dosage in trait manifestation,

ii) disease allele pathogenicity, iii) the importance of alleles combination in

susceptibility to complex traits iv) and role of the dynamic balance of histone

H2A mono-ubiquitination in early development and disease. Dr. Srivastava also

developed a new mouse genotyping strategy that circumvents deficiencies

of traditional genotyping strategy that do not differentiate between CRISPR/

Cas9 edited alleles. Her research focuses on understanding the epigenetic

and molecular mechanisms of stem cell multipotency, self-renewal, and cell-

specific differentiation required to build a functional heart and brain.

Dr. Anshika Srivastava is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young

Biotechnologist Award’ (IYBA) 2019-20’ for her career endeavour so far and

proposed study of “Probing the dynamic balance of histone H2AUb1 regulatory

axis in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy and early heart development”.

Dr. Anshika SrivastavaSanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow

3


After obtaining MSc degree in Biotechnology from IIT Roorkee, Dr. Appu Kumar

Singh completed his Ph.D. from CSIR-IMTECH, Chandigarh. Subsequently,

he joined the lab of Dr. Alexander Sobolevsky as a postdoctoral fellow at

Columbia University, New York. In December 2019, Dr. Singh joined as a

faculty in the BSBE department at IIT Kanpur. His research is primarily focused

on structural studies on the Transient receptor potential (TRP) channels that

constitute a large and functionally diverse family of the cation conducting

channels, which are typically considered as polymodal cell sensors, including

touch, pain and temperature. He used structural (Cryo-electron microscopy

and x-ray crystallography) and functional (electrophysiology and fluorescence

spectroscopy) combination to comprehensively understand the molecular

basis of calcium selectivity, activation and inactivation mechanism of epithelial

calcium channel TRPV6, which represents a constitutively active channel in the

membrane of small intestine. These structures of TRP channels have greatly

enhanced the understanding of their function and would serve as a blueprint

design of therapeutics for the associated diseases.

Dr. Appu Kumar Singh is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young

Biotechnologist Award’ (IYBA) 2019-20’ for his career endeavour so far and

proposed study of “Temperature-sensitive TRP ion channels as Biological

thermometers to gauge the pain”.

Dr. Appu Kumar Singh Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur,

Kanpur

4


Dr. Atul Kumar completed his doctoral work from IGIB. During his PhD, he

crystallized and solved structures of various key enzymes of Mycobacterium

tuberculosis to help understanding the molecular mechanism of different key

pathways. During his first postdoctoral training at MRC PPU, UK, Dr. Kumar

solved various structures of human Parkin (including apo Parkin and in complex

with phospho-ubiquitin) which has enhanced our understanding about Parkin

auto-inhibition mechanism, and its activation upon phosphorylation by PINK1.

During second postdoctoral training at MRC PPU, UK, Dr Atul Kumar tried to

solved first ever crystal structure of PINK1 kinase which revealed the molecular

mechanism of PINK1 kinase. His work on PINK1 explained the molecular

rationale of disease mutations on PINK1. Together,his research on PINK1 and

Parkin have provided framework for future research to understand the detailed

regulatory mechanism of Parkin and PINK1, and develop therapeutics to cure

Parkinson’s disease.

In April 2019 Dr. Atul Kumar joined IISER, Bhopal as Assistant Professor.

Currently his group is interested in understanding the molecular mechanism

of key pathways using structural biology/Biochemistry/Biophysics as

tool, development of handy tools for understanding biology using protein

engineering, and screening of small molecules against key targets in diseases.

Dr Atul Kumar is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young


proposed study of “Understanding the regulatory mechanism of Parkin &

development of synthetic nanobody”.

Dr. Atul KumarIndian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal

5


Presently Dr. Devanjan Sinha is working as Assistant Professor in Department of Zoology, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University. His graduation and post-graduation is from Banaras Hindu University, following which he went to Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore for his doctoral studies. Dr. Sinha’s PhD work delineated the complexity and substrate specificity of mitochondrial protein transport machinery and segregated their roles in maintenance of mitochondrial functions in diverse physiological states. He further moved on to gain experience in the area of redox biology and development of artificial antioxidant machineries such as nanozymes, where he was involved in identification of different cellular redox sensors and characterization of biocompatible nanoparticle based antioxidant systems. The elucidation of the human mitochondrial protein transporters is one of the seminal studies in the area and forms the basis for any future analysis on human mitochondrial proteostasis. These observations oriented him towards the intricacies in the biology of mitochondria and its concatenation with the cellular networks. Currently, Dr. Sinha’s lab integrates the mechanisms of redox signalling with mitochondrial physiology and how they interplay with different stress factors to promote cellular adaptions or alterations in cell fate. The findings have been well appreciated in wide range of journals of International repute. His contributions to the area of mitochondrial biology have been recognised through conferment of INSA Young Scientist Medal, NASI-Platinum Jubilee Young Scientist Award, DST-INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship and Carl Storm International Diversity Fellowship. In the past he had been selected as an Associate of Indian Academy of Science, Bangalore in 2017.

Dr. Devanjan Sinha is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award’ (IYBA) 2019-20’ for career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Niche partitioning in Stem Cell populations through a Redox sensitive mitochondrial reprogramming pathway”.

Dr. Devanjan Sinha Banaras Hindu University,

Varanasi

6


Dr. Dharmaraja joined as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur in Dec-2018. His lab exploits chemical biology-based approaches involving high-throughputsynthesis, phenotypic screening and chemical proteomics to identify small moleculetherapeutics to treat cancer and neurological disorders.Fascinated by the evolution of chemical drugs and its mechanism in curing and controllingvarious diseases of mankind, Dr. Dharmaraja pursued a dream of learning drug discovery and understanding their mechanisms in disease models. After graduating master’s degree in Chemistry from the School of Chemistry, Bharathidasan University, Tamilnadu, he joined for the PhD in the laboratory of Dr. Harinath Chakrapani, Department of Chemistry at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune in Jan-2010. He identified a new set of small molecules mimicking biological defence mechanism (through generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS)) to kill drug-resistant, infectious pathogens such as Mycobacteriumtuberculosis and Staphylococcus aureus. With that exciting expertise in medicinal chemistryand microbiology, Dr. Dharmraja’s enthusiasm grew up towards gaining knowledge in advanced chemical biology. In April-2015, he joined as a postdoctoral researcher in the laboratory of Dr. DrewAdams at the School of Medicine, Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences, CaseWestern Reserve University-Ohio, USA. There he identified a protein dilsulfide isomerase inhibitorcapable of inhibiting the proliferation of hematopoietic stem cell cancer, multiple myelomausing chemical proteomics and phenotypic screening.

Dr. Dharmaraja Allimuthu is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award’ (IYBA) 2019-20’ for his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “CYCLIC-PROATCs Triggered by chemical or photocaged for spatiotemporally controlled degradation of intracellular proteins in cancer”.

Dr. Dharmaraja AllimuthuIndian Institute of Technology Kanpur,Kanpur

7


Dr. Sharmistha Sinha’s real excitement in science was ignited during the days

she was pursuing her M.Sc. in Chemistry at the Burdwan University. Following

this she completed PhD at the Molecular Biophysics Unit at IISc, Bangalore

working with Prof. A Surolia. Immediately after PhD, Dr. Sinha received the

INSA Young Scientist Medal for her work in understanding the self assembly

of certain protein implicated in human diseases. Following her PhD, she was

mentored by two inspiring scientist Prof. Gal Bitan, UCLA, USA and Prof.

Thomas A Bobik, ISU, USA during her post-doctoral training.

Dr. Sinha returned to India in 2014 to start her independent research career in

INST, Mohali. In her laboratory, she explores the structure-function relationship

of the prokaryotic organelle bacterial microcompartments. At present her main

focus is to understand the mechanism of biogenesis of these microcompartments

that are encoded by complex multigene operon. The immediate aim of the IYBA

proposal is to understand the initial events of microcompartment formation and

the associated physiological triggers. These studies will help the design and

bioengineering of novel smart bioreactors.

Dr. Sharmistha Sinha is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young


proposed study of “Understanding the Forces Involved in the Packing of

Enzymes Inside the Bacterial Microcompartments for the Development of

Novel Encapsulated Bio-Systems”.

Dr. Sharmistha SinhaInstitute of Nano Science and Technology,

Mohali

8


Dr. Susmita Roy is an assistant professor at Indian Institute of Science

Education and Research, Kolkata, India. She obtained her Ph.D. in 2015 in

Chemistry from the Solid State and Structural Chemistry Unit at Indian Institute

of Science, India under the supervision of Professor Biman Bagchi. Her Ph.D.

work involves different problems of physical chemistry, condensed matter

physics and biophysics. In 2015, she moved to Rice University (Houston,

Texas,USA) for her post-doctoral research to work with Professor José Nelson

Onuchic, Professor of Chemistry and Bio Sciences of Rice University. In her

post-doctoral research, she has integrated generalized Manning counter ion

condensation theory into the multi-basin structure-based model of RNA. Her

current research focuses on the development of a generalized electrostatic

model and its applications to understand nucleic acids structure-function, RNA

regulation related to viral and bacterial infection using both computational and

experimental approaches (in collaboration). She is also actively working on

integrating systems and structural biology in close collaboration with Professor

Herbert Levine, a distinguished professor of Northeastern University, Boston,

USA.

Dr. Susmita Roy is conferred with ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young


proposed study of “A Structural Topology-based Electrostatic Model (STEM)

of RNA to investigate functional conformational changes of bacterial and viral

RNAs”.

Dr. Susmita RoyIndian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata

9


Dr. Rachit Agarwal’s completed his PhD in biomedical engineering in the area of cancer nanotechnology and drug delivery under Dr. Krishnendu Roy at the University of Texas at Austin. The central hypothesis of his PhD research was to evaluate the role of the shape of micro and nanoparticles on particle uptake by cells and transport through tissues. Post-doctoral studies of Dr. Agarwal were centred on biomaterials for tissue engineering under Dr. Andrés García at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He worked on improving the osseointegration of metal implants for fracture fixation and joint arthroplasties and was able to develop biocoatings that utilize a recombinant fibronectin fragment coated over metal implants and showed that it results in high osseointegration in both healthy and osteoporotic bones.

Dr. Agarwal now works as an assistant professor in Center for Bio Systems Science and Engineering at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore for last two years. His research focus is to understand and develop engineering solutions to infectious and inflammatory diseases. During the last two years, he have been successfully able to get funding support from Ramanujan fellowship (DST, India), Early career research award (SERB, DST, India), Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (USA) and Sentinel awards (BIRAC, India). This has helped in performing research in the area of his interest and motivates him to establish a reputed bioengineering laboratory that develops biomaterial-based technologies for understanding and treatment of diseases.

Dr. Rachit Agarwal is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award’ (IYBA) 2019-20’ for his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Rapamycin carrier based sustained delivery for treatment of Osteoarthritis”.

Dr. Rachit AgarwalIndian Institute of Science,

Bengaluru

10


Dr. Jaya Prakash is graduated from Amrita School of Engineering with a Bachelors of Technology (B.Tech.) in Information Technology in 2010. He obtained his M.Sc. (Engineering) in computational sciences and Ph.D. (as a Microsoft Fellow) in optical image reconstructions/inverse problems in 2012 and 2014 respectively from Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru. Later, he moved to Munich as a Group Leader and Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at the Institute for Biological and Medical Imaging (IBMI), Helmholtz Zentrum München. At, IBMI he had worked closely with Department of Medicine, Technical University Munich at Klinikumrects de Isar. He has also worked closely with industries like Shell Technology Center-Bengaluru, iThera Medical-Munich, and Tosibha Embedded Software Limited-Bengaluru. In his post doctoral training he worked on deploying fluorescence molecular tomography (FMT) and MSOT imaging systems for different preclinical mouse models (asthma, non-small cell lung cancer, atherosclerosis and theranostics), and clinical (plaque detection) applications. Further, he was involved in development of theranostics applications using light i.e. MSOT for diagnosis and photodynamic/photothermal therapy. He joined the Department of Instrumentation and Applied Physics, IISc in 2019 as an Assistant Professor. Where he has recently established the Frontiers in Imaging, Spectroscopy and Theranostics (FIST) lab with major emphasis on developing low-cost imaging technologies geared towards better healthcare.

Dr. Jaya Prakash is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young Biotechno-logist Award’ (IYBA) 2019-20’ for his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Quantitative portable handheld multi-modal optoacoustic ultrasound (OPUS) imaging system”.

Dr. Jaya PrakashIndian Institute of Science, Bengaluru

11


Dr. Karishma S Kaushik is an Assistant Professor / Ramalingaswami Fellow

at the Institute of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Savitribai Phule Pune

University. She completed her MBBS and MD in Clinical Microbiology, and

went on to earn a PhD from the University of Texas at Austin, USA. Returning

to India on the Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellowship (2018), she is currently

leading a research group that studies the pathophysiology of the wound

infection state, with an aim to develop human-relevant infection models and

precision-based therapeutic approaches. In doing so, her work is highly

multidisciplinary, straddling the divide between basic science, industry, and

clinical and translational research.

Dr. Karishma S Kaushik is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young


proposed study of “A human-relevant, biomimetic, microengineered platform

for accelerated and high-throughput pre-clinical testing of chronic wound

infection therapeutics”.

Dr. Karishma S KaushikInstitute of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology,

Savitribai Pune Phule University, Pune

12


Dr. Mayuri Rege is a DST-INSPIRE Faculty in the Department of Microbiology at

RamnarainRuia Autonomous College where she runs an independent research

program in Synthetic Biology and Genome engineering. She has a Bachelors

degree in Microbiology from Ruia College and a Masters from the Tata Institute

of Fundamental Research (T.I.F.R.). She completed her PhD from Prof. Craig

Peterson’s lab at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, where she

explored the effect of chromatin dynamics on transcription in yeast. Her work

revealed a novel interplay of chromatin remodelling enzymes and the RNA

surveillance machinery during transcription. During her postdoctoral work in Dr.

Jennifer Phillips-Cremins’ lab at the University of Pennsylvania, she established

a new optogenetic tool to form light induced loops in DNA. This tool, “LADL”,

combines two powerful technologies, namely optogenetics and CRISPR-Cas9,

to allow on-demand genome folding using light as a trigger. After returning

to Ruia College as a DST INSPIRE Faculty, she led a team of undergraduate

students to win the Gold medal and a Special Prize in “Best Integrated Human

Practices” at the iGEM 2018 competition in Boston for their work on cleaning

Paan stains using an enzyme-based technology.

Dr. Mayuri Rege is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young


proposed study of “Light induced protein production in Pichia pastoris”.

Dr. Mayuri Rege Ramnarain Ruia Autonomous College, Mumbai

13


Dr. Mini Jose Deepak did her Masters in Physics from Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, with her project in Ultrafast Lasers and Optical Amplifiers. She completed her PhD at Leibniz institute of Neurobiology, Otto-Von-Guericke University, Magdeburg, Germany, with Prof.EckartGundelfinger (Dept. of Neurochemistry & Molecular Biology) and Dr. Werner Zuschratter (Special Lab for Electron and Laserscanning Microscopy), where her theses focussed on presynaptic complex formation in mouse hippocampal neurons by high resolution imaging, combining Foersters Resonance Energy Transfer and Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging. She did her postdoctoral training on Single molecule spectroscopy in the Nanophotonics group of Prof. Brahim Lounis and Dr. Laurent Cognet and continued with Dr. Derek McCusker in the European Institute of Chemistry and Biology (IECB), University of Bordeaux, France, where she focussed on active transport mechanisms determining cell polarity by dual colour video microscopy and single molecule based super resolution imaging using budding yeast as a model system.

She joined Centre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science, as a DBT Ramalingaswami Research Fellow in September 2015, where she leads the Neuronal Polarity and Development Group. Her work focuses on the molecular mechanisms determining neuronal polarity establishment and neuronal structure formation, particularly emphasizing on the interplay of lipids, cytoskeleton and the molecular players associated with them. Dr. Mini Jose Deepak is also a recipient of Early Career Research Award (ECRA) from Department of Science and Technology- Science and Engineering Research Board (DST-SERB).

Dr. Mini Jose Deepak is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award’ (IYBA) 2019-20’ for her career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Investigating the role of Shootin1 in neuronal polarity establishment”.

Dr. Mini Jose DeepakCentre for Neuroscience, Indian Institute of Science,

Bengaluru

14


Dr. Priyanka Singh completed her Ph.D. in the field of cancer biology from Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster, Germanyin 2011. Thereafter in 2012, she received very competitive and prestigious European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO)-Long Term fellowship which allowed her to pursue post-doctoral research at the Biozentrum, Switzerland. Her work in Biozentrum involved understanding the mechanisms underlying brain developmentusing fruit fly as a model organism. Subsequently, in the year 2014 she moved to Max Planck Institute (MPI) of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, Germany with yet another prestigious Alexander von Humboldt (AvH) fellowship to pursue her second post-doctoral research. During her stay at MPI she focused on elucidating the mechanisms employed by molecular players during cell division.

In May2017, she joined as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jodhpur. Her current work focuses on investigating the molecular players involved inthe organization and functioning of microtubule organizing centers in mammalian cells. In 2018, she received ‘Early Career Research Award’ from Science and Engineering Board, DST, Govt. of India. Over the years, she has published her research work in several prestigious international peer-reviewed journals. Overall, her research work has provided significant insight into the development of cancer and neuro developmental disorders and has paved the avenue to design specific therapeutic techniques for aforementioned human diseases.

Dr. Priyanka Singh is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award’ (IYBA) 2019-20’ for her career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Elucidating the role of centrosome protein CEP152 in primary microcephaly”.

Dr. Priyanka Singh Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur, Jodhpur

15


Dr. Suchetan Pal obtained his B. Sc. and M. Sc. from Jadavpur University

and Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur respectively. Thereafter, he carried

out his doctoral studies entitled “DNA directed self-assembly of plasmonic

nanoparticles” under the guidance of Prof. Yan Liu and Prof. Hao Yan at Arizona

State University, USA. In 2013, Dr. Pal moved to a joint post-doctoral position

at Columbia University and Brookhaven National Laboratory, New York, USA.

Subsequently, he pursued another postdoctoral stint at the Memorial Sloan

Kettering Cancer Center in the field of cancer imaging and therapy. In 2018,

he joined the department of Chemistry at Indian Institute of Technology, Bhilai

as an Assistant Professor. His primary research focus includes biomolecular

nanotechnology for drug delivery, biosensing and bioimaging. Till date, he has

published 20 research papers with more than 2000 citations.

Dr. Suchetan Pal is conferred ‘Har Gobind Khorana- Innovative Young


proposed study of “Glucose-responsive DNA capsule for insulin delivery”.

Dr. Suchetan PalIndian Institute of Technology Bhilai,

Bhilai

S. Ramachandran National Bioscience Award for Career Development

17

19

S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development

Dr. Chandrima Das obtained her Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore, India in 2007 with specialization in chromatin structural regulation by non-histone Chromatin Associated Protein (NCAP). She performed her post-doctoral research at University of Colorado Denver (2008-2010) and M D Anderson Cancer Center (2010-2012) on discovery and functional characterization of a novel human epigenetic mark, histone H3K56Ac. She was awarded Susan G. Komen Postdoctoral Fellowship for basic sciences in Breast Cancer Research in 2009. In 2012, Dr. Das joined Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics (SINP) as Associate Professor-E in Biophysics and Structural Genomics Division and established the Chromatin Dynamics Laboratory. Her focus has been on the modulation of chromatin structure through selective epigenetic recognition by a class of proteins entitled chromatin “reader/effector”. In 2017; she got promoted to Associate Professor-F.

Dr. Das has been awarded Ramalingaswami fellowship from Department of Biotechnology (2011-12) and Swarna Jayanti Fellowship from Department of Science and Technology (2017-18). She has been an elected Fellow of West Bengal Academy of Science and Technology (WAST) in 2019, an elected member in the Guha Research Conference (GRC) in 2018. She has been member of various scientific societies. Her recent work on the suppression of Triple Negative Breast Cancer by chromatin reader protein has got Times of India media-coverage in 2019. She has represented India in Asian Chromatin Transcription Meeting, 2017and Asian Epigenomics Meeting, 2018.

Dr. Chandrima Das is conferred S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development’ 2019-20 for her career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Investigating the functional interplay between key transcription factor TCF7l2 and epigenetic regulator TCF19 to modulate metabolic gene expression programs during Endoplasmic Reticulum stress”.

Dr. Chandrima DasSaha Institute of Nuclear Physics,

Kolkata

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Dr. Kausik Chakraborty joined the Integrated PhD program of IISc and completed his PhD from Molecular Biophysics Unit in 2005. After his PhD in protein engineering he joined Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry to work on understanding the mechanism of molecular chaperone – assisted protein folding. Subsequently, he joined CSIR-IGIB in 2009 and started working towards mechanisms that govern protein folding homeostasis in the cell. His primary work has been to unravel that cellular small molecules play an important role in protein folding and different small molecules help folding in a unique way. He developed a strategy to monitor cellular protein folding using deep sequencing technique and used it to show that accumulation of different metabolites affect the phenomenon of mutational buffering. His group in collaboration with Dr. Arnab Mukhopadhyay (NII), and Dr. Shantanu Sengupta (CSIR-IGIB) has also shown how oxidative stress leads to decoupling between translation and transcription and is one of the contributors of aging. This phenomenon affects the protein folding homeostasis of the ER. Subsequently, they were able to show that changing protein folding homeostasis of the ER early in life and in a transient manner, can have beneficial effects on aging by increasing protein folding capacity and healthy life-span. His group is now trying to understand how intracellular protein folding homeostasis cross-talks with cellular metabolism with the aim of using metabolic alteration as a strategy to prevent protein aggregation.

Dr. Kausik Chakraborty is conferred S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development’ 2019-20 for his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Understanding the folding mechanism of specific enzymes in presence of their ligands”.

Dr. Kausik ChakrabortyCSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology,New Delhi

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After completing BSc in Physics from University College, Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, Dr. Saikrishnan Kayarat joined the Biological Sciences Division, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore as an Integrated PhD student. He obtained his PhD from Molecular Biophysics Unit at the institute on structure of mycobacterial proteins involved in DNA replication and translation. This work was part of India’s contribution to the international consortium of Tuberculosis Structural Genomics. Following his PhD, Dr. Kayarat was a postdoctoral fellow and an EMBO Longterm Fellow at the Clare Hall Laboratories, Cancer Research UK, where he worked on the mechanism of RecBCD, which repairs double-stranded break in Escherichia coli. Subsequently, he joined the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune, as an Assistant Professor and a Wellcome Trust-DBT India Intermediate Fellow.

At IISER Pune, Dr. Kayarat established a research program on understanding the mechanism and function of nucleotide-dependent restriction-modification (RM) enzymes. RM enzymes are amongst the most prominent bacterial defense mechanisms that protect bacteria from invading bacteriophages and foreign DNA. Thus, these enzymes regulate horizontal gene transfer and can influence uptake of DNA elements encoding antimicrobial resistance or harboring pathogenicity islands. His research group determined the first three dimensional structure of the multidomain and multifunctional nucleotide-dependent RM enzyme. Guided by the structure and in combination with single-molecule biochemical and biophysical studies, he discovered a new mechanism for DNA cleavage by endonucleases. The molecular mechanisms have provided new insights into the functioning of these enzymes in bacteria. His discoveries have also laid platform to harness the activities of these enzymes to develop biotechnological tools and antimicrobial therapies.

Dr. Saikrishnan Kayarat is conferred S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development’ 2019-20 for his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Mechanism of DNA translocation by NTP-dependent restriction enzymes”.

Dr. Saikrishnan KayaratIndian Institutes of Science Education and Research,

Pune

22


Dr Santosh Chauhan completed his M.Sc. from GNDU, Amritsar, from where

his expedition in biological science started in real sense. His Ph.D. is from

AIIMS, New Delhi with Dr. Jaya Sivaswami Tyagi. During Ph.D., he studied

the transcriptional regulation of latency in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Dr

Chauhan’s first postdoc was from Dr. Douglas Boyd lab at MD Anderson

Cancer Center, where he worked on the role of autophagy in cancer. His

second postdoc was from Dr. Vojo Deretic lab, a lab that is well-known in

the field of autophagy and infectious diseases. After completing his post-

doc studies he joined ILS, Bhubaneswar as a Scientist and a Wellcome-DBT

India Alliances fellow. During the last four years at ILS, Dr Chauhan’s lab has

attempted to understand the molecular mechanisms by which autophagy and

inflammation play a decisive role in controlling the dreaded diseases. In an

important contribution to the autophagy field, he showed a novel molecular

mechanism of biogenesis and degradation of protein aggregates under stress

conditions.. In another internationally acclaimed study, his work revealed how

IRGM protein (Immunity-related GTPase M), whose deficiency is genetically

associated with several autoimmune diseases, controls the inflammation in

autoimmune diseases.

Dr Santosh Chauhan is conferred S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience

Award for Career Development’ 2019-20 for his career endeavour so far and

proposed study of “Understanding the Role of IRGM in controlling autoimmune

diseases”.

Dr. Santosh ChauhanInstitute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar

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Dr. Benu Brata Das has obtained his PhD from the Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata where he cloned and characterized the novel bi-subunit DNA Topoisomerase I from the parasite Leishmania donovani and made seminal contributions in understanding the unusual structure of the parasite enzyme. Dr. Das obtained his post-doctoral training from Developmental Therapeutics Branch, National Cancer Institute, NIH, USA on the role of DNA repair and genome stability, which advances our understanding of genomic alterations underpinning carcinogenesis. Human DNA topoisomerases 1 (Top1) are tumor drivers in a myriad of malignant tumors, making them effective target for cancer chemotherapy. Dr. Das was the pioneer to demonstrate the role of two independent genes: Protein arginine methyltransferase 5 (PRMT5)-an epigenetic factor, and Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases (PARP1) in the repair pathway of Top1-trapped DNA lesions. PRMT5 is the critical modulator of the DNA repair function of TDP1 through arginine methylation at R361 and R586 and PARP1 plays a crucial role in regulating Top1 nuclear mobility and recruitment of TDP1 at DNA damage sites for genome maintenance. Dr. Das lab discovered novel Top1 inhibitors, which have therapeutic implications. A homozygous mutation of human TDP1(H493R) causes severe neurodegenerative syndrome, Spinocerebellar ataxia with axonal neuropathy (SCAN1). The work developed in the Das laboratory can significantly advance a field that holds great promise to impact human health.

The “S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development for the year 2019” is conferred to Dr. Benu Brata Das in recognition of his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Understanding the mechanism(s) of genome maintenance by TDP1, PARP1, and PRMT5 in response to clinical Top1 inhibitors in cancer, and also for his discovery of mitochondria dysfunction associated with etiology of SCAN1.”

Dr. Benu Brata DasIndian Association for the Cultivation of Science,

Kolkata

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Dr. Ganesan Venkatasubramanian is an Indian psychiatrist and clinician-scientist who work as a Professor of Psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. Dr. Venkatasubramanian is known for his studies in the fields of schizophrenia, transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS), brain imaging, neuroimmunology, neurometabolism and several other areas of biological psychiatry. His research works have unravelled important insights with regards to the neurotrophic factor deficit neuroimmunological aberrations in schizophrenia. His work has evolved establishing a novel method to treat resistant symptoms in schizophrenia using transcranial direct current stimulation. His works in the clinical neurobiology of schizophrenia has led to specialized clinical service called “Individualized Schizophrenia Treatment and Reintegration (InSTAR) Program” & his pioneering works in tDCS has resulted in development of another specialized clinical research service called “Weak Intensity Stimulation for Enhancement and Reintegration (WISER) Neuromodulation Program” at NIMHANS. His research works have resulted in about 290 PubMed-indexed publications in National & International Journals. The clinical, academic & research works of Dr. Venkatasubramanian have been recognized with several awards like Young Scientist Award at International Winter Workshop on Schizophrenia (2004), Tilak Venkoba Rao Award by ICMR (2005), Scopus Young Scientist Award for Medicine (2006), Platinum Jubilee Young Scientist Award by National Academy of Sciences, India (2008), Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award of the Department of Biotechnology (2008), etc.

Dr. Ganesan Venkatasubramanian is conferred S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development’ 2019-20 for his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Translational Research on Brain Connectivity in Schizophrenia: Neuromodulatory Effects of transcranial Direct Current Stimulation”.

Dr. Ganesan VenkatasubramanianNational Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru

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Dr. N. Ravi Sundaresan completed his PhD in the field of Avian Molecular Genetics from Indian Institute of Science. During his postdoctoral studies atUniversity of Chicago, he tried to uncover the molecular basis of heart failure. His laboratory at Indian Institute of Science currently studies the pathophysiology of heart failure induced by hypertension, myocardial infarction and metabolic diseases. The long-term goal of the laboratory is to identify potential therapeutic targets that could be used to treat heart failure and develop specific tools to treat the patients of cardiovascular diseases. Specifically, his work on Sirtuins, a family of histone deacetylases, uncovered their role in cardiac homeostasis and suggested that these enzymes could be potential therapeutic targets for treating human heart failure. Mechanistically, Sirtuin 2 deacetylates and inhibits the NFATc2 transcription factor, which plays a critical role in the development of hypertrophy. Notably, inhibition of NFATc2 rescues the cardiac dysfunction in Sirtuin 2 deficient mice. Furthermore, their work identified acetylation as a novel modification of GSK3 protein which plays a critical role in the development of cardiac hypertrophy. Furthermore their work suggests that inhibition of the cytoplasmic deacetylase protein Sirtuin 2 protect liver against drug induced oxidative stress viaregulation of the protein JNK. In addition to these findings, their work identified one of the causes for metabolic shift occurs in failing heart. He also demonstrated that SIRT6 deficiency augments spontaneous protein synthesis in heart via activation of mTOR signalling. Ongoing work in his laboratory involves studies of the role of these enzymes in cardiac hypertrophy, fibrosis, mitochondrial dysfunction and muscle degeneration.

Dr. N. Ravi Sundaresan is conferred S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development’ 2019-20 for his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Activation of Sirtuin 2 deacetylase as a strategy to treat Cardiomyopathy due to anthracyclines”.

Dr. N. Ravi SundaresanIndian Institute of Science,

Bengaluru

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Dr. Naveen C. Bisht is a Plant Biologist who has made significant contributions in the area of plant secondary metabolism and nutritional genomics in Indian oilseed mustard. He started his scientific journey as a master’s student at GBPUAT, Pantnagar. He then joined as a PhD scholar in Delhi University where he made significant contributions toward developing novel molecular and genetic strategies for quality improvement and pollination control mechanism in Indian oilseed mustard (Brassicajuncea). He continued as a postdoctoral fellow in the same department and pioneered the fine-mapping and introgression of low glucosinolatetrait in Indian oilseed mustard.

Dr. Bisht joined NIPGR in 2007 as a group leader, where his laboratory is investigating the molecular-genetics and biochemical regulation of glucosinolates, a specialized class of metabolites that function as defense compounds, signaling cues as well as nutritional factors. His group for the first time elucidated the structure-function relationship of a multigenic family of enzymes (methylthioalkylmalate synthases) that contribute to glucosinolate diversity in Brassicaceae family. Towards enhancing the nutritional quality of Indian oilseed mustard, his group has developed transgenic lines low in seed glucosinolates, and further demonstrated the bio-fortification of Brassica crop with high amount of anti-cancer compound, glucoraphanin. Dr. Bisht’s lab has also demonstrated how the key regulators of glucosinolate biosynthesis can be selectively manipulated for enhanced resistance of Brassica crops against biotic invaders. Very recently, the lab described the metabolic basis of heterosis in Indian oilseed mustard, highlighting the resource-cost model allocation of primary and secondary metabolites in Brassica hybrids. Dr. Bisht has published in highly reputed plant science journals, few very well written reviews and book chapters, and four patents. Dr. Bisht’s contribution in the area of glucosinolate biology is well recognized as NASI-Scopus Young Scientist Award (2017), NAAS Associateship (2017), Max Planck India Fellow (2013-16), DBT-IYBA (2013-19), NIPGR-DDPSC Visiting Scientist (2008-10), and INSA Young Scientist Medal (2007).

Dr. Naveen C. Bisht is conferred S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development’ 2019-20 for his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Investigating the molecular-genetic basis of multifunctional glucosinolate transporters (GTR1/GTR2) in Brassica crops”.

Dr. Naveen C. BishtNational Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi

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Dr Subba Rao Gangi Setty was fascinated with organic chemical reactions during his Bachelors at SV University, Tirupati (1991-94), where one organic molecule can easily be converted into other molecule by sequential steps. He joined the Masters in Biotechnology program at Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, where he studied the lipid composition of different bacterial cell membranes (1994-96). Further, he continued to study the function and transport activities across the cell membrane during his Ph.D. at IMTECH, Chandigarh. To explore more research in membrane biology, Dr. Rao joined University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia as a Postdoctoral fellow (2001) and carried out research in protein transport steps between the organelles. With the help of Wellcome Trust-DBT India Alliance Senior Research Fellowship, he started his career in India at IISc, Bangalore as an Assistant Professor (2010-16) and then promoted to Associate Professor (2016- till date) with a focus on basic research behind the organelle biogenesis and their associated diseases.

Current research of Dr Rao focuses on the study of key players in the organelle biogenesis, maintenance and cure. Delivery of cargo to the correct address requires accurate directions and dependable machinery. Cells have their own transport pathways responsible for cargo delivery to right destination and timely manner. Any deficiencies in these pathways show up as mild symptoms, or may cause fatal diseases. Dr Rao is interested in understanding several such transport pathways and their modulation in normal and specialized animal cells, where failure to deliver the cargo could result in genetic disorders like Hermansky-Pudlak syndrome (HPS), lysosome-storage diseases (LSDs), lung fibrosisetc. He has identified several key components such as small GTPases, membrane fusion machinery and multi-subunit protein complexes, known to control the biosynthesis of melanosomes. Modulation in their activity possibly provides cure to the autosomal recessive disease.

Dr Subba Rao Gangi Setty is conferred S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development’ 2019-20 for his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “Role of small GTPases in modulating human pigmentation”.

Dr Subba Rao Gangi SettyIndian Institute of Science,

Bengaluru

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Dr. Tapas Kumar Manna is a Professor at the School of Biology of IISER Thiruvananthapuram. Dr. Manna started his research career in the area of Biochemistry at Bose Institute, Kolkata and was awarded with Ph.D. degree from the Jadavpur University, Kolkata. In his PhD research, Dr. Manna identified a new regulator of protein folding and stability. Afterwards, he went to U. S. A. for post-doctoral research in cell biology and cancer. During his postdoctoral studies, first at the University of California, Santa Barbara and then at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, Massachusetts, he uncovered regulatory functions of several proteins during human cell division and substantially contributed in developing new anti-cancer agents.

As independent investigator, Dr. Manna has made outstanding contributions in the area of cell division and chromosome stability in human cells. Specifically, his research has advanced the understanding of the mechanisms how cells accomplish congression and segregation of chromosomes during mitotic division, a process that is essential for maintaining the genetic stability and is highly relevant to diseases including cancer and various genetic disorders. His work has revealed new insights on how the microtubule cytoskeleton in cell interacts with the kinetochores of chromosomes and has identified new regulators that drive this fundamental process. His research has put forward a novel mechanism that explains how the chromosome movement is coupled to the dynamics of the microtubules during mitosis. Dr. Manna has published numerous research articles in well-reputed international journals including Nature Communications, the Journal of Biological Chemistry and Biochemistry etc. He has been awarded with prizes and awards including Sir Nil Ratan Sircar Prize of Bose Institute, India.

Dr. Tapas Kumar Manna is conferred S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development’ 2019-20 for his career endeavour so far and proposed study of “The role of colonic hepatic Tumor Over-expressed Gene (chTOG) in regulation of kinetochore size and fidelity of mitotic chromosome segregation”.

Dr. Tapas Kumar MannaIndian Institutes of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram

Janaki Ammal-National Women Bioscientists Award

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Dr E V Soniya made several original and novel contributions mainly on the “Characterization of Plant Type III Polyketide Synthases Involved in the Biosynthesis of Medicinally Important Phenylpropanoids and understanding host pathogen interaction during quick disease of black pepper using different biotechnological approaches. The already identified plant derived type III PKSs and their derivatives from plants like Aegle marmelos, Emblica officinalis etc. provided a novel resource for metabolic engineering that can assist the production of existing or novel plant-derived molecules with pharmaceutical and nutraceutical potential.

Dr Soniya pioneered in molecular biology work, identified unique, lineage-specific small RNAs in Black pepper, which possess critical functional roles and have tremendous biological potential in the taxonomic profiling of plants. In addition, the involvement of small RNAs (sRNAs) from the plant (black pepper) and pathogen (Phytophthora capsici), which regulate host immunity and pathogen virulenceas post-transcriptional regulators of gene expression provided strategies for developing disease resistance with wider application in the improvement of stress tolerance in plants.

Dr. Soniya is conferred Janaki Ammal-National Women Bioscientist Award’ 2019 (senior category) for her career endeavor so far and proposed study of “Characterization of Type III PKS from Indian Bael, a polyketide synthase involved in quinolone biosynthetic pathway for the production of medicinal natural compounds”. Her leadership also included human DNA and Wildlife Fingerprinting for judicial, crime investigating &, law enforcing agencies as well as disaster management.

Dr E V SoniyaRajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology,

Thiruvananthapuram


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Dr. Kavita Babu completed her undergraduate degree in Physics, Chemistry

and Mathematics, from St. Joseph’s College, Bangalore. She then went on

to attend the MSc Biotechnology programme at The Maharaja Sayajirao

University (MSU), Baroda for a year. Since she was offered a PhD position

in Singapore after her first year of MSc, she started her doctorate work at

the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology Singapore. Dr. Babu went on to

do her Post-doctoral research at Professor Josh Kaplan’s laboratory at the

Massachusetts General Hospital (Department of Molecular Biology), Boston,

USA. Subsequently, in August 2011, she joined IISER, Mohali as an Assistant

Professor. After spending more than 7 years in Mohali, Dr. Babu moved back

home to Bangalore and currently gearing up to study aspects of the C. elegans

nervous system at The Centre for Neuroscience (CNS) at Indian Institute of

Science (IISc), Bangalore.

Research in her lab is focussed on understanding the molecules that regulate

synaptic signalling. Broadly she is interested in two aspects of C. elegans

neurobiology: 1. How Cell Adhesion Molecules in general and a class of

tetraspan molecules called claudins function at the neuromuscular junction

(NMJ) and 2. To understand how neurons “talk” to each other through small

peptides sent out by the neurons called neuropeptides.

Dr. Kavita Babu is conferred Janaki Ammal-National Women Bioscientist Award’

2019-20 (young category) for her career endeavor so far and proposed study

of “Characterizing the signaling functions of Cell adhesion molecules at the

synapse”.

Dr. Kavita Babu Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru


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Dr Shilpee Dutt is a Principal Investigator at Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), Mumbai. She did her PhD in Neurobiology and Biochemistry from the University of Zurich, Switzerland followed by her post-doctorate at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. Dr Dutt started her laboratory at ACTREC to focus on the fundamental problem of therapy resistance in cancer. A significant body of work in the field of Neuro-Oncology and Leukemia has emerged over the last five years from Dr. Dutt’s laboratory. With theorthotopic mouse-xenograft disease models established in her lab using human patient samples, studies from Dr Dutt’s lab has led to an advanced understanding of how the residual resistant cancer cells survive the conventional therapy leading to a relapse. These findings have significant therapeutic implications in the management and treatment of blood and brain cancer.

Dr Dutt has identified that acquired resistance in leukemiais divided into early and late drug resistance states where early but not late resistant cells are sensitive to GCN5 and ATM inhibitors. In parallel, Dr Dutt has developed Cyto Pred: a 7 gene pair signature to predict cytogenetic risk for AML patient samples and can be translated using a simple qPCR based assay. In another pioneering study, Dr Dutt’s group have shown that residual disease cells of Glioblastoma undergo cell- cell fusion, a rare event shown for the first time between two cancer cells to form multinucleated giant cells that provide them with survival and relapse signals. Additionally, she had shown that Raman spectroscopy can be used as a tool to detect residual disease and monitor the radiation response of GBM tumors during the treatment. Importantly, her lab demonstrates that molecular features unique to glioblastoma residual cells independently predict poor patient outcome adding immensely to the prognostic value of these findings. Furthermore, Dr Dutt has provided the first comprehensive proteomic landscape of Glioblastoma residual cells and identified the proteasomal pathway as the key regulator for long term survival and recurrence of residual cells.

Dr. Shilpee Dutt is conferred Janaki Ammal-National Women Bioscientist Award’ 2019-20 (young category) for her career endeavor so far and proposed study of “Defining GCN5 as marker for resistance onset and delineating evolution of molecular pathways during acquired resistance in AML”.

Dr Shilpee DuttAdvanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Educa-

tion in Cancer, Mumbai

Tata Innovation Fellows

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Dr. Ashwani Pareek is a Professor of Life Sciences at the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi. He obtained his B.Sc. (Botany) and M.Sc. (Plant Molecular Biology) in 1990 and 1992, respectively, from the University of Delhi, India. His research work during Ph.D. focused on the analysis of heat shock proteins (HSPs, especially HSP90) and salt stress proteins (SSPs) in rice. The main focus of his ongoing research has been towards gaining an understanding of the signaling machinery in plants operative under osmotic stresses such as salinity and drought. Patents have been granted in USA, Europe, China and Philippines on the discovery of ‘osmosensor’ and its use for improving tolerance to multiple abiotic stresses, technology transfer for which has been done to an industry. He has published more that 150 research papers in journals of International repute and edited three popular books published by Springer. He carries an experience of more than two decades of teaching basic and advanced courses to the students. Dr. Ashwani’s honors include: The President of India award for Best Technology Development, National Academy of Sciences NASI RELIANCE Platinum Jubilee Award for Industry oriented research, The Fellowship (FNAAS) by the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences, The Fellowship of National Academy of Sciences (FNASc), the Indian National Science Academy (INSA)-ROYAL SOCIETY (UK) exchange visitor’s fellowship, the BOYSCAST Fellowship by Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India, award of “The Rockefeller Foundation” Post-doctoral fellowship in the area of advanced ‘Plant Molecular Biology’ as a part of the ‘Rice Biotechnology Program’.

Dr. Ashwani Pareek is conferred ‘TATA Innovation Fellowship 2019-20’ for his overall career endeavour and proposed study of “Higher constitutive levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) to make “SUPER RICE” with tolerance to multiple stresses”.

Dr. Ashwani Pareek,Jawaharlal Nehru University,

New Delhi


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Prof. Samir K. Maji completed his M.Sc. in Chemistry from Calcutta University and received his Ph.D. in peptide chemistry from the Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata. After completion of PhD, he moved to Harvard Medical School for postdoctoral research in the field of amyloid biology in neurodegenerative diseases. In 2005, he moved to the University of California at Los Angeles. Subsequently, he joined the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego. Thereafter, he moved to ETH-Zurich, Switzerland to pursue research in the field of functional amyloids before joining IIT Bombay as an assistant professor in 2009. Currently, he is a professor at the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay. Prof. Maji’s research interest focuses on understanding the mechanism of aggregation and amyloid formation by protein/peptides associated with various human diseases and native functions. He is a pioneer in the field of amyloid hydrogel for tissue engineering applications. His group has developed non-toxic, biodegradable hydrogels that promote cell adhesion and differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells towards neuronal lineage. His lab is also involved in investigating the role of protein aggregation in secretory granule biogenesis.

Prof. Maji has over 90 research publications in peer-reviewed international journals and 5 patents, wherein 2 patents have been licensed. He is a member of the Editorial Board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry. In 2019, he received the NASI-Reliance Platinum Jubilee Award. In 2016, he received the IIT Bombay Research Publication Award and the National Bioscience Award for Career Development by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India. Other notable awards include the Lady Tata Memorial Trust Young Researcher Award in 2013.

Dr. Samir K. Maji is conferred ‘TATA Innovation Fellowship 2019-20’ for his overall career endeavour and proposed study of “Establishing stem cell differentiation to dopaminergic neurons using functional amyloid hydrogels”.

Prof. Samir K. Maji,Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai


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Dr. C. Anandharamakrishnan is the Director of Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology (IIFPT), Ministry of Food Processing Industries, Government of India, Thanjavur. Prior to his present appointment he was Principal Scientist and Coordinator for the Academy of Scientific & Innovative Research (AcSIR) at CSIR – Central Food Technological Research Institute, Mysore. He completed his Doctoral degree in Chemical Engineering from Loughborough University, United Kingdom, under the Commonwealth program. He pursued his B. Tech. (Chemical Engineering) and M. Tech. from A.C. College of Technology, Anna University, Chennai. He has been instrumental in developing Asia’s first dynamic digestive system to study the bioavailability of nutrient and nutraceutical ingredients and has come up with the country’s first concepts on food 3D printing for personalized delivery of nutrients. He holds nine patents, has published over 100 SCI-indexed papers, and is also the author of 6 books and 51 book chapters published by coveted international publishers. He has supervised 8 Ph.D. theses and more than 50 bachelor’s and master’s theses.

Dr. Anandharamakrishnan is the elected Fellow of National Academy of Sciences (FNASc), Fellow of National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS), Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), Fellow of Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), Fellow of Association of Food Scientists and Technologists (India) –AFST (I), and the Institute of Engineers (FIE). He is also the recipient of several awards including, National Design Award 2019 for outstanding contribution by The Institution of Engineers, National Design and Research Forum, the prestigious NASI-Reliance Industries Platinum Jubilee Award 2018 and the AIFPA Special Platinum Jubilee Award for Development of Food Processing Technology & Innovation 2018, are some of them.

Dr. C. Anandharamakrishnan is conferred ‘TATA Innovation Fellowship 2019-20’ for his overall career endeavour and proposed study “To investigate” large-scale production of iron-rich multivitamin multilayer encapsulate for developing novel designer rice”.

Dr. C. Anandharamakrishnan Indian Institute of Food Processing Technology,

Thanjavur


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Dr. Pralay Maiti, senior Professor of the School of Materials Science and Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, has made significant contribution in the emerging areas of Biomaterials leading to the development of materials towards healthcare products. He has developed the polymeric networks and nanocarriers for control drug delivery and tissue engineering which have been applied for cancer treatment, bone healing, stent and suture materials and wound healing including diabetic ulcers. He has shown the controlled release of drug through designing of various polymer architecture and nanoparticles. He has developed inorganic layered nanocarriers which deliver drug at the targeted site of tumor without side effect as opposed to the conventional chemotherapy. Injectable hydrogel is another versatile development by his group for healing tumor using the sustainable release of drug from the semi-solid gel specifically in contact with the tumor. Dr. Maiti has developed the stable solution of ayurvedic traditional medicine ‘Panchavalkala’ used for very long time in India through dispersion using biocompatible stabilizer. Polyurethane based implant materials have been developed demonstrating shape memory applications of the flexible but tough polymers. Prof. Maiti’s research group has also developed new class of hybrid materials signifying its ability to harvest energy devices based on piezoelectric effect and utilized the bio-wastes for energy generation after fabricating of suitable devices. He has published 160 papers, 16 book chapters, 19 patents and transferred technologies for commercialization.

Dr. Pralay Maiti is conferred ‘TATA Innovation Fellowship 2019-20’ for his overall career endeavour and proposed study of “Developing the biodegradable patch for faster wound healing including diabetic ulcers using ayurvedic medicine”.

Dr. Pralay MaitiIndian Institute of Technology, BHU, Varanasi


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Dr. Trivedi has made seminal contributions in the area of Metabolic Bone Disorders.

Her studies have led to the development of new oral therapy for improved bone

health. She has established that osteogenic efficacy of caviunin glycoside,

present in Dalbergiasissoo, is comparable to currently used bone forming

agent parathyroid hormone.Caviunin being as active as the pure compound, is

cost effective in clinical use for bone formation. Further, dalberginanlogues and

neoflavanoids present in the Dalbergia formulation exhibited bone-forming and

BMD sustenance effects. To elucidate its mode of action, she has demonstrated

that caviunin enhanced bone formation signals, BMP2 and Wnt/b-catenin by

inhibiting Smurf-2 proteasomal machinery. Her studies have established the

role of miR874-5p in bone recovery after menopause through inhibiting histone

deacetylase (Hdac-1) and increasing expression of osteoblast regulatory genes.

The inherent properties of Dalbergiasissoo for bone formation and regeneration

with increased biomechanical strength and no uterine hyperplasic effects, has

led to technology transfer and commercialization as potential medicine for

rapid fracture repair by the name REUNION®. Dr Trivedi has also been able to

make niche in the area of osteoarthritis where a product from her lab prevents

cartilage degeneration and is commercialized by the name JOINT FRESH®.

She is an elected fellow of National Academy of Sciences (NASI) India.

Dr. Ritu Trivedi is conferred ‘TATA Innovation Fellowship 2019-20’ for his overall

career endeavour and proposed study “To elucidate the regulatory role of

bioactive molecule from Spinacea oleracea by transcriptome modulation for

osteoarthritis”.

Dr. Ritu TrivediCSIR-Central Drug Research Institute,

Lucknow

Biotechnology Social Development Award

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Biotechnology Social Development Award

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Conceived in 2001 and based on the primary objective of “Value addition of natural Bioresources as tool of livelihood generation”, the Unati Cooperative Marketing-cum-Processing Society Ltd. is a Cooperative Society registered under Punjab State Cooperative Act. 1963. It is managed by 14 core members with expertise in ‘Biotechnology, Agronomy, Plant Pathology, Soil Sciences, Ayurveda, and Pharmaceuticals’ and 311 non-sharing holding farmers/collectors. Following a baseline survey of the bio-resources rich Kandi area, the unit had a humble start from a village named ‘Palli’ block Talwara where a group of women and local unemployed youth was organized for collection of ‘Amla’ fruit from the forest and its processing. This initial step that generated an income of around Rs. 79,000 for the group proved a big leap forward. Owing to relentless efforts of the core members, the project was funded by the Department of Bio-Technology under the Women Empowerment Program during 2004-07, through Punjab State Council for Science and Technology, under which a facility from processing of ‘Amla’ was established. Since then the unit has been progressing by leaps and bounds and is now a 100 per cent self-financing one, without any direct government financial aid, subsidy and bank loan. The company has diversified its efforts towards other initiatives such as the Gur Initiative; Unati Bamboo Mission; Unati Swatch School Abhiyan and Unati Skill Development Initiative.

Unati has a workforce of ~300 and includes three Women Self Help Groups. Overall, around 80% workforce is women. Unati now generates an income of around Rs 124. Lakhs per annum. Unati celebrates International Women’s Day on 8th March every year.

Unati Cooperative Marketing-cum-Processing Society Ltd is being conferred with the Biotechnology Social Development Award 2019-20 in recognition of its efforts towards Livelihood Generation by value addition of local Bioresources in Kandi area of Punjab with a special focus on women empowerment.

The Unati CooperativeMarketing-cum-Processing Society Ltd. Talwara, Punjab

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