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3YeAR UndeR ReVIeW
15
Teams and contribution
Finance Team Recruited and provided training to new staff, and implemented segregation of duties
Handled new grant schemes, pre and post-award activations
Created and implemented new process flow and setup as needed
Implemented maker, checker, and reviewer policy at each stage
Managed an increased workload without deviation to the process, procedures, and compliance
Handled in-depth audit conducted by an international organisation Good Financial Grant Practice (GFGP) in addition to the periodic internal and statutory audits
Nataraj Bollam Manager, Finance
Branding, Communications and Public Engagements Team Recruited four new team members
During the year moved towards online modes of engagements and organised more than 30 virtual workshops and events
Increased India Alliance’s reach on social media by more than 300%
Received over 300 media mentions during April 2019- December 2020 (100% increase in 2019 and 150% in 2020).
Organised COVID-19 public awareness events through webinars, infographics, articles and web comics
Increased engagement with researchers in Veterinary, Animal Sciences and in the North East Region (NER) through focused outreach events and training workshops
Nicolette Jadhav Manager, BCPE
Dr. Sarah Iqbal Lead, CPE
Grants Team
Recruited nine new members in the team
Transitioned smoothly to a work-from-home set-up
Conducted virtual interviews for Senior and Intermediate Fellowship, Early Career Fellowship and Clinical and Public Health competitions in a timely manner
Processed 434 preliminary applications which led to granting of 31 awards
Activated 40 new Fellowship awards
Received and processed 211 annual progress reports
Handled 76 post-award requests, which included requests for support staff, host institute transfer, extension of grant end date
Received 43 applications regarding AIMF, which was the highest ever for a single call
Established RORI – India Alliance’s computer programming and data science capacity and related platforms such as GitHub
Released IA’s first-ever open-source software – a fuzzy matching tool
Established agile practices and finalised a data dictionary for our entities
Dr. Bela Desai Manager, Grants
Dr. Dipanwita Sengupta Lead, Grants
Dr. Madhankumar Anandhakrishnan
Manager, Grants
16 Annual Report 2019-20
Teams and contribution (contd...)
IT Team
Current team size is two
Handled architecture, hardware, software and networking of computers
Facilitated seamless transformation from on-premises working dependency to work-from-home remotely by implementing and using cloud-based infrastructure (Amazon Web Services - AWS)
Facilitated the migration to a new website and co-ordinated the redesign and relaunch
Initiated development of grants module on Sales Force platform
Ravi Chandra Vasa Manager, IT
HR & Operations Team
Saritha Vincent Manager, HR & Operations
Ajay Chandra Sadhuneni
Manager, People & Culture
Recruited two new members in the team
Implemented the following new HR policies and initiatives Prevention On Sexual Harassment (POSH) and
formation of a POSH committee Prevention of Bullying and Harassment policy Whistle Blower Policy Prevention of Corruption, Fraud and Anti-bribery policy Occupational Health & Safety policy Employee Welfare Committee, Staff development and
succession plan and Department Procedure Manual
Conducted awareness sessions on mental health, holistic health, and cyber security (on a half-yearly basis)
Adapted to online modes of engagement through the work-from-home option
Complied with internal, external audit and GFGP audit
Year Under Review
Below is the link for India Alliance Staff:
https://indiaalliance.org/about-us/ia-staff-and-committee-members
17
India Alliance Fellowships at a GlanceTo nurture a supportive and responsible research and innovation culture in the country, India Alliance offers an array of fellowship schemes to researchers seeking to develop their careers at an early or later stage.
437Total Fellowship
awards recommended*
156Fellowships
for early career researchers
213Fellowships for
intermediate career
researchers
68Fellowships for senior
researchers
28%of the total Fellowships are for clinicians/
public health researchers
*Each fellowship scheme includes both basic research and clinical and public health research awards, updated till December 2020.
18 Annual Report 2019-20
The number of applications received at India Alliance and the awards of various fellowships made annually since 2009 are shown in Figures 1 and 2 below. The figures show a steady growth in the number of applications and the awards over the years.
Number of fellowship applications received
Figure 1
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
0
10050
200
150
300
350
250
400450
500
ECF IF SF CPH
To improve the life and health of the society, it becomes essential to not only nurture advanced research in basic sciences, but also encourage clinicians and public health researchers to undertake such efforts. This sets us apart as a funder. As the number of applications and awards in clinical and public health research sees an upward trend, India Alliance has steadily dug its feet in the ground to become more sustainable. The data shown in Figure 3 will reaffirm this trend.
Figure 2
Number of fellowships awarded
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
0
10
20
30
40
50
70
60
ECF IF SF CPH
Year Under Review 19
Applications received and awards given in basic research compared to clinical and public health research competitions
Figure 3
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
0 0
50 5
10010
15015
300
30250
25200
20
350
35
40
Basic Applications CPH Applications Basic Awards CPH Awards
Basic Biomedical Research Fellowships
Early Career Fellowships (ECF)Early Career Fellowships are designed to be independent post-doctoral awards given to researchers within four years of obtaining their PhD degree.
Number of ECF applications and awards (basic research)
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
0
40
20
80
60
100
160
140
120
180
0
2
4
6
12
10
8
14
18
16
Applications AwardsFigure 4
20 Annual Report 2019-20
Senior Fellowships (SF)Senior Fellowships are for scientists with up to 15 years of post-PhD research experience.
Number of SF applications and awards (basic research)
Applications Awards
Year Under Review
Intermediate Fellowships (IF)Intermediate Fellowships are for researchers who wish to establish an independent laboratory with a high-quality research programme in India. These are usually for those researchers who have 4-15 years of post-PhD research experience.
Number of IF applications and awards (basic research)
0
20
40
60
80
100
140
120
160 25
20
15
10
5
0
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
Applications AwardsFigure 6
Figure 5
21
Clinical and Public Health (CPH) Research FellowshipsThe CPH fellowships have been a success with increasing number of high-quality applicants and the awards have rightly justified the strength of the fellowship design. It’s a unique model for research support in the clinical and public health space in India.
Number of CPH applications and awards (early career, intermediate and senior combined)
Applications Awards
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140 20
15
10
5
0
2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 20202019
Figure 7
22 Annual Report 2019-20
Recommended Fellows 2019-20
Dr. Biju Viswanath National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-SciencesDr. Rahul Shidhaye Pravara Institute of Medical SciencesDr. Ranadip Chowdhury Society for Applied StudiesDr. Mohammad Abdul Salam The George Institute for Global Health IndiaDr. Niveditha Devasenapathy Public Health Foundation of IndiaDr. Arpita Mukhopadhyay St. John's Research InstituteDr. Beena Koshy Christian Medical CollegeDr. Ashok Kumar Yadav Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and ResearchDr. Vidya Ramkumar Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research
Intermediate Fellows
Clinical and Public Health Research Fellowships
Early Career Fellows
Fellow Name Host InstitutionDr. Aditi Roy Public Health Foundation of IndiaMrs. Mahasampath Gowri Christian Medical CollegeDr. Ravi Shankar Swamy Bangalore Medical College and Research InstituteDr. Priti Gupta Centre for Chronic Disease ControlDr. Dhanya Lakshmi Narayanan Kasturba Medical CollegeDr. Anubhuti Bansal CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative BiologyDr. Bireshwar Sinha Society for Applied StudiesDr. Shilpa Rao National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-SciencesDr. Ravi Upadhyay Society for Applied StudiesDr. Tila Khan Indian Institute of Technology, KharagpurDr. Eliza Dutta Public Health Foundation of IndiaDr. Sanat Phatak KEM Hospital and Research CentreDr. Anushree Bose National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences
Senior Fellows
Dr. Jeemon Panniyammakal Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Science & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram
Dr. Giridhara R Babu Indian Institute of Public Health-Hyderabad, Public Health Foundation of India, Bengaluru
Dr. Badri Thiruvenkatachari Bharath Institute of Higher Education and Research, Chennai
Year Under Review 23
Basic Biomedical Research FellowshipsEarly Career Fellows
Intermediate Fellows
Fellow Name Host InstitutionDr. Sutharsan Govindarajan SRM UniversityDr. Rituraj Marwaha Tata Institute of Fundamental ResearchDr. Subashika Govindan Indian Institute of Technology, MadrasDr. Rupam Biswas Indian Institute of ScienceDr. Ambily Sivadas St. John's Research InstituteDr. Sreeja Narayanan Cochin University of Science and TechnologyMr. Anusree Mahanta Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative MedicineDr. Hemangi Bhonsle Gopurappilly
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Dr. Hannah Mary Thomas T Christian Medical College, VelloreMr. Sanjeev Kumar International Centre for Genetic Engineering
and BiotechnologyDr. Renjitha Gopurappilly Indian Institute of ScienceDr. Sudipta Tung Ashoka UniversityDr. Kamakshi Sureka Paul CSIR-Central Drug Research InstituteDr. Pratik Chaudhari Tata Institute of Fundamental ResearchDr. Chandana Basu Mallick Banaras Hindu UniversityDr. Rajeswari Appadurai Indian Institute of ScienceDr. Swagata Dey National Brain Research Centre
Dr. Abhishek Bhattacharya National Centre for Biological SciencesDr. Soumyashree Das National Centre for Biological SciencesDr. Mohammed Saleem National Institute of Science Education and ResearchDr. Nishad Matange Ashoka UniversityDr. Vineet Choudhary All India Institute of Medical SciencesDr. Imroze Khan Ashoka UniversityDr. Rachit Agarwal Indian Institute of ScienceDr. Samay Pande Indian Institute of ScienceDr. Jahnavi Joshi CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular BiologyDr. Mairaj Ansari Jamia HamdardDr. Basudev Roy Indian Institute of Technology, MadrasDr. Indrajit Lahiri Indian Institute of Science Education and Research MohaliDr. Bama Charan Mondal Banaras Hindu UniversityDr. Sabarinathan Radhakrishnan National Centre for Biological SciencesDr. Dibyendu Kumar Das Indian Institute of Technology, KanpurDr. Kartik Sunagar Indian Institute of ScienceDr. Maria Thaker Indian Institute of Science
24 Annual Report 2019-20
Intermediate Fellows
Senior Fellows
Fellow Name Host InstitutionDr. Arnab Barik Indian Institute of ScienceDr. Supreet Saini Indian Institute of Technology, BombayDr. Rajender Motiani Regional Centre for BiotechnologyDr. Sadhan Das Rajiv Gandhi Centre for BiotechnologyDr. Baskar Bakthavachalu Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative MedicineDr. Kushagra Bansal Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific ResearchDr. Pavithra Lakshminarasimhan Chavali
CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
Dr. Bhavana Muralidharan Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative MedicineDr. Rajesh Patkar The Maharaja Sayajirao University of BarodaDr. Siddharth Jhunjhunwala Indian Institute of ScienceDr. Shilpak Chatterjee Indian Institute of Chemical BiologyDr. Anita Roy Indian Institute of Technology, DelhiDr. Arjun Ramakrishnan Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Dr. Sunish Kumar Radhakrishnan
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune
Dr. Radhakrishnan Mahalakshmi Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, BhopalDr. Ashwani Kumar Institute of Microbial TechnologyDr. Arun Shukla Indian Institute of Technology, KanpurDr. Roop Mallik Tata Institute of Fundamental ResearchDr. Ambarish Ghosh Indian Institute of ScienceDr. Kavita Babu Indian Institute of Science Education and ResearchDr. Bushra Ateeq Indian Institute of Technology, KanpurDr. Ramandeep Singh Translational Health Science and Technology InstituteDr. Ruchi Anand Indian Institute of Technology, BombayDr. Mahak Sharma Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, MohaliDr. Nishith Gupta BITS-PilaniDr. Kasturi Mitra Ashoka University
Year Under Review 25
9th India Alliance Annual Fellows’ Meeting
26 Annual Report 2019-20
The 9th India Alliance Fellows’ Meeting was held from 13th-15th June, 2019, in Bengaluru. Scientists spanning disciplines and career stages came together
with policymakers and funding agency representatives to discuss science as well as to deliberate on matters of immediate relevance to the Indian scientific community.
Over the two-and-half days of the meeting, India Alliance Fellows, at different stages of their career, presented their research plans and findings through talks and poster sessions. Keynote lectures, science talks, and interactive sessions on topics ranging from research management, policy engagement to managing stress at the workplace added vibrancy to the proceedings.
The Annual Fellows’ Meeting brings
together India Alliance Fellows from both
basic biomedical and clinical and public
health research areas, Fellowship Selection
committee members, eminent scientists,
members of the national and international
research community, and India Alliance
staff. These meetings function as platforms
where feedback on research can be sought,
potential collaborations can be explored,
fellowship-related matters can be discussed,
and collective deliberations on enhancing the
Indian research ecosystem can be held.
The meeting started with a welcome note by Shahid Jameel, CEO, India Alliance, who spoke about India Alliance’s trajectory over the last decade and the plans for the next phase of the organisation. In 2018, India Alliance completed 10 years of its existence as a key biomedical research funding organisation in the country.
The next phase promises a greater diversity of initiatives with Team Science Grants, Clinical and Public Health Research Centres, and Clinical Research Training Programmes along with the existing fellowships for Basic Biomedical and Clinical and Public Health Research. While the first phase of the India Alliance fellowships programme saw an equal partnership between the Wellcome Trust, UK, and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India, the new phase of funding marks a greater involvement of the latter.
Simon Kay, Head, International Operations and Partnerships, Wellcome Trust, UK, and Dr. Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT, discussed their vision for the second phase and initiatives to strengthen the research ecosystem in India. Kay highlighted some of the key thrust areas that were important for Wellcome Trust such as mental health, development of snake-bite initiative, planetary health, and cross-
Year Under Review 27
and multi-disciplinary research funding. Swarup emphasised the importance of capacity building in new areas of research, providing better opportunities to early career researchers, and connecting MSc programmes with this research ecosystem. Both Kay and Swarup commended this decade-old partnership with a promise for deep engagement in the next phase.
The meeting included 13 research talks by India Alliance Fellows representing different categories of fellowships (Basic Biomedical Research, Clinical and Public Health Research, and the erstwhile Margdarshi Fellowships) and 95 posters presented across three sessions. The topics ranged from understanding how tuberculosis causing bacteria alter host RNA splicing mechanism, to mosquito sensory functions, to examining associations between cardiovascular traits in the Indian population, to using music for mental health, to observing morphological changes in ovarian cancer stages, to tobacco control policies in India, and more.
Like the last two editions, this meeting also saw representatives from Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science (DELTAS), Africa, an initiative to foster South-South collaborations. Joel Bargul (THRiVE DELTAS Fellow) gave an overview of the different programmes under the African Academy of Sciences (AAS) and the possibilities of improving research capacities and leadership in Africa and India through this initiative.
Usha Menon, University College London, spoke about the development of an Ovarian Cancer Risk algorithm and how this collaborative trial of cancer screening (UKCTCOS-UK Collaborative Trial of Ovarian Cancer Screening) has been a major achievement for clinical science in the National Health Service (NHS).
This year the keynote lecture
was delivered by Abhay Bang,
Founder, Society for education,
Action and Research in
community health (SeARch).
Bang mesmerised the audience
for an hour and a half with his
incredible journey in public
health research in one of the
poorest districts in India. In his
journey of learning, un-learning
and re-learning, he emphasised on
doing ‘Research with the people’
exemplified by the following
quote: ‘people should need it,
people should understand it,
people should participate in it,
people should use it, and finally,
people should own it’. Bang’s
contributions in health research,
including home-based newborn
care, have not only benefited the
local communities but have also
been scaled up and used across
the country to reduce neonatal
mortalities.
Wendy Bickmore, Institute of Genetics and Molecular Medicine, University of Edinburgh, UK, kickstarted the second day with a talk on how folding of the genome controls their function in normal and diseased scenarios. The second day also saw several sessions focused on strengthening research ecosystems and ensuring mental health and well-being.
An interactive session on ‘Strengthening Research Ecosystems through Leadership, Research Management and Policy Engagement’ brought in a diversity of perspectives
28 Annual Report 2019-20
by the speakers. While N.K. Arora, the INCLEN Trust, spoke about the important pillars of leadership, Savita Ayyar, Jaquaranda Tree Consulting, presented the journey of India Research Management Initiative (IRMI), which has been an important platform for transforming research management in India. Devaki Nambiar, The George Institute for Global Health, shared important aspects of translating research evidence to policy.
Sonal Mathur from Sangath, Goa, spoke on how it’s ‘OK to Talk’ about mental health, the ways in which one can manage stress at workplace as well as the need to develop a clear mental health policy on how organisations promote well-being.
The day wrapped up with a session on ‘Space about Science’ by Jahnavi Phalkey, Director, Science Gallery, Bengaluru, who spoke about the development of a collaborative space for science, art and culture to foster a change in the perception of science. The Science Gallery, Bengaluru, is scheduled to open its doors in 2021 with a vision to inspire the young and enable them to be future innovators.
An interesting feature of the last day was a panel discussion on the role of incubation centres, an emerging space in India that provides a crucial platform for translating scientific research. Aseem Mishra, CEO/Co-founder of Prantae Solutions, Vijay Chandru, Strand Life Sciences,
and Deepanwita Chattopadhyay, Chairman and CEO, IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad, each shared their personal journeys as well as the challenges and solutions in the context of linking science to the commercial world. The panel discussion was moderated by Taslimarif Saiyed, CEO and director of Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP).
Akhilesh Pandey, Margdarshi Fellow, National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS) and Kidwai Memorial Institute of Oncology, Bengaluru, recounted the establishment of the Centre for Molecular Medicine in NIMHANS and the work being carried out by his ‘molecular detectives’ in decoding the molecular basis for disease syndromes. Satyajit Mayor, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bengaluru, revealed the fascinating world of the cell membrane and the molecular machinery which makes it more than just a lipid bilayer.
The meeting ended with closing remarks by Shahid Jameel on what the future may look like for the next phase of the organisation. He also explained how bringing in other kinds of funding into the programme can add diversification, and whether this platform could facilitate building a South Asia Alliance.
This report is written by Chandrima Home and was originally published by India Bioscience (https://indiabioscience.org/news/2019/9th-india-alliance-annual-fellows-meeting)
Year Under Review 29
Research highlights
figure). He found that the C.elegans that did not have creb1 (a transcription factor) did not learn to associate IAA with heat and that a single isoform of creb1 called crh-1e (out of 5 isoforms of creb1) was responsible for the memory related functions of creb1 in worms. This work also went on to delineate the neurons where creb1 is acting for maintaining associative learning in C.elegans. Our work describes a new paradigm to study learning and memory. Using our assay, we show the role of a transcription factor in a single pair of neurons in the process of associative learning.
Learning and memory are required for an organism to thrive. Much work has indicated that most organisms
with brains are able to associate multiple cues. Yogesh Dahiya, an India Alliance Early Career Fellow was interested in understanding how Caenorhabditis elegans, associates multiple cues from its environment.
To study this, he allowed worms to move towards isoamyl alcohol (IAA) which is an odour they like and found that they moved towards it. However, when he gave the worms puffs of IAA along with heat, most of the worms moved away as they disliked heat and likely associated the odour with it (see
Learning with cReB: What can worms
teach us?
Dr. Kavita BabuIndian Institute of Science
Wild-type C.elegans learn. The animals tend to move towards isoamyl alcohol (IAA) in a normal scenario but if trained with heat along with IAA, they no longer move towards IAA. (adapted from Dahiyaet al., 2019)
Fellows’ Research highlights
30 Annual Report 2019-20
Fellows’ Research highlights
We find that early stress in rodents disrupts mitostasis, and results in neuroinflammatory changes in circuits in the brain that play an important role in mood and cognition. Our model provides us the ability to test interventional strategies (like environmental, pharmacological, metabolic) to reverse the mitochondrial and inflammatory changes that we observe following early stress.
Impact: This work bears a promise for understanding the contribution of early adversity in altering mitostatic balance and thus impacting the trajectory for risk for psychopathology and accelerated aging. We anticipate that we will identify novel targets suitable for the development of therapeutic interventions to treat psychopathologies.
Early life stressors result in life-long alterations in anxiety and depression-like behaviour and accelerate neuronal
aging and cognitive decline. Maintaining a fine balance of mitostasis (mitochondrial biogenesis and mitophagy) is essential to the health of neurons. My research interest is to gain a mechanistic understanding of the influence of early stress caused by maternal separation (MS) on mitostasis, and to determine whether this sets up a long-lasting substrate for altered risk to psychopathology and accelerated aging. The MS paradigm involves separation of the entire litter from the dam, once daily for 3 hours from postnatal day 2 (P2) to P14. The influence of MS is being tested at multiple time points across the lifespan in the key limbic neurocircuits using cellular, molecular, neuropharmacological, imaging, and behavioural techniques.
Adverse effects of early life trauma: Role of mitostasis
Dr. Pratik Rajeev ChaudhariTata Institute of Fundamental Research
Year Under Review 31
Fellows’ Research highlights
Oral Cancer is a major public health concern in India with a poor survival rate despite
advances in detection, prevention, and treatment. Cancer development shares many similarities with embryo development. Groups of genes belonging to the HOX family are major regulators of embryonic development. My research focuses on understanding the molecular pathogenesis of human oral cancer by epigenetic mechanisms. Our proposal aims to determine the role of aberrant HOX gene methylation and their targets in oral cancer. We will validate DNA methylation and altered expression noted in HOX genes. Subsequently, we will carry out functional analysis of differentially methylated HOX genes in vivo and in vitro.
Finally, we will identify signaling pathways in the epigenetic modulation of HOX in relation to clinical outcomes by transcriptome analysis and clinical validation. Our in-silico analysis revealed novel binding sites in the promoter regions of HOX genes, which could be regulated by a variety of enhancers or repressors. Discovery of how developmentally regulated HOX gene can have an impact on oral cancer driver gene by epigenetic mechanism will be the outcome of this project.
epithelial Reprograming of HOX Genes by
epigenetic Mechanisms and its Implication to
Oral cancers
Dr. Raghu RadhakrishnanManipal Academy of Higher Education
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 1 Network Enrichment of TFs/genes that potentially functions in cell cycle regulation, transcriptional mis-regulation and pathways in cancer.
Fig. 2 Network Enrichment of TFs/genes that potentially modulates various signaling pathways.
32 Annual Report 2019-20
Fellows’ Research highlights
useful for conducting further studies to develop improved treatments for endometriosis.
ECGRI National Network https://ecgri.in/collaborators/
Endometriosis educational material for general population https://ecgri.in/education
PregCovid Registry publications https://pregcovid.com/publications
Endometriosis is a common, but poorly understood reproductive disorder in which endometrium like tissue
is found outside the uterine cavity. It is estimated to affect approximately 247 million women worldwide and 42 million women in India. Clinical, epidemiological, environmental and lifestyle risk factors in Indian women are unknown. Our group works on understanding the pathogenesis, discovery, and validation of biomarkers for endometriosis through proteomic, genomic, molecular, clinical, environmental, and epidemiological research methods. We are using the World Endometriosis Research Foundation Endometriosis Phenome and Biobanking Harmonisation Project (WERF- EPHect), endometriosis patient questionnaire (EPQ), standard surgical form (SSF) for capturing information on clinical, epidemiological, lifestyle, environmental factors and follow the WERF EPHect standard operating procedures for collection, processing, and storage of biological samples. This will be the first evidence on clinical phenotypes and GWAS identified risk factors for endometriosis. Despite disruptions due to COVID-19 pandemic, we were able to recruit more than 300 participants and found that amongst the endometriosis cases (n=153), 21.6% were superficial peritoneal (SUP), 62.7% Ovarian endometrioma (OMA) and 14.4% deep infiltrating endometriosis (DIE).
We also observed 1.3% of scar endometriosis. Isolated (53.6%) and overlap of endometriosis sub-phenotypes (46.4%) was observed in Indian women. We also demonstrated the impact of COVID-19 on pregnant women and their newborns and generated evidence for planning the future strategies required for maternal and child health programs (PregCovid registry www.pregcovid.com). The information on pathways involved in endometriosis would be
national study to understand clinical
phenotypes and genetic regulation of
endometriosis in Indian women: ecGRI study
Dr. Rahul Krishnaji Gajbhiye ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health
Representative laparoscopic images of endometriosis sub-phenotypes, lesions and adhesions. (a) Allen-Masters peritoneal window below right uterosacral ligament; (b) Black lesion on uterosacral ligament; (b) Blue, red, white lesions and Allen-Masters peritoneal window on right uterosacral and broad ligament; (d) Dense adhesion with adenomyosis on left uterosacral ligament; (e) Deep endometriosis on rectovaginal septum with adenomyosis; (f) Right endometrioma
Year Under Review 33
Fellows’ Research highlights
sequencing to identify the genetic components of collision-associated mutagenesis. We have found an unexpected coordination of two pathways, one aiding replication progression and the other facilitating transcription to prevent mutations caused by collisions. Further, we are uncovering a competition between the pathways that prevent the mutations and a repair pathway that is surprisingly mutagenic. We also intend to examine the contribution of conflicts on the development of antibiotic resistance in bacteria. Thus, we hope to define replication-transcription conflict as a fundamental mutational process that drives mutagenesis and evolution in bacteria signified by antibiotic resistance.
Replication and transcription are two fundamental cellular processes that use the same DNA template across all life
forms and often interfere with each other, resulting in conflicts. Such conflicts are inevitable, especially in rapidly dividing bacterial and cancer cells resulting in collisions between the DNA replication and transcription machinery. Collisions stall replisome, cause DNA breaks and induce spontaneous mutations across organisms, including humans, and are linked to oncogenesis.
Our laboratory focuses on identifying the genetic pathways and understanding the molecular mechanisms that generate collision-induced mutations.To this end, we use classical bacterial genetics, large-scale mutation assays, and targeted
The conflict between dnA replication and
transcription generates mutations
Dr. Sabari Sankar Thirupathy Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Thiruvananthapuram
A representational view of the phenomenon of replication-transcription conflicts. Conflicts are analogous to collisions between two vehicles, one a heavier truck (replisome) and another smaller truck (transcription complex) driving fast on a highway (DNA template). Such clashes can lead to heritable changes in the DNA.
34 Annual Report 2019-20
Fellows’ Research highlights
The therapeutic capability of the CD8+ T cells is often hindered due to the loss of effector function at the tumor
site. As a result, tumor grows despite the presence of tumor specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. Immune checkpoint blockade and adoptive T cell therapy, which aims to bolster the effector function of tumor reactive T cells, have yielded remarkable clinical successes, however its therapeutic efficacy is restricted to small fraction of patients. CD8+ T cells, activated in presence of IL-2, almost completely lose their effector function as characterised by their reduced ability to produce IFNγ when exposed to tumor microenvironment. Conversely, differentiation of CD8+ T cells in presence of IL-12 strikingly preserve their effector function at the tumor site. Transcriptomics and metabolic flux analysis reveal that glucose flux through glycolysis is crucial for retaining the effector function of IL-12 cultured CD8+ T cells in the tumor milieu. Mechanistically, increased glycolysis maintains high acetyl CoA pool in IL-12 cultured T cells due to conversion of glycolysis derived pyruvate to citrate (in TCA cycle), which export out of mitochondria and gets converted to acetyl CoA by ATP citrate lyase in the cytosol.
We found that acetyl CoA promotes histone acetylation and subsequent epigenetic modifications which stabilizes IFNγ production from CD8+ T cells in cancer. We found that IL-12 cultured T cells can be mimicked by simply altering the carbon source from glucose to pyruvate during CD8+ T cell activation, which expands the acetyl CoA pool and hence stabilizes the effector response of T cells in the harsh tumor microenvironment. Interestingly, pyruvate cultured CD8+ T cells are superior than conventionally activated (in complete media) CD8+ T cells in controlling tumor growth.
Metabolic-epigenetic crosstalk in maintaining the effector function of cd8+ T cells in cancer
Dr. Shilpak Chatterjee Indian Institute of Chemical Biology
Year Under Review 35
Fellows’ Research highlights
intervention we are testing lasts for 12 weeks and is geared towards infants between 6-18 months of age at high risk for autism and related developmental disorders.
Autism Spectrum Disorder is a disorder that begins in infancy and may have a life-long impact. 1 in 59
children are reported to have autism. Early behavioral intervention within the first two years of life which is often delivered by parents is the best treatment. It empowers parents to capitalise on natural learning opportunities that occur in daily routines and is also cost effective and practical for delivery. We have found that the average age of diagnosis of autism in India is over 3-4 years of age and intervention begins even later – this is a missed opportunity for early intervention. However, there is a window of opportunity especially in a subgroup of infants who may receive a diagnosis of autism later in life – i.e., younger (infant) siblings of children with autism. Our work in the Infant-Toddler Language Development and Intervention Lab (LiL’ https://ssm-lab.org/) focuses on capitalizing on this window of opportunity.
To identify siblings exhibiting atypical development/difficulties as young as 1 year old or even younger in our lab, we carry out play-based assessments and standardised behavioural-developmental state-of-art assessments to evaluate different areas of development including how the child communicates and interacts. If there are atypicalities (e.g. not orienting to social stimuli, not pointing), we train parents to identify these areas. We then coach them to teach different skills to their infants during several opportunities that arise throughout the day. This form of delivery of intervention through parents is called parent mediated intervention. The
parents mediated intervention for infants at high risk for autism
Dr. Shoba S. Meera National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences
Image credit: Latika Roy Memorial Foundation, Dehradun.
36 Annual Report 2019-20
Fellows’ Research highlights
cytoskeletal basis of dendrite development
and regeneration
Dr. Swagata Dey National Brain Research Centre
Transgenic roundworms expressing GFP in PVD neurons of wildtype (in cyan) and Kinesin-13 mutant (in magenta) worms in pseudocolor. The branch density of higher-order branches in the Kinesin-13 mutant is higher than the wildtype.
to the cytoskeletal remodeling in regenerating dendrites. These results provide a perspective of structural changes in developing dendrites and a mechanistic understanding of dendrite repair.
My research focuses on the cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate and maintain the structural
integrity of the sensory processes of neurons. I am studying the cytoskeletal proteins, microtubules, and actin that are integral parts of the sensory processes and the signaling effectors that remodel these processes during development and injuries. Sensory processes, also known as dendrites, receive the information from surroundings and transmit it to the axon to generate an action potential. Aberrant development of neurons or injuries associated to stroke, brain injury and drug abuse can compromise dendrites’ integrity.
As a preventive measure, these dendrites may develop differently or repair themselves to reclaim the sensory area. However, their frequent remodeling may lead to debilitating consequences. Due to complex architecture and lack of in vivo models, it is not clear how the dendritic cytoskeleton is regulated during the development or regeneration of neural circuits. PVD neurons of Caenorhabditis elegans provide an excellent model of stereotyped dendrites that branch orthogonally and establish a hierarchy with a distinct cytoskeletal organisation. Using mutants and genetically encoded fluorescent reporters, the regulation of microtubule and actin cytoskeleton can be studied in these neurons during development and regeneration. I found a microtubule depolymerizing enzyme, Kinesin-13, to be instrumental in restricting the higher-order branches in the PVD neurons. We have established dendrite and axon injury models in PVD neurons using femtosecond laser transection. I have further developed an assay to look at the actin dynamics in the regenerating dendrites. My future experiments will be directed to link the signaling mechanisms of dendrite damage
Year Under Review 37
Fellows’ Research highlights
Venom evolution in ancient predatory soil
arthropods: evolutionary and ecological perspectives
Dr. Jahnavi Joshi CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology
Silent Valley
Scolopendra in Castle Rock, Karnataka, India
in the context of South Asia which has a high diversity of venomous arthropods, which are still being discovered and documented. The specific questions that I have focused on until now are 1. Identifying evolutionary origins and relationships among taxa; 2. Evaluating the role of geo-climatic events, and phenotypic traits on their diversification patterns; and 3. Assessing the role of ecological and evolutionary processes on community assembly.
Tropical forests are storehouses of biodiversity. Identifying the ecological and evolutionary drivers of these diversity
patterns continues to be of interest to biologists. My research interest is in understanding evolutionary relationships, biogeography, diversification and community assembly with a focus on arthropod diversity in the tropical forests of Asia.
We are currently examining arthropod venom and diet, and its role in speciation and diversification process which is relatively understudied. This study will be the first-of-its-kind
38 Annual Report 2019-20
Fellows’ Research highlights
Artificial dnA ionophore for selective K+-ion
transport
Dr. Jyotirmoyee Dash Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
lipophilic stearic acid. Biophysical studies revealed that three molecules of lipoG binds to human telomeric G-quadruplex DNA (h-TELO). LipoG promoted the insertion of h-TELO into the liposomal membrane, which could be visualised by confocal microscopy. Fluorescence-based ion transport assays and voltage clamp experiments revealed that LipoG/h-TELO can transport metal ions across lipid membrane. Our results collectively suggest that LipoG/h-TELO assembly (DNA ionophore) preferentially transports K+ ions over other alkali by changing its conformation in response to different ions. The ion transport activity can be disrupted by the addition of a small molecule like thiazole orange or cytosine. Interestingly, a switch ON/OFF activity of the ionophore was achieved by regulated addition of the DNA ionophore and cytosine. Design and development of DNA-based ionophores could expand the tool box of artificial ion channels, providing opportunities for real applications like diagnostics and biochemical nanosensors.
The selective transport of ions across cell membranes is pivotal to maintain a fine balance of ionic concentration
across the biological membranes. Natural ion transporters selectively transport metal ions across the cellular membrane and dysfunctional ion transport activity may cause Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease etc. Artificial ion transporters can mimic natural protein-based ion channels and they could be useful in therapeutic applications for treating ion channel disorders. The non-canonical G-quadruplex DNA having a central cation channel, presents an ideal building material for the construction of cation selective ion transporters.They can be easily manipulated into predictable structures, thereby offering a higher degree of control than protein-based systems.
In this context, we planned to construct G-quadruplex DNA-based artificial ionophores with a preference for a particular ion. A lipophilic guanosine derivative (lipoG) was synthesized by chemical ligation of guanosine nucleoside and
Year Under Review 39
Fellows’ Research highlights
Infection and autoimmunity: The story of tuberculosis of the eye
Dr. Soumyava Basu L V Prasad Eye Institute
Our hypothesis is that the relative frequency of one of the above two types will vary between different stages of ocular TB. The strength of our research lies in recovering large populations of T-cells from the vitreous (intraocular fluid) samples of patients with ocular TB allowing us to investigate the immunological characteristics of these immune cells in greater resolution. We activate these cells with different antigens and stain them with specific antibodies for different cytokines (flow cytometry); or sequence the RNA from these cells to identify the nature of antigenic receptors produced by them. Together, these data should be able to provide us immunological differences between the different clinical presentations of ocular TB. Our research will impact not only the diagnosis and management of ocular TB, but also our understanding of uveitis, and TB pathogenesis, in general.
The intraocular immune response in ocular tuberculosis (TB) is mediated by both
Mycobacterium tuberculosis-specific and retinal self-antigen specific (autoreactive) T-cells (immune cells). The autoreactive T-cells are resistant to activation induced cell death, thus prolonging the inflammatory response. Intraocular TB or uveitis has diverse clinical manifestations, affecting nearly every tissue of the eye. Anti-TB therapy (ATT) generally leads to resolution of lesions and prevents recurrence of intraocular inflammation. However, the response to ATT can be unpredictable, especially in eyes with chronic inflammation. Our proposed research aims to dissect the intraocular T-cell response in different stages of ocular TB into anti-mycobacterial and autoreactive responses.
40 Annual Report 2019-20
clinical Research centre
how do infants grow in India and why do
they falter?
Dr. Anura Kurpad St. John’s Research Institute
Indian children falter in early growth or are prone to putting on more fat than needed.
What happens as the child grows into an adult? What happens to the child ‘born small’ but catching up later? Is it putting on more fat? Do these children put on less skeletal muscle mass as well? The muscle mass is important for disposing off the glucose you eat in a meal – keeps your blood sugar low. We will follow a set of small and normal babies from birth through their first year of life, examining what they eat (breast milk and complementary foods) focusing specifically on protein and vitamin B12 and how they can be optimally fed protein.
We have developed a method at St. John’s that uses stable isotopes that are perfectly safe for the child to accurately measure protein digestion and absorption. We will also examine metabolites in blood, urine and stool (metabolome) and the bugs in stool (microbiome). We will also measure growth and body composition carefully. To do so, we have built a whole body Potassium Counter at St. John’s – the only one in Asia – that precisely measures the body cell mass (the ‘vital’ tissue) and the fat mass in a non-invasive manner. Finally, we will also figure out where the problems of faltered growth are in India, at a sub-district level and will map this for the entire country with 14x14 km area resolution. Advanced geospatial modelling will be employed to identify factors that influence stunting at the subdistrict level.
Body weight measurement
Whole body Potassium counter
Saliva sample collection
Body composition measurement in infants
The team
Variability & clustering of stunting prevalence
Anura Kurpad Tinku Thomas
Harshpal Singh Sachdev Rebecca Kuriyan Raj
Year Under Review 41
IhOpe clinical Research centre
Dr. Raja Narayanan L V Prasad Eye Institute
Indian Health Outcomes, Public Health and Economics Research Centre (IHOPE) is an
interdisciplinary research centre that has been set up through collaborations between the L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad and Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad.With L V Prasad Eye Institute’s digitized EyeSmart Electronic Medical Records, IHOPE proposes to address important economic and public health related questions; 1. Develop a self-sustainable Centre of Knowledge Creation and Dissemination for Clinical and Public Health Research through Big Data, 2. Attract and train the best talent in the country to develop them as clinician scientists, and 3. Influence health policy in India based on new knowledge.
We have selected 3 long-term fellows under Clinical Research Training Program (CRTP), who will start work in February 2021. The CRTP Fellows will be trained in all areas of research, and would design, implement, analyse and publish work in accordance with the CRC curriculum. We will see a robust and replicable eye care models for early detection of sight threatening conditions like glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy, strategies to enhance utilisation of services in rural areas.
clinical Research centre
42 Annual Report 2019-20
Reintegrating the disintegrated Self:
A ‘WISeR’ neuromodulation for Treatment of
Schizophrenia
Enhancement & Reintegration’ - WISER’ Neuromodulation using tDCS as part of InSTAR Program for Schizophrenia at NIMHANS.
Presently, through the India Alliance supported ‘Clinical Research Centre (CRC) for Neuromodulation in Psychiatry,’ a multi-site collaboration with experts (Drs. JagadishaThirthalli, MuralidharanKesavan, Urvakhsh Mehta (NIMHANS), Dr. Nishant Goyal (Central Institute of Psychiatry, Ranchi), Dr. Samir Kumar Praharaj (Kasturba Medical College Manipal) and other investigators, we hope to understand the mechanistic basis and discover tests that can predict differential response to specific neuromodulation techniques (ECT, TMS &tDCS). Besides, our centre will implement clinical research training fellowships to generate ‘clinician-scientists’ with expertise in neuromodulation techniques. Through all these activities, our CRC is committed to advance the translational neuroscience of neuromodulatory interventions and enhance the practice standards of these techniques in psychiatry.
Schizophrenia is amongst the top ten disabling diseases. Despite treatment with the best of the
antipsychotic medications, about 30% of schizophrenia patients show partial or no clinical improvement and persist to have symptoms. Significantly, treatment resistance contributes to about 80% of total health care cost burden due to schizophrenia. I firmly believe that treating a person with schizophrenia needs a delicate balance between the ‘science’ (considering the host of complex bio-psycho-social factors and medication-related side-effects) versus ‘art’ (choosing the optimal combination of treatment options that will address the needs of a person with schizophrenia as an individual). To facilitate this in terms of person-specific treatment for schizophrenia, I lead a program called ‘InSTAR’ (Individualized Schizophrenia Treatment and Reintegration) at the Schizophrenia Clinic, National Institute of Mental Health And Neuro-Sciences (NIMHANS), Bengaluru.
My initial research studies (supported by the India Alliance Senior Fellowship) suggested aberrant brain plasticity (i.e., brain’s ability to change adaptively) to underlie the symptom genesis in schizophrenia. In this context, I came across transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) as a safe neuromodulation technique that can ‘correct’ aberrant neuroplasticity. tDCS involves battery-generated, weak-intensity (2-milliampere), direct current delivered using bio-conducting electrodes (about 35-cm2 size) placed on the scalp. Our research showed that add-on treatment with tDCS resulted in about 30% reduction in medication-resistant auditory hallucinations (i.e., hearing voices in the absence of any stimulus) in schizophrenia patients. These studies have led to ‘Weak Intensity Stimulation for
clinical Research centre
Dr. Venkatasubramanian Ganesan National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences
Year Under Review 43
Assessing the potential impact of evolving hIV
genetic diversity on neutralising antibody– mediated prophylaxis
and treatment
and neutralisation screening.The preliminary findings with contemporary and historically collected viruses (Figure 1B, 1C) indicate these disparate genetic and neutralization diversities, and warrants the continued need for surveillance of evolving HIV-1 globally circulating subtype C variants.This further informs our process of selecting bnAbs and their combinations that best underscore region-specific diversities for clinical use.
While ART is largely successful in achieving virological suppression and impaired immune restoration, the emergence of drug resistant mutations and viral reservoir driven systemic immune activation leading to serious non-AIDS events (SNAEs) remain challenges that could undermine optimal disease management. Our goal under the team science grant is to critically assess current HIV diversity at the population level that will potentially influence bnAb based interventions in people living with HIV (PLHIV) belonging to different risk groups, with and without comorbidities.
Legends of the Figure: A. Unprecedented genetic diversity presents formidable challenge
in HIV intervention by different modalities such as neutralising antibodies
B. Global HIV-1 subtype C genetic and predicted neutralisation diversities
C. Variation in sensitivity of historic HIV-1 India subtype C viruses to four top broadly neutralising monoclonal antibodies (bnAbs)
D. Translational research goal under the Team Science Project. E. The core team of principal investigators from THSTI, Faridabad
(lead PI), ICMR-NIRRH, Mumbai and YRGCARE, Chennai, who are uniquely linked with different clinical collaborators at multiple sites across India
Evolving diversity in globally circulating HIV-1 subtypes presents a formidable challenge in defining and
developing effective broadly neutralising antibodies (bnAb) for prevention and treatment (Figure 1A). It is important to assess how the combination of different bnAbs can optimally dissect regional and global HIV diversity. Our research highlights that the distinctly evolving clusters within global intra-subtype C HIV-1 gp120 sequences are associated with disparate, region-specific sensitivity of circulating HIV-1 subtype C to broadly neutralising antibodies (bnAbs). We examine the effectiveness and efficiency of bnAb combinations, including the ones that are furthest in clinical development and testing, with multiple and distinct specificities against HIV-1 subtype C which is predominantly circulating in India across different geographies and risk groups (Figure 1D). Under the team science project, the principal investigators along with several collaborators have initiated the process of accessing clinical samples from individuals under distinct risk categories from different regions in India and examining their genetic and neutralisation diversities through virus sequencing
Team Science Grant
Dr. Jayanta Bhattacharya Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI)
44 Annual Report 2019-20
v. Impact of diet and physical exercise to mitigate harmful effects of air pollution on lungs.
Our study outcomes will directly impact the healthy policy such as recommending and or mandating annual lung function test for every child until high school for detection of poor lung development as well as for initiating early corrective measures to improve lung health.
In 2019, 1.7 million lives were lost in India due to air pollution owing to heart and respiratory diseases. After birth, lung
continues to grow and reaches maximum growth and function by age 18-20 years (young adulthood). Deficits in lung function in childhood increases the risk for COPD and heart diseases in adulthood by 3-5 times. The air pollution in urban areas across India is 2-5 times higher than the levels reported in the West; however, the burden and magnitude of impact on the lung growth in Indian city-dwelling children is unknown yet.
We aim to elucidate the effects of air pollution levels on the growing lungs in adolescents residing in Delhi (very high), Mumbai and Bangalore (high) and Mysore (moderate) by measuring different air pollutants and monitoring lung function growth trajectory in school children of ages 11-16 years (Class VI to Class XII). Concurrently, we aim to identify predictive blood markers of poor lung growth in childhood, as currently there are none available for the clinician. Children with good lung development despite exposure to high levels of air pollution will be evaluated, to determine whether good nutrition or physical activity can help in mitigating the harmful effects of air pollution on the lungs. Successful completion of our study will yield following outcomes:
i. Burden of children population with poor lung function across India;
ii. Quantitative relationship between air pollution levels and prevalence of children with poor lung function growth;
iii. A blood test for diagnosing poor lung growth in children;
iv. Identification of key sources, chemical components and biological properties of air pollutants; and
Team Science Grant
Impact of air pollution on lung development in urban children residing in India
Dr. Mahesh Padukudru Anand JSS Medical College
Year Under Review 45
Fellows’ Awards and RecognitionsName Fellowship Host Institution Award/Recognition (Year)
Dr. Prashanth Nuggehalli Srinivas
CPH Intermediate Fellowship
Institute of Public Health Brocher Residency in Switzerland, 2020
Dr. Rishikesh Behere
CPH Intermediate Fellowship
KEM Hospital and Research Centre
Travel award for International DOHaD Society, 2019
Dr. Janardhanan Narayanaswamy
CPH Intermediate Fellowship
National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences
Best original research award in the field of biological psychiatry done in India, 5th Annual National Conference of Biological Psychiatry, 2019
Dr. Madhu Khatri Early Career Fellowship
University Institute of Engineering and Technology, Punjab University
Best poster award ICONICA, 2020
Dr. Laasya Samhita
Early Career Fellowship
National Centre for Biological Sciences
Best oral presentation award at the U.K/India Newton-Bhabha researcher links workshop on Microfluidics and AMR, 2019
Dr. Jeemon Panniyammakal
CPH Intermediate Fellowship
Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute For Medical Science & Technology
Emerging leader: World Heart Federation, 2019
Dr. Jayanth Kumar Palanichamy
CPH Early Career Fellowship
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
EMBO Travel Grant and Best poster award at the Practical Course: Humanized Mice in Biomedicine, Heidelberg, 2019
Dr. George M Varghese
CPH Senior Fellowship
Christian Medical College, Vellore
National Award for Excellence in Clinical Research, 2020
Country Ambassador of the Royal Society of Tropical Medicine & Hygiene, UK, 2019
Dr. Shweta Khandelwal
CPH Early Career Fellowship
Public Health Foundation of India
Amity Excellence Award for Best Woman Faculty in the area of Public Health Management, 2020
Dr. Pushpa Kumari
Early Career Fellowship
Regional Centre for Biotechnology
Travel grant from Genetic Society of America to attend The Allied Genetics Conference, Washington D.C, 2020
Dr. Paulomi Sanghavi
Early Career Fellowship
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
First prize for Augmented Writing Skills for Articulating Research (AWSAR) by Department of Science and Technology, 2019
Dr. Sureshkumar Kamalakannan
CPH Early Career Fellowship
Public Health Foundation of India – Indian Institute of Public Health, Hyderabad
State Award for Research Innovation to promote the empowerment of persons with disabilities by the Telangana, State Ministry of Social Justice, 2019
Dr. Sriram Varahan
Early Career Fellowship
Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine
The Zeeshan Khan Memorial Award for Excellence in Light Microscopy, 2019
Dr. Kirthiga M CPH Early Career Fellowship
Sri Ramachandra University
Young Researcher Award at Indian Dental Diva Awards, Mumbai, 2020
46 Annual Report 2019-20
Name Fellowship Host Institution Award/Recognition (Year)
Dr. Soujanya Kaup
CPH Early Career Fellowship
Yenepoya (Deemed to be University)
South India’s Got Talent Award for contribution in ophthalmic research at the Southern regional Ophthalmic Conference and Karnataka State Ophthalmology conference, 2019
Dr. Anita Chopra CPH Intermediate Fellowship
All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi
Travel award of Japanese Society of Hematology Annual Meeting, 2019
Dr. Shivakumar Venkataram
CPH Early Career Fellowship
National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences
ASHA award-2019 - Best original research in Biological Psychiatry, presented at Annual National Conference of Indian Association of Biological Psychiatry (endorsed by World Federation of Societies of Biological Psychiatry), 2019
Dr. Parveen Goyal
Early Career Fellowship
Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine
Best oral presentation award at 3rd National Postdoc Symposium held at IISER, Pune, 2019
Dr. Pratik Chaudhari
Early Career Fellowship
Tata Institute of Fundamental Research
Platform presentation award at 3rd National post doc symposium held at IISER Pune, 2019
Dr. Santosh Chauhan
Intermediate Fellowship
Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar
S. Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development, 2019EMBO Global Investigator, 2019Runner up-Merck young Scientist Award, 2019
Dr. Sridharan Devarajan
Intermediate Fellowship
Indian Institute of Science
NeurIPS Travel Award for travel to Vancouver Canada, December 2019.
Dr. Dimple Notani
Intermediate Fellowship
National Centre for Biological Sciences
EMBO Global Investigator award, 2019
Dr. Amit Singh Senior Fellowship Indian Institute of Science
CDRI-Drug Research Award, 2019
Professor Anura V Kurpad
Margdarshi Fellowship
St. John's Medical College and Hospital, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences
Elected Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians (London), 2019
Dr. Purusharth Rajyaguru
Intermediate Fellowship
Indian Institute of Science
Prof. Priti Shankar Teaching award for Assistant Professors (Science) conferred by the Indian Institute of Science, 2019
Dr. Nitin Gupta Intermediate Fellowship
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Excellence-in-Teaching Award from IIT Kanpur, 2019
Professor Sandhya S Visweswariah
Margdarshi Fellowship
Indian Institute of Science
Rustom Choksi Award for Excellence in Science and Engineering, 2019 Elected Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, 2019
Dr. Athi Narayanan Naganathan
Intermediate Fellowship
Indian Institute of Technology, Madras
Institute Research and Development Award (Early Career Level, IIT Madras), 2019
Dr. Shashank Tripathi
Intermediate Fellowship
Indian Institute of Science
Infosys Young Investigator Award, 2019Tata Trust Travel Award, 2019
Year Under Review 47
Name Fellowship Host Institution Award/Recognition (Year)
Dr. Radhakrishnan Mahalakshmi
Intermediate Fellowship
Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal
Young Scientist Award, Indian Peptide Society, 2019Travel Award, 64th Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society, San Diego, CA, 2019
Dr. Senthilkumari Srinivasan
Intermediate Fellowship
Aravind Medical Research Foundation
All India Ophthalmology Society (AIOS)-Indian Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO) Silver award 2019
Dr. Sucharita Sambashivaiah
Intermediate Fellowship
St. John's Medical College and Hospital, St. John's National Academy of Health Sciences
Dr. B.K.Anand Memorial Award from The Nutrition Society of India (NSI), New Delhi, 2019
Dr. Srivatsan Seergazhi Gopalan
Senior Fellowship National Centre for Biological Sciences
Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) Bronze medal, 2020CDRI award for Excellence in Drug Research in Chemical Sciences, 2019Sun Pharma Research Award for outstanding research in Medical & Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2020
Dr. Sarit Agasti Intermediate Fellowship
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre For Advanced Scientific Research
Emerging Investigator by Chemical Communications, Royal Society of Chemistry, UK, 2020Sheikh Saqr award, International Centre for Materials Science (ICMS), JNCASR, 2020
Dr. Dhiraj Kumar Senior Fellowship International Centre For Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Health Sciences, 2019
Dr. Tamal Das Intermediate Fellowship
TIFR Centre for Interdisciplinary Sciences, Hyderabad
Merck Young Scientist Award Finalist, 2019
Dr. Deepa Agashe Intermediate Fellowship
National Centre for Biological Sciences
Women Excellence Award (for female scientists under 40), Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), India, 2020Member, Indian National Young Academy of Science (INYAS), 2019Vice President, American Society of Naturalists, 2021-2023
Dr. Mahak Sharma Senior Fellowship Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Mohali
BM Birla Science Prize in Biology, 2020Awarded Professor BK Bachhawat International Travel Grant, 2020
Dr. Bhavana Muralidharan
Intermediate Fellowship
Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine
Japanese Neuroscience Society Travel Award from the Japanese Neuroscience Society, 2020
Dr. Jyotirmayee Dash
Senior Fellowship Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
Chemical Research Society of India (CSRI) Bronze medal, 2020
Dr. Anurag Agrawal
CPH Senior Fellowship
CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology
Sun Pharma Research Award for outstanding research in Medical & Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2020
Dr. BenuBrata Das Senior Fellowship Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science
S Ramachandran-National Bioscience Award for Career Development, 2019
48 Annual Report 2019-20
India Research Management Initiative
The India Research Management Initiative (IRMI) aims to strengthen the research ecosystem in India. The eyes are set on building capacity for research management (RM) and creating
a community of practice that supports knowledge building and innovation to address global challenges.
IRMI is being implemented via a suite of new funding opportunities, including IRMI RM Fellowships, IRMI RM grants and IRMI Travel awards. While the RM Fellowships support the development of research support offices through the work of a dedicated research manager, the RM grants provide support to boost the portfolio of an existing research office and for new initiatives in research management.
IRMI travel awards support attendance of Indian research managers at international conferences in research management.
India Alliance was pleased to announce the first set of awards under these three schemes. The RM Fellowships for 2020 were awarded to Dr. Aradhita Baral, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi; Mr. Godwin Fernandes, Sangath, Goa; Dr. Madhuri Dutta, George Institute for Global Health, New Delhi; Ms. Ramya Mohan, St. Johns Research Institute, Bangalore; Dr. Sandesh Samudre, Indian Law Society, Pune and Dr. Malini Pillai, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore.
The first set of RM grants were awarded to Dr. Ponnari Gottipati, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad; Dr. Rashmi Ramesh, Institute of Public Health, Bengaluru; Ms Sumithra Selvam, St. John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bangalore and Dr. Smita Jain, IndiaBioscience, Bangalore.
The first round of IRMI travel awards will enable seven Indian research managers to attend the INORMS 2021 conference. INORMS, the International Network of Research Management Societies, currently includes members from 45 countries and INORMS 2021 is a very large gathering of RMAs from across the network.
Awardees include Dr. Kamal Gulati, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi; Dr. Madhuri Dutta, George Institute of Global Health India, New Delhi; Dr. Malini Pillai, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore; Dr. Pankaj Gupta, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society, Bangalore; Dr. Ponnari Gottipati, LV Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad; Dr. Rashmi Ramesh, Institute of Public Health, Bangalore and Dr. Smita Jain, India Bioscience, Bangalore.
The IRMI initiative continues to raise awareness on research management in India. A series of webinars on specific themes in research management was curated for the IRMI initiative through 2020 and provided a platform for research managers, funders, and researchers to discuss diverse perspectives on research support. This resource can be accessed on the India Alliance YouTube channel.
Year Under Review 49
IRMI Awardees
Dr. Aradhita Baral Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology
Dr. Madhuri Dutta George Institute for Global Health
Dr. Sandesh Samudre Indian Law Society
Dr. Pankaj Gupta Tata Institute for Genetics and Society
Godwin Fernandes Sangath Institute
Dr. Ponnari Gottipati L V Prasad Eye Institute
Dr. Smita Jain India Bioscience
Dr. Rashmi Ramesh Institute of Public Health
Ramya Mohan St.John’s Research Institute
Sumithra Selvam St. John’s National Academy of
Health Sciences
Dr. Kamal Gulati Scientist-II (Project Management), Centralised Core Research Facility
All India Institute of Medical Sciences
Link for the IRMI content:
https://indiaalliance.s3.ap-south-1.amazonaws.com/iwwivalcjedktwq1615819898799/India-Alliance_IRMI-Pages_1503.pdf
50 Annual Report 2019-20
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