year under review

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.


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


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


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


Basic Biomedical Research FellowshipsEarly Career 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



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


9th India Alliance Annual Fellows’ Meeting


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-


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


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)


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



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



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.



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



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.



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



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.



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



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



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



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.


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


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.



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


Dr. Venkatasubramanian Ganesan National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro-Sciences


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)


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


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


KEM Hospital and Research Centre

Travel award for International DOHaD Society, 2019

Dr. Janardhanan Narayanaswamy


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


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


Public Health Foundation of India

Amity Excellence Award for Best Woman Faculty in the area of Public Health Management, 2020

Dr. Pushpa Kumari


Regional Centre for Biotechnology

Travel grant from Genetic Society of America to attend The Allied Genetics Conference, Washington D.C, 2020

Dr. Paulomi Sanghavi



First prize for Augmented Writing Skills for Articulating Research (AWSAR) by Department of Science and Technology, 2019

Dr. Sureshkumar Kamalakannan


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


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


Name Fellowship Host Institution Award/Recognition (Year)

Dr. Soujanya Kaup


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


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



Best oral presentation award at 3rd National Postdoc Symposium held at IISER, Pune, 2019

Dr. Pratik Chaudhari



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


Indian Institute of Science

NeurIPS Travel Award for travel to Vancouver Canada, December 2019.

Dr. Dimple Notani



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



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


Rustom Choksi Award for Excellence in Science and Engineering, 2019 Elected Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences, 2019

Dr. Athi Narayanan Naganathan


Indian Institute of Technology, Madras

Institute Research and Development Award (Early Career Level, IIT Madras), 2019

Dr. Shashank Tripathi



Infosys Young Investigator Award, 2019Tata Trust Travel Award, 2019


Name Fellowship Host Institution Award/Recognition (Year)

Dr. Radhakrishnan Mahalakshmi


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


Aravind Medical Research Foundation

All India Ophthalmology Society (AIOS)-Indian Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO) Silver award 2019

Dr. Sucharita Sambashivaiah


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


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



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


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.


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


year under review

Documents