Ranbaxy Science Foundation (RSF), a non-profit organization set-up by Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited (RLL), announced its 20th Annual Research Awards for the year 2007 to Indian Scientists in recognition of their outstanding research contributions made in the fields of medical and pharmaceutical sciences. The foundation also announced its second Annual Science Scholar Awards to the young and brilliant upcoming new generation of scientists. A total of 7 Scientists and 4 Science Scholars were honoured with the awards.
The awards were presented by renowned scientist and policymaker professor MGK Menon, Fellow of the Royal Society, London, Advisor, Indian Space Research Organization, former minister of State for Science & Technology, Government of India, at a special function held at the All India Medical Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
Prof Bhanu P Jena, distinguished professor, Department of Physiology, Wayne State University School of Medicine, Detroit, USA was honoured for his pioneering discovery of a new cellular structure - the porosome, the universal secretory machinery in cells, and for the general molecular mechanism underlying cell secretion
Prof Namita Surolia, professor, Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research , Bangalore was awarded for her contribution towards understanding parasite biology and discovery of protein, heme and fatty acid biosynthesis pathways in Plasmodium falciparum
Prof Sampath Parthasarathy, Klassen chair and professor of Surgery, professor of Internal Medicine and professor of Human Nutrition, The Ohio State University Medical Center, USA for his contributions in advancing knowledge in cardiovascular sciences by discovering oxidized low density lipoprotein and the scheme of events responsible for early atherosclerosis.
Dr Ajit Varki, distinguished professor of Medicine and Cellular & Molecular Medicine for his contributions in understanding the chemistry, biology, evolution and biomedical relevance of Sialic Acids and Sialic Acid-recognizing proteins
Dr Lalit Kumar, professor of Medical Oncology, Institute Rotary Cancer Hospital, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi for his outstanding contributions in the application of stem cell transplantation in oncology and other medical disorders.
Dr Anil Gulati, professor and associate dean for Research, Midwestern University Chicago College of Pharmacy, USA for his contributions in advancing the field of endothelin (ET) and its possible applications
Dr Arabinda Chaudhuri, scientist E-II and project leader, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad for his contributions in advancing the knowledge of efficient non-viral transfection vectors towards ensuring the clinical success of gene therapy
Mridula Nambiar, senior research fellow, Department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore was recognised for her research work 'Characterization of the Molecular Mechanism of Chromosomal Translocations in Lymphoma and Leukemia'.
Sagarika Haldar, PhD Student, Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi for her research work 'Development and validation of improved assays for the rapid diagnosis of tuberculosis'.
Dr Tulika Prasad, assistant professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi for her research work 'Finding Novel Strategies to combat drug resistance in Candida'.
Umesh Gupta, senior research fellow (ICMR), Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dr Hari Singh Gour University, Sagar (MP) for his research work 'Polypropylene imine dendrimer mediated solubility enhancement: effect of pH and functional groups of hydrophobes'.
The Ranbaxy Research Awards aims to encourage, recognize and reward excellence in original research work in the fields of Medical and Pharmaceutical sciences by Indian scientists. Beginning 2007, the Foundation also instituted Ranbaxy Science Scholar Awards with an aim to recognize and reward the brilliant and young science scholars in order to stimulate their interest in research. Each Science Scholar Award carries a certificate and a scholarship of Rs 50,000.