Dr Pundi Narasimhan Rangarajan, associate professor, department of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore has won this year's Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award instituted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. He is one of the five recipients from Bangalore among the 11 scientists.

Dr Rangaranjan who is a doctorate in molecular biology with a specialization in gene expression and infectious diseases has been engaged in the research of DNA vaccine for rabies, Hepatitis-B and Japanese Encephalitis.

The DNA rabies vaccines was an institute-industry initiative between IISc and the Indian Immunologicals, Hyderabad. The latter funded Rs 50 lakh annually from 1998 to 2007 for the veterinary vaccine development project. The novel DNA vaccine formulation consisting of DNA vaccine and an inactivated virus were combined to provide the adequate potency s against a cell culture variant. The product received patents from Europe, China, Canada, South Africa and India. A paper was also published in the Human Genome Therapy Journal in 2001.

The pre-clinical toxicology study of the DNA rabies vaccine took place under the department of Biotechnology grant. The product is awaiting regulatory clearances. The vaccine has worked well in both mice and cattle.

The associate professor of the biochemistry department, IISc was also engaged in the development of the Hepatitis B vaccine 'Elovac') with the Indian Immunologicals, Hyderabad and ''Bevac' with Biological Evans.

The research on Japanese Encephalitis was purely out of academic interest and now Dr Rangarajan and his team of students are studying the gene expression changes of the virus in the brain mouse brain.

Dr Rangarajan attributes his success to the guidance and support from Prof. G Padmanabhan, scientist emeritus and former director IISc and Dr V A Srinivasan, research director, Indian Immunologicals Limited. There has also been significant contribution by a team of students at the IISc who have also been perseverant in their research efforts, he added.