The UK-India Education and Research Initiative's (UKIER) Standard Award -2006 has been awarded to Dr. Ahmed Kamal, scientist, Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, for his contribution in the field of 'Biomedical solutions for India and UK for discovering next generation anti-infectives'.

According to the IICT press release, a research grant of UK£ 150,000 has also been awarded for a project proposal between Dr Kamal and Prof Andrew David Miller, Imperial College Genetic Therapies Centre, London on Biomedical solutions for discovering next generation anti-infectives drugs.

Under this, both the experts will jointly work to discover novel small molecule antibacterial drugs based on peptide-nucleic acid and nucleoside analogues. The approach will be adaptable to addressing targets for anti-tuberculosis, anti-viral and anti-malaria.

Dr Ahmed Kamal has a proven track record in pharmaceutical chemistry and has 40 patents and 170 publications to his credit. Some of his notable patents have been licensed to US based pharma companies for clinical trials.