Dr. Kaustuv Sanyal
Professor Kaustuv Sanyal has been awarded the Sun Pharma Award for Medical Sciences (Basic Research) for his seminal contributions in fungal centromere biology. Using a combination of biochemical, genetic, and genomic approaches, Professor Sanyal and his colleagues opened up new frontiers in basic research by identifying facets, in addition to DNA sequence, that define centromere structure and function. His elegant research demonstrates that spatial proximity and high DNA sequence homology make centromeres a nexus of inter-chromosomal rearrangements. Professor Sanyal’s findings contribute a quantum leap in our understanding of genome stability, mis-regulation of which may have serious consequences ranging from diseases such as cancers in humans to drug resistance in fungal pathogens. His research also identified key molecular events leading to emergence of new pathogenic species.
Prof Sameer Bakhshi
Prof. Sameer Bakhshi has been awarded the Sun Pharma Science Foundation Research Award for Medical Sciences (Clinical Research) for his contribution in establishing affordable, cost-effective and practical models of Supportive Care in Cancer.
His pioneering work on drug repurposing has shown the utility of relatively non-toxic oral metronomic chemotherapy in some solid malignancies, and is now being considered as a therapeutic option in upfront palliative intent and end-stage cancer patients.
In the field of antiemetics, he brought a practice change by establishing the utility of the drug aprepitant and the antipsychotic drug olanzapine in children receiving highly emetogenic chemotherapy.
He has established outpatient clinical protocols for managing neutropenic fever, and also paradigms for early stoppage of antibiotics in patients with febrile neutropenia, so as to prevent the menace of development of multi-drug resistant organisms and at the same time save cost and toxicity for patients.
Professor T. Govindaraju
Prof. T Govindaraju has been awarded the the Sun Pharma Science Foundation Research Award for his outstanding contributions towards the development of novel diagnostics, therapeutics, theranostics and drug delivery platforms by judiciously employing multironged concepts of chemical biology and pharmaceutical sciences. Over a decade of dedicated research efforts have resulted in the discovery of novel molecular tools and drug candidates with potential for differential detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. The interest in the inverse relationship between Alzheimer’s disease and cancer resulted in the discovery of a first small molecule-based theranostic drug candidate for lung cancer. Small molecule-based theranostics has significant implications in the personalized medicine. Govindaraju has developed silk-derived formulations for sustained in vivo insulin delivery, diabetic wound healing, and stem cell-based neuronal tissue engineering, a complementary approach to tackle Alzheimer’s disease, which add value to sericulture industry and farmers. Many of his discoveries have been already considered for translation.