Mumbai: Two distinguished scientists, Professor Raghavan Varadarajan from the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, and Professor C Anandharamakrishnan, director of CSIR-Nationwide Institute for Interdisciplinary Science and Know-how, have been lately honoured with the distinguished Tata Transformation Prize. In these conversations with Niraj Pandit, they talk about their groundbreaking analysis, challenges, and visions for the long run.
Professor Raghavan Varadarajan from IISc, Bangalore (L), and Professor C Anandharamakrishnan. HT Photograph How has profitable the Tata Transformation Prize impacted your work?
Varadarajan: I’m very grateful for this recognition. The grant related to the prize offers us a three-year window to focus intensely on advancing our RSV vaccine analysis. It additionally permits us to attach with business companions to speed up the transition from lab-scale analysis to real-world purposes. This assist will considerably expedite our work towards creating an inexpensive RSV vaccine.
May you every clarify the main target of your analysis?
Varadarajan: Our analysis at IISc focuses on designing vaccines for respiratory viruses, notably RSV, which causes extreme respiratory sicknesses, particularly in infants, younger youngsters, and the aged. Over 97% of RSV-related deaths happen in creating international locations, together with India. Regardless of new RSV vaccines being developed within the U.S., they’re at present unaffordable for populations right here. We purpose to create a equally efficient however cost-effective vaccine.
Anandharamakrishnan: I have been engaged on creating fortified rice enriched with important vitamins and a low glycaemic index to fight malnutrition and diabetes. This analysis considers that a big fraction of the Indian inhabitants has a rice-based day by day food plan, and glycemic responses are sometimes neglected by the inhabitants at giant.
What important challenges have you ever confronted in your analysis?
Varadarajan: Vaccine improvement is inherently advanced, particularly when balancing effectiveness and affordability. RSV has been notably difficult due to its shape-shifting floor protein, which is tough to supply within the right form in steady type at excessive yield. We’re tackling these challenges utilizing cutting-edge protein design and screening methods.
Anandharamakrishnan: Nature and the human physique are extremely advanced and can’t be simply mimicked. This was notably evident in creating Asia’s first synthetic gastrointestinal system. The event, optimization, and validation of this method required intensive work, and lots of analysis initiatives have been extraordinarily difficult throughout their early levels because of their uniqueness and excessive dangers.
What drew you to your respective fields?
Varadarajan: I grew up in a household that deeply valued training. My mom was a historian, and my father was a scientist. Since highschool, I used to be inquisitive about a profession in science. After finishing my undergraduate research at IIT Kanpur and Ph.D. at Stanford College, I selected to return to India to work right here.
Anandharamakrishnan: My path was much less direct. My undergraduate and grasp’s levels are in Chemical engineering. Throughout my Ph.D. at Loughborough College, UK, my analysis centered on spray drying, which drew me to the fascinating discipline of meals engineering. Since then, I have been engaged on a number of interdisciplinary points on this discipline.
What are your future plans and ongoing initiatives?
Anandharamakrishnan: My ongoing work focuses on micro and nanoencapsulation, methods for lowering salt, sugar and fats in meals, meals 3D printing, improvement of personalized/customized meals, computational modelling of meals processing techniques, and the involvement of superior sensory techniques for revolutionary approaches to new product improvement.
How do you guarantee your analysis advantages creating international locations?
Varadarajan: Our objective is to create options that aren’t solely scientifically sound but in addition sensible for large-scale implementation in resource-constrained settings. For RSV, this implies creating a vaccine that may stand up to logistical challenges whereas remaining inexpensive.
What are your ideas on analysis funding in India?
Varadarajan: Funding for analysis, notably in life sciences, has been difficult, particularly post-Covid. Whereas authorities funds can be found, the regularity and quantity stay considerations. Non-public funding in life sciences is proscribed in India, with organisations just like the Tata Trusts, Infosys Basis, and Ignite Life Science Basis being exceptions. We’d like extra non-public gamers to assist early-stage life science analysis in academia.