Alok Bhattacharya (born 1951) is an Indian parasitologist, academic and a professor at the School of Life Sciences of the

Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU; ISO: Javāharalāla Neharū Viśvavidyālaya) is a public research university located in Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university ...

. He chairs the ''Biotechnology Information System Network'' (BITSNET) as well as the Life Sciences Expert Committee of ''FIST program'' of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). He is an elected fellow of the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and List of Nobel laureates, Nobel Laureate Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman, C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 27 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it ...

and the

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi New Delhi (; ) is the Capital city, capital of India and a part of the Delhi, National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three b ...

and is known for his studies on

Entamoeba histolytica ''Entamoeba histolytica'' is an anaerobic organism, anaerobic parasitic amoebozoan, part of the genus ''Entamoeba''. Predominantly infecting humans and other primates causing amoebiasis, ''E. histolytica'' is estimated to infect about 35-50 mil ...

and ''species-specific calcium binding protein and its gene''. The

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR; IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada'') is a research and development (R&D) organisation in India to promote scientific, industrial and economic growth. Headquarter ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology Shanti or Shanthi may refer to: In Sanskrit * Inner peace, a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress * Kshanti, one of the paramitas of B ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1994, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Biography

Alok Bhattacharya, born on 2 February 1951, did his graduate studies in science at

Hansraj College Hansraj College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, in Delhi, India. Established in 1948 and situated in the Delhi University North Campus, it is considered as one of the best colleges in India having produced a large and not ...

of the

University of Delhi The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

and obtained a master's degree in chemistry from the

Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT- Kanpur or IIT-K) is a public institute of technology located in Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India. As an Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), it was declared an Institute of National Importance by th ...

in 1972. Subsequently, he did his doctoral research at the School of Life Sciences,

(JNU) under the guidance of

Asis Datta Asis Datta is an Indian biochemist, molecular biologist and genetic engineer, known for his research on genetically modified foods and food nutritional security. He was the founding Director of the National Institute of Plant Genome Research ...

, a renowned geneticist and

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

laureate, to secure a PhD in 1976. He moved to the US for his post-doctoral studies which he did at the Laboratory of Pathophysiology of

National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...

during 1977–79 and at the Springer Lab of

Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical and Academic Area, Longwood Medical Area in Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is the third oldest medical school in the Un ...

from 1979 to 1981. Returning to India the same year, he joined the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi (AIIMS New Delhi), is a public medical research university and hospital in New Delhi, India. The institute is governed by the AIIMS Act, 1956 and operates autonomously under the Ministry of He ...

and worked there as a senior research officer at the Department of Biochemistry till 1982 when he joined Tata Research Development and Design Centre of the

Tata Consultancy Services Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) is an Indian Multinational corporation, multinational technology company specializing in information technology services and consulting. Headquartered in Mumbai, it is a part of the Tata Group and operates in 150 ...

located in

Pune Pune ( ; , ISO 15919, ISO: ), previously spelled in English as Poona (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1978), is a city in the state of Maharashtra in the Deccan Plateau, Deccan plateau in Western ...

, where he worked till 1985. In 1986, Bhattacharya had a short stint at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases of the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in 1887 and is part of the United States Department of Health and Human Service ...

as a guest researcher, after which he joined his alma mater, Jawaharlal Nehru University, as an associate professor at their School of Life Sciences, where he is the incumbent professor and adjunct faculty. During his service at JNU, he held various positions, including that of the coordinator of Bioinformatics Centre (1998–2008), dean of School of Life Sciences (2002–2004) and the dean of School of Information Technology (2004–2008). He is also a professor of life sciences at

Shiv Nadar University Shiv Nadar University (Institute of Eminence) is a private university located near Greater Noida, in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It was founded in 2011 by Shiv Nadar, the founder and chairman of HCL. History The university ...

, Dadri and a visiting faculty at

Banaras Hindu University Banaras Hindu University (BHU), formerly Benares Hindu University, is a collegiate, central, and research university located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, and founded in 1916. The university incorporated the Central Hindu College, ...

. Alok Bhattacharya is married to Sudha Bhattacharya, a known parasitologist. She is a professor at

and is a co-author of some of his publications. The couple lives in Delhi.

Legacy

Bhattacharya's researches were focused on

parasitology Parasitology is the study of parasites, their host (biology), hosts, and the relationship between them. As a List of biology disciplines, biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in questio ...

, computation biology and

bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field of science that develops methods and Bioinformatics software, software tools for understanding biological data, especially when the data sets are large and complex. Bioinformatics uses biology, ...

, with special focus on the biology of

, an

anaerobic Anaerobic means "living, active, occurring, or existing in the absence of free oxygen", as opposed to aerobic which means "living, active, or occurring only in the presence of oxygen." Anaerobic may also refer to: *Adhesive#Anaerobic, Anaerobic ad ...

parasitic

protozoan Protozoa (: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a polyphyletic group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic debris. Historically ...

causing

amoebiasis Amoebiasis, or amoebic dysentery, is an infection of the intestines caused by a parasitic amoeba '' Entamoeba histolytica''. Amoebiasis can be present with no, mild, or severe symptoms. Symptoms may include lethargy, loss of weight, colon ...

. His studies elucidated the molecular mechanisms during the

opsonization Opsonins are extracellular proteins that, when bound to substances or cells, induce phagocytes to phagocytose the substances or cells with the opsonins bound. Thus, opsonins act as tags to label things in the body that should be phagocytosed (i.e. ...

process of the pathogen and identified new proteins such as EhCaBP1, EhCaBP3 and EhC2PK which play a role in the

phagocytosis Phagocytosis () is the process by which a cell (biology), cell uses its plasma membrane to engulf a large particle (≥ 0.5 μm), giving rise to an internal compartment called the phagosome. It is one type of endocytosis. A cell that performs ph ...

and actin dynamics of the parasite. His team developed new genomic tools and also proposed new algorithms for the identification of genomic variations. His work on

lipophosphoglycan Lipophosphoglycan (LPG) is a class of molecules found on the surface of some eukaryotes, in particular protozoa. Each is made up of two parts, lipid and polysaccharide (also called glycan). They are bonded by a phosphodiester, hence the name lipo-p ...

and its identification and characterization as well as on the ''species-specific calcium binding protein and its gene'' are reported to have been pioneering. These studies are known to have widened the understanding of the

pathogenesis In pathology, pathogenesis is the process by which a disease or disorder develops. It can include factors which contribute not only to the onset of the disease or disorder, but also to its progression and maintenance. The word comes . Descript ...

of the protozoan at the molecular level. For pursuing his researches on Entamoeba histolytica, he founded a dedicated laboratory at JNU. He has also worked on the pathogenesis of

malaria Malaria is a Mosquito-borne disease, mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects vertebrates and ''Anopheles'' mosquitoes. Human malaria causes Signs and symptoms, symptoms that typically include fever, Fatigue (medical), fatigue, vomitin ...

and

visceral leishmaniasis Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar (Hindi: kālā āzār, "black sickness") or "black fever", is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality. Leishmaniasi ...

(kala-azar) and his researches are documented in a number of articles of which 188 have been listed by

ResearchGate ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a 2014 study by ''Nature'' and a 2016 article in ''Times Higher Education' ...

, an online repository of scientific articles. Bhattacharya is associated with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and is the chairman of two of DST's initiatives. ''Biotechnology Information System Network'', a bioinformatics program for establishing a centralised database and nationwide network of affiliated organizations is one while the other is ''Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure in Universities and other Higher Educational Institutions'' (FIST) where he heads the Expert Committee on Life Sciences. He is a member of

Guha Research Conference Guha Research Conference (GRC) is a professional society set up by Indian scholars to develop the field of Biochemistry. It was established in 1960, and is named after Biresh Chandra Guha (1904-1962). The first four GRC meetings were held alongsid ...

and a former vice president of the

(2011–13). He serves as a member of the governing council of the

(CSIR), as a member of CSIR Society and as a member of the research councils of

Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology C.S.I.R - Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology or CSIR-IHBT established in 1983 is a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR; IAST: ''vaigya ...

and Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute, both constituent laboratories of CSIR. He sits in the USER committee of the Department of Science and Technology and chairs the Task force on Bioinformatics, Computation Biology and Systems Biology of the

Department of Biotechnology The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) is an Indian government department, under the Ministry of Science and Technology responsible for administrating development and commercialisation in the field of modern biology and biotechnology in India. ...

. He is the managing trustee of ''GNE-Myopathy International'', a forum of patients who suffer from GNE-Myopathy, a genetic disorder affecting young people and is associated with several science journals including ''Parasitology International'', ''

Journal of Biosciences The ''Journal of Biosciences'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru, India. The current editor-in-chief is Prof. Renee Borges Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. According to the ''Jour ...

'', ''Genome Analysis'', ''Bioinformatics: From Molecules to systems'', ''International Journal of Integrative Biology'', ''

PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases ''PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases'' is a peer-reviewed open access scientific journal devoted to the study of neglected tropical diseases, including helminth, bacterial, viral, protozoan, and fungal infections endemic to tropical regions. ''PLOS ...

'' and ''

Nature Nature is an inherent character or constitution, particularly of the Ecosphere (planetary), ecosphere or the universe as a whole. In this general sense nature refers to the Scientific law, laws, elements and phenomenon, phenomena of the physic ...

''. Bhattacharya is a former vice president (2009–10) of the Society of Biological Chemists (India), a science society based at the

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a Public university, public, Deemed university, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, Karnataka. The ...

, serves as a member for internal expert panel of the Council of Indian Institutes of Technology and is involved with the ''Project AMOEBAC'' of the Infect-ERA, a global organization for researches on human infectious diseases. He has delivered several guest lectures and keynote addresses and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the ''National Symposium on Bioinformatics and Computational Systems Biology'' organized by the National Network for Mathematical and Computational Biology (NNMCB) of the Department of Science and Technology to be held during 12–14 November 2016 at

Central University of Himachal Pradesh Central University of Himachal Pradesh (CUHP and CU Himachal) is a central research university located in Dharamshala, Kangra, Himachal Pradesh, India. It is operating from a temporary campus at Shahpurand Dehra Gopipur, with two small campus ...

. He has also mentored research scholars in their doctoral researches.

Awards and honors

Bhattacharya, a Robert McNamara Fellow of the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and Grant (money), grants to the governments of Least developed countries, low- and Developing country, middle-income countries for the purposes of economic development ...

(1985–86), was awarded the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize Shanti or Shanthi may refer to: In Sanskrit * Inner peace, a state of being mentally and spiritually at peace, with enough knowledge and understanding to keep oneself strong in the face of discord or stress * Kshanti, one of the paramitas of B ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, by the

in 1994. He is also a recipient of Science Exhibition Award of

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

in 1968 and 1969 and the Rockefeller Biotechnology Career Development Award for 1988–1990. He is a J.C. Bose National Fellow of the Department of Science and Technology, India and an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences. He received the Aryabhatta Medal of the Indian National Science Academy in 2015.

Biography

Legacy

Awards and honors

Selected bibliography

See also

References

External links

Further reading