Rajendra Kumar Sharma (born January 2, 1942) is a professor at the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine,

University of Saskatchewan College of Medicine The College of Medicine of the University of Saskatchewan is the university's medical school. The school is located in Saskatoon. It is the only medical school in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Admissions In 2014, there were 894 appli ...

. He holds an earned Doctor of Science from the University of Saskatchewan, and was elected a Fellow of the

Royal Society of the Arts The Royal Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce (RSA), also known as the Royal Society of Arts, is a London-based organisation committed to finding practical solutions to social challenges. The RSA acronym is used m ...

(FRSA) in 2014. His contributions to research have been documented in the ''Encyclopedia of Saskatchewan – A Living Legacy''. Sharma has made several discoveries in the areas of colorectal cancer and the cardiovascular system.

Biography

Rajendra Sharma, the son of Venkateswar Sharma and Durga Devi Sharma, was born on January 2, 1942, in

Hathras Hathras is a historical city in Uttar Pradesh, India. It is also the headquarters of Hathras district, formed on 3 May 1997 by merging parts of Aligarh, Mathura and Agra. It is a part of the Aligarh Division. The primary spoken language is ...

, Uttar Pradesh, India. He spent his childhood in

where he studied primary education at Mohan Gunj Primary Municipality School and higher secondary education at Saraswati Inter College. Sharma completed his B.Sc. in Chemistry, Botany and Zoology in 1963 and M.Sc. in Biochemistry in 1965 from

Aligarh Muslim University Aligarh Muslim University (abbreviated as AMU) is a Public University, public Central University (India), central university in Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India, which was originally established by Sir Syed Ahmad Khan as the Muhammadan Anglo-Orie ...

. He served as a chemistry lecturer at Saraswati Inter College due to the shortage of chemistry teachers during 1965. He was awarded a research fellowship from the

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik tathā audyogik anusandhāna pariṣada''), abbreviated as CSIR, was established by the Government of India in September 1942 as an autonomous body that has emerged as the ...

(CSIR) to pursue a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry at the

All India Institute of Medical Sciences The All India Institutes of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) is a group of autonomous government public medical universities of higher education under the jurisdiction of Ministry of Health and Family Welfare , Government of India. These institutes h ...

(AIIMS), New Delhi, where he worked in the area of protein chemistry and enzymology. His Ph.D. research work was published in the ''Journal of Biological Chemistry''. After completing his Ph.D., Sharma worked as a lecturer at the Department of Biochemistry,

Lady Hardinge Medical College , mottoeng = Through Adversity to Stars , established = 1916 , founder = Charles Hardinge, 1st Baron Hardinge of Penshurst , director = , faculty = , students = , undergrad = 240 , postgrad ...

& Hospital, New Delhi. Sharma married Manjul Saraswat in 1970; they have three daughters, Priya, Puja and Poonam.

Scientific career

Sharma pursued his postdoctoral research in the field of cancer biology in 1972 in the Department of Biochemistry & Pharmacology,

Tufts University School of Medicine The Tufts University School of Medicine is the medical school of Tufts University, a private research university in Massachusetts. It was established in 1893 and is located on the university's health sciences campus in downtown Boston. The ''T ...

, Boston, Massachusetts, US. In 1975, he joined the College of Medicine,

University of South Alabama The University of South Alabama (USA) is a public research university in Mobile, Alabama. It was created by the Alabama Legislature in May, 1963, and replaced existing extension programs operated in Mobile by the University of Alabama. The first ...

, as a research associate in the Department of Biochemistry. In 1976 he joined the Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine,

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.signal transduction Signal transduction is the process by which a chemical or physical signal is transmitted through a cell as a series of molecular events, most commonly protein phosphorylation catalyzed by protein kinases, which ultimately results in a cellular ...

. In 1991, Sharma joined as an associate professor at the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon. In the year 2012, Sharma was awarded the title of a Distinguished Professor at the University of Saskatchewan and he continues to serve at the same position to date. Sharma's research was primarily focused in the areas of calmodulin-regulated systems and myristoylation of cellular proteins. He was the first to report the role of N-myrstoyltransferase in colorectal cancer, which was highlighted in the ''Journal of the National Cancer Institute''. His extensive research studies led to the identification of N-myrstoyltransferase as a potential biomarker in colorectal cancer patients. This discovery was licensed for the development of a diagnostic tool to detect colorectal cancer. Sharma's research has resulted in the identification and characterization of several proteins from various species related to colorectal cancer and cardiovascular system that has led to 265 full-length publications in reputed journals to his credit. Sharma has also co-edited a book on signal transduction mechanisms. He is also currently serving as the Editor-In-Chief of a peer-reviewed international scientific journal entitled "Journal of Molecular Biology & Therapeutics". Recently an article on his decades of dedication to research was published in OCN (ON CAMPUS NEWS) at the University of Saskatchewan.

Recognitions

Saskatchewan Order of Merit The Saskatchewan Order of Merit (french: Ordre du Mérite de la Saskatchewan) is a civilian honour for merit in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Instituted in 1985 by Lieutenant Governor Frederick Johnson, on the advice of the Cabinet und ...

Saskatchewan Centennial Medal The Commemorative Medal for the Centennial of Saskatchewan, also called the Saskatchewan Centennial Medal, is a commemorative medal struck to celebrate the first 100 years since Saskatchewan's entrance into Canadian Confederation. The medal re ...

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal The Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (french: Médaille du jubilé de diamant de la reine Elizabeth II) or The Queen's Diamond Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 2012 to mark the 60th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II's ...

(2012) *Fellow of the

(FRSA) (2014) The City of

Saskatoon Saskatoon () is the largest city in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. It straddles a bend in the South Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province. It is located along the Trans-Canada Yellowhead Highway, and has served as ...

, Saskatchewan, named four streets in Aspen Ridge in recognition of Sharma's scholarly contributions to science and research.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Rajendra Kumar 1942 births Living people Indian emigrants to Canada Members of the Saskatchewan Order of Merit People from Hathras People from Saskatoon Academic staff of the University of Saskatchewan Bharatiya Janata Party politicians from Uttar Pradesh