Virander Singh Chauhan is an Indian scientist and a

Rhodes Scholar The Rhodes Scholarship is an international Postgraduate education, postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Esta ...

working in the fields of

genetic engineering Genetic engineering, also called genetic modification or genetic manipulation, is the modification and manipulation of an organism's genes using technology. It is a set of Genetic engineering techniques, technologies used to change the genet ...

and

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

. He is known for his contributions to the development of a

recombinant vaccine Recombinant may refer to: * Recombinant organism – an organism that contains a different combination of alleles from either of its parents. * Recombinant DNA – a form of artificial DNA sequence * Recombinant protein - artificially produced (and ...

for

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 for synthetic structural peptides with biological functions. He was honored by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

in 2012 with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of

Padma Shri The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...

. He is the present Chancellor of th
Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management

Biography

Virander Singh Chauhan, born on 3 March 1950, graduated in Chemistry (BSc) from 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 ...

in 1969 and secured his post graduation (MSc) from the same university in 1971. His career started as the faculty member of Chemistry at the St. Stephen's College, Delhi and continued his research at Delhi University. In 1974, he obtained a Ph.D., after which he moved to

Oxford University The University of Oxford is a collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the second-oldest continuously operating u ...

, on temporary leave from the college, on a Rhodes Scholarship where he stayed till 1977. At Oxford he obtained his D.Phil. in chemistry in 1977.On his return from Oxford, he resumed his duties at St. Stephen's College where he worked till 1979. In between, he had a brief stay of one year as a post doctoral fellow at the

University of Georgia The University of Georgia (UGA or Georgia) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university with its main campus in Athens, Georgia, United States. Chartered in 1785, it is the oldest public university in th ...

during 1977-78. In 1979, Chauhan joined 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 ...

as an Assistant Professor and returned to Delhi University in 1982 as the Reader of the Department of Chemistry. In 1986, he was promoted as the Professor and worked there till 1988. Resigning from the university, Chauhan joined the

International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology The International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) was established as a project of the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) in 1983. The Organisation has three Component laboratories with over 45 ongo ...

(ICGEB), a non profit research organization under the aegis of

United Nations Industrial Development Organization The United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) (French: Organisation des Nations unies pour le développement industriel; French/Spanish acronym: ONUDI) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that assists countries in e ...

as senior scientist and was entrusted the leadership of the workgroup involved in the research on Malaria. In 1998, he was appointed as the Director of the institute, a post he held till 2014. Besides academic achievements Chauhan was also an outstanding athlete who represented Delhi University and Oxford University in Athletics and Cross-Country running. Chauhan continued his research at ICGEB as a DBT distinguished biotechnology professor fellow, JC Bose fellow and Arturo Falaschi Fellow till the end of 2022.

Positions

Virander Chauhan was the secretary of the Indian arm of

Rhodes Scholarships The Rhodes Scholarship is an international postgraduate award for students to study at the University of Oxford in Oxford, United Kingdom. The scholarship is open to people from all backgrounds around the world. Established in 1902, it is o ...

UK and is a member of the selection committees of such as Inlaks, Felix and Dr. Manmohan Singh scholarships. Chauhan has been on the selection committees for the last 42 years without a break. A former president of the Society of Biological Chemists during 2009-2011, Chauhan is an elected member (1992) of all the three National Academies of Sciences including 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 ...

(INSA) ,National Academy of Sciences (NASI) and

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 ...

(IAS) as well as Guha Research Conference and

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) is a North–south research partnerships, merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting more than 1,400 scientists in some 1 ...

TWAS. He has served as the president of Indian Peptide Society and as a member of scientific institutions such as

New York Academy of Sciences The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), originally founded as the Lyceum of Natural History in January 1817, is a nonprofit professional society based in New York City, with more than 20,000 members from 100 countries. It is the fourth-oldes ...

, American Society of Microbiology, Indian Biophysical Society and Indian Immunology Society. Chauhan was deeply involved in the establishment of several prestigious government funded institutions including Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB), National Institute of Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG), Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), National Agri-Food Biotechnology Institute (NABI). He has been the member of the governing council of the MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF), the Inter-University Centre for Astronomy and Astrophysics (IUCAA), Chairman of governing board of the L V Prasad Eye Institute (LVPEI), the International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN), the Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC). He has been a member of the executive councils of

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 ...

, Delhi and 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. ...

(DBT) for their Indo-US Vaccine Action Programme. He has also been a part of other initiatives by Department of Biotechnology, ''Rotaviral Diarrhoea Vaccine Product Development Project'' and ''Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry Programme'' and has served as the part-time chairman of ''Bharat Immunologicals and Biologicals Corporation Limited'', a vaccine manufacturing company under DBT. Chauhan has been associated with international bodies such as the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a list of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations which coordinates responses to international public health issues and emergencies. It is headquartered in Gen ...

(WHO) as the member of the ''Expert Advisory Panel on Vaccines and Biological Standards'',

International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology The International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) is an international non-governmental organisation concerned with biochemistry and molecular biology. Formed in 1955 as the International Union of Biochemistry (IUB), the union ...

(IUBMB) and Asia-Pacific International Molecular Biology Network (A-IMBN), South Korea, as a member of their ''Technical Research Groups''. He has also been a part of the editorial boards of several national and international journals like ''International Journal of Biomedical Science'', ''Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology'', Journal of Peptide Science, ''Asian Biotechnology and Development Review'', ''Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences'', ''Indian Journal for Biochemistry and Biophysics'',

Journal of Molecular Structure Journal of Molecular Structure is a scientific journal published by Elsevier through ScienceDirect since 1968. It specializes in research on the structural properties of molecules, emphasizing experimental and computational studies in fields like ...

and ''The Open Vaccine Journal''. The Fruiteries of Immunology. His many other national responsibilities include member of University Grants Commission (UGC) for two terms, Acting Chairman of University Grants Commission (UGC) for one year (2017) as well as the Chairman of the Executive Council of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC), Government of India. Chauhan was also the Chairman of the Academic Committee of the 7th pay Commission, Government of India and was responsible for major reforms both at the UGC and NAAC. He is also an independent director of the Higher Education Financing Agency (HEFA) since its inception. He is also the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Sun Pharma Research Foundation.

Legacy

Virander Chauhan was the leader of the workgroup engaged in the development of a vaccine during his early years in the

. His team is known to have developed a

, the first time such vaccine developed entirely in India, which is now in its clinical trials stage. His research has also assisted in the understanding of

artemisinin Artemisinin () and its semisynthetic derivatives are a group of drugs used in the treatment of malaria due to ''Plasmodium falciparum''. It was discovered in 1972 by Tu Youyou, who shared the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for he ...

and

chloroquine Chloroquine is an antiparasitic medication that treats malaria. It works by increasing the levels of heme in the blood, a substance toxic to the malarial parasite. This kills the parasite and stops the infection from spreading. Certain types ...

, drugs used in the treatment of Malaria. It is also reported to have helped in the development of ''high throughput screens'' for the discovery of drugs for Malaria. He has also done research on conformationally defined

Peptides Peptides are short chains of amino acids linked by peptide bonds. A polypeptide is a longer, continuous, unbranched peptide chain. Polypeptides that have a molecular mass of 10,000 Dalton (unit), Da or more are called proteins. Chains of fewer t ...

, which is of significance for developing antibiotic peptides as well as anti-fibrillizing structures (anti

amyloids Amyloids are aggregates of proteins characterised by a fibrillar morphology of typically 7–13 nm in diameter, a β-sheet secondary structure (known as cross-β) and ability to be stained by particular dyes, such as Congo red. In the human b ...

) that may help in finding treatment protocols for diseases like

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

and

Diabetes mellitus type 2 Type 2 diabetes (T2D), formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent ...

. The work has also led to the formation of

nanostructures A nanostructure is a structure of intermediate size between microscopic and molecular structure A structure is an arrangement and organization of interrelated elements in a material object or system, or the object or system so organized. Ma ...

to be used as biomolecular delivery agents. Virander Singh Chauhan is known to have guided over 50 research students and is credited with over 300 research papers, published in peer reviewed international journals. His papers are also featured on known research databases such as

Microsoft Academic Search Microsoft Academic Search (MAS) was a research project and academic search engine retired in 2012. It relaunched in 2016 as Microsoft Academic, which in turn was shut down in 2022. The content of the latter was allegedly incorporated into The L ...

, PubFacts and

Pubget Pubget Corp was a wholly owned subsidiary of Copyright Clearance Center that developed cloud-based search and content access tools for scientists. It provided advertising services, enterprise search services, and a public search engine. The com ...

. He has also delivered keynote addresses at many seminars and conferences, workshops and convocations at several universities.

Awards and recognitions

Virander Chauhan, a Rhodes Scholar of 1974 and a Fellow of the

Academy of Sciences for the Developing World The World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting more than 1,400 scientists in some 100 countries. Its principal aim is t ...

(TWAS), received Dr. MOT Iyengar Memorial Award from the

Indian Council of Medical Research The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest and largest medical research bodies in the world. The ICMR is funded by the Gove ...

(ICMR) in 1995. This was followed by

Ranbaxy Ranbaxy Laboratories Limited was an Indian multinational pharmaceutical company that was incorporated in India in 1961 and remained an entity until 2014. The company went public in 1973. Ownership of Ranbaxy changed twice over the course of its ...

Research Award in 2001, Om Prakash Bhasin Award in 2002 and

ICMR The Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the apex body in India for the formulation, coordination and promotion of biomedical research, is one of the oldest and largest medical research bodies in the world. The ICMR is funded by the Gove ...

Basanti Devi Amir Chand Prize in 2003. He is also a recipient of Raj Kristo Dutt Memorial Award of the

Indian Science Congress Association Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA) is a premier scientific organisation of India with headquarters at Kolkata, West Bengal. The association started in the year 1914 in Calcutta and it meets annually in the first week of January. It h ...

in 2010 and the BioSpectrum Person of the Year Award in 2011. In 2012, the

awarded him the civilian honor of

. He also holds the Fellowships of

National Academy of Sciences, India The National Academy of Sciences, India, also known as NASI, was established in 1930 and is the oldest science academy of India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president. Fellows * Suddhasatwa Bas ...

, and Indian Society for Parasitology.

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Chauhan, Virander Singh 1950 births Living people Recipients of the Padma Shri in science & engineering Indian geneticists Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India Indian biotechnologists 20th-century Indian biologists