Indira Nath
| Indira Nath | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 14, 1938 |
| Residence | New Delhi, India |
| Citizenship | India |
| Nationality | Indian |
| Fields | Immunology |
| Institutions | All India Institute of Medical Sciences |
| Notable awards | Padma Shri |
Indira Nath (born 14 January 1938) is an Indian immunologist. Her major contribution in medical science deals with mechanisms underlying immune unresponsiveness in man, reactions and nerve damage in leprosy and a search for markers for viability of the leprosy bacillus.[1][2]
Career
Nath received her MBBS from All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. She joined AIIMS as MD (pathology) after mandatory hospital training in the UK. During the 1970s, India has the world's largest number of leprosy patients in the world of 4.5 million.[3]
In 1970 Nath was in the UK with a Nuffield Fellowship. During this period she came to specialize in immunology. She worked in the area of infectious diseases, particularly leprosy, with Professor John Turk at the Royal College of Surgeons and Dr RJW Rees at the National Institute for Medical Research, London.
After coming back to India, she joined Professor GP Talwar's Department of Biochemistry at AIIMS, which had just initiated immunology research in India. Later in 1980 she moved to the Department of Pathology and became Head of the new Department of Biotechnology (1986) at AIIMS. She retired in 1998 but continued to work at AIIMS as INSA-SN Bose Research Professor.
She received DSc from Pierre and Marie Curie University, Paris in the 2002. She was invited for the post of Dean of School of Medicine in Asian Institute of Medicine, Engineering and Technology in Malaysia and also as Director of Blue Peter Research Centre (Lepra Research Centre), Hyderabad.
Research
Her research is focused on the cellular immune responses in human leprosy. She has over 120 publications, invited reviews, opinion/comments on recent developments in international journals. Her discovery and her pioneering work are a significant step towards the development of treatment and vaccines for leprosy.
Awards
| Year of award or honour | Name of award or honour | Awarding organisation |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | Silver Banner | Tuscanny, Italy |
| 2003 | Chevalier Ordre National du Merite | Government of France |
| 2002 | Women in Science (Asia Pacific)award | L'Oreal UNESCO |
| 1999 | Padmashri | Government of India |
| 1995 | RD Birla Award | |
| 1995 | Cochrane Research Award | UK Government |
| 1994 | Basanti Devi Amir Chand Award | ICMR |
| 1990 | Om Prakash Bhasin Award | |
| 1988 | Clayton Memorial Lecture Award | |
| 1987 | 1st Nitya Anand Endowment Lecture Award | INSA |
| 1984 | Kshanika Award | ICMR |
| 1983 | SS Bhatnagar Award | Government of India |
| 1981 | JALMA Trust Oration | ICMR |
Honours
She was elected Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Allahabad (1988), Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (1990),[4] National Academy of Medical Sciences (India) (1992), Royal College of Pathology (1992) and the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS) (1995). She was Member, Scientific Advisory Committee to Cabinet, Foreign Secretary INSA (1995–97), Council Member (1992–94, 1998-2006) and Vice President (2001–03) of the National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad, and Chairperson, Women Scientists Programme, DST (2003).
She was awarded the Padma Shri by Government of India in 1999,[5] and L'Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science in 2002.[6]
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References
- ↑ "Indian Fellow". Indian National Science Academy. Retrieved 10 March 2013.
- ↑ "Simply a class apart". The Hindu. Mar 17, 2002. Retrieved March 11, 2013.
- ↑ "FAT". Retrieved 10 March 2013.
- ↑ "Fellow Profile". Indian Academy of Sciences.
- ↑ "Padma Awards Directory (1954–2009)". Ministry of Home Affairs.
- ↑ Philanthropy: Award & Fellowships, 2002 L'Oréal.