Sudha Bhattacharya

Sudha Bhattacharya (born 7 March 1952) is an Indian academic, scientist and a writer. She is recognized primarily for her in-depth study of Entamoeba histolytica, a parasitic protozoan that causes amoebiasis: Dr. Bhattacharya's laboratory first detected Ribosomal RNA genes on Circular DNA, while studying the parasite, and also discovered families of retrotransposons in the parasite genome.^[1]

Bhattacharya is a professor at the School of Environmental Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). She is a fellow at The National Academy of Sciences, India,^[2] Indian Academy of Sciences and Indian National Science Academy (2014).^[3]

Education and career

Having graduated in Botany from the University of Delhi, Bhattacharya studied Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute. She completed her post-graduation in 1973 and then, in 1977, earned a Ph. D. for research on regulation of RNA synthesis in Escherichia coli. She has conducted post-doctoral research on bacteriophage genetics at Stanford University, bacterial DNA replication at the Boston Biomedical Research Institute and studied axenic cultivation at the National Institutes of Health.

Prior to joining the JNU, Bhattacharya has worked at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences and the Tata Research Development and Design Centre. At JNU, she has served as Dean of the School of Environmental Sciences (2010–12).^[1]

Awards and honours

• Robert McNamara Fellowship, World Bank (1985)^[3]
• Rockefeller Biotechnology Career Development Award (1987)^[3]
• Fogarty International Research Collaboration Award (1996 and 2001)^[3]
• Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences (2001), National Academy of Sciences, India (2008) and Indian National Science Academy (2014)^[3]

Select publications

• Recombinant SINEs are formed at high frequency during induced retrotransposition in vivo; Yadav VP, Mandal PK, Bhattacharya A, Bhattacharya S; Nature Communications, May 2012^[4]
• Self-circularizing 5’-ETS RNAs accumulate along with unprocessed pre ribosomal RNAs in growth-stressed Entamoeba histolytica; Gupta AK, Panigrahi SK, Bhattacharya A, Bhattacharya S; Nature Scientific Reports, March 2012^[5]
• Identification and functional characterization of a novel lysine-rich protein from Entamoeba histolytica; Mehra A, Bhattacharya S, Bhattacharya A; American Journal of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, 2007^[6]
• An Entamoeba histolytica LINE/SINE pair inserts at common target sites cleaved by the restriction enzyme-like LINE-encoded endonuclease; Mandal PK, Bagchi A, Bhattacharya A, Bhattacharya S; Eukaryotic Cell, February 2004^[7]
• The Ribosomal DNA Plasmids of Entamoeba; Bhattacharya S, Som I, Bhattacharya A; Parasitology Today, May 1998^[8]
• Replication initiates at multiple random sites in the ribosomal DNA plasmid of the protozoan parasite Entamoeba histolytica; Dhar SK, Choudhury NR, Mittal V, Bhattacharya A, Bhattacharya S; Molecular and Cellular Biology, May 1996^[9]

See also

• Alok Bhattacharya

References