Amit Prakash Sharma (born April 12, 1968) is an Indian

parasitologist Parasitology is the study of parasites, their hosts, and the relationship between them. As a biological discipline, the scope of parasitology is not determined by the organism or environment in question but by their way of life. This means it f ...

and Director of National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi. He is known for his studies on the disease of

malaria Malaria is a mosquito-borne infectious disease that affects humans and other animals. Malaria causes symptoms that typically include fever, tiredness, vomiting, and headaches. In severe cases, it can cause jaundice, seizures, coma, or death. S ...

and is an elected fellow of the

Indian Academy of Sciences The Indian Academy of Sciences, Bangalore was founded by Indian Physicist and Nobel Laureate C. V. Raman, and was registered as a society on 24 April 1934. Inaugurated on 31 July 1934, it began with 65 founding fellows. The first general meet ...

Indian National Science Academy The Indian National Science Academy (INSA) is a national academy in New Delhi for Indian scientists in all branches of science and technology. In August 2019, Dr. Chandrima Shaha was appointed as the president of Indian National Science Academ ...

The World Academy of Sciences The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) is a merit-based science academy established for developing countries, uniting 1,000 scientists in some 70 countries. Its principal aim is to promote scientific capacity and excellence for sustainable devel ...

and the

National Academy of Sciences, India The National Academy of Sciences, India, established in 1930, is the oldest science academy in India. It is located in Prayagraj, Uttar Pradesh. Prof. Meghnad Saha was the founder president. Fellows *Suddhasatwa Basu * Sudha Bhattacharya * Ch ...

. He has been awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Sciences, JC Bose Fellowship, Ranbaxy Science Research Award, Infosys Science Award in Biological Sciences, Om Prakash Bhasin Award in Biological Sciences and Lakshmipat Singhania- IIM Lucknow National Leadership Award.

Biography

Amit Sharma was born on April 12, 1968, in West Lafayette, Indiana, U.S. He grew up in New Delhi and attended

Delhi Public School, Mathura Road Delhi Public School situated on Mathura Road in New Delhi, India, is a private co-educational day and boarding school with 6500+ students. It is run by the Delhi Public School Society and is a member of the Indian Public School Conference. The ...

. Later, he went to U.S. for his undergraduate studies to

Purdue University Purdue University is a public land-grant research university in West Lafayette, Indiana, and the flagship campus of the Purdue University system. The university was founded in 1869 after Lafayette businessman John Purdue donated land and money ...

, did his master's and PhD at

Northwestern University Northwestern University is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois. Founded in 1851, Northwestern is the oldest chartered university in Illinois and is ranked among the most prestigious academic institutions in the world. Charte ...

in protein crystallography in 1995. Sharma went on to do his post-doctoral work at St. John's College, Oxford and also served as faculty till 2000. On his return to India in 2004, he joined

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 ...

as a staff scientist. Since 2019, Sharma has assumed the post of Director of National Institute of Malaria Research in New Delhi.

Legacy

Sharma's research is focused in the field of structural parasitology, and he has carried out advanced research in

parasite biology. He led the ICGEB group of scientists who collaborated with the researchers from the

Broad Institute The Eli and Edythe L. Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard (IPA: , pronunciation respelling: ), often referred to as the Broad Institute, is a biomedical and genomic research center located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Cambridge, Massachusetts, U ...

who discovered a new compound,

bicyclic In chemistry, a bicyclic molecule () is a molecule that features two joined rings. Bicyclic structures occur widely, for example in many biologically important molecules like α-thujene and camphor. A bicyclic compound can be carbocyclic (all o ...

azetidine Azetidine is a saturated heterocyclic organic compound containing three carbon atoms and one nitrogen atom. It is a liquid at room temperature with a strong odor of ammonia and is strongly basic compared to most secondary amines. Synthesis and ...

, which showed potential against the

Plasmodium ''Plasmodium'' is a genus of unicellular eukaryotes that are obligate parasites of vertebrates and insects. The life cycles of ''Plasmodium'' species involve development in a blood-feeding insect host which then injects parasites into a vert ...

parasite that caused malaria. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles. ''PublicationsList'', an online repository of scientific articles, has listed several of them. Sharma has delivered keynote or invited speeches at many conferences and sits on the editorial board of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India for Section B - Biological Sciences.

Awards and honors

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. It ...

of the Government of India awarded Sharma the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 2007. He received the Goyal Prize in 2009. In 2011, Sharma was awarded the

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India given annually by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) for notable and outstanding research, Applied science, applied or Fundamenta ...

, the highest science award in India, in the biological sciences category,"11 scientists selected for Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award" ibn live, Sep 26, 2011 He was selected for the Infosys Prize in 2015 for his contribution to life sciences. The 2015 RCSB PDB Poster Prize of the Asian Crystallographic Association was secured by Vitul Jain for his poster, based on an article, ''Structure of Prolyl-tRNA Synthetase-Halofuginone Complex Provides Basis for Development of Drugs against Malaria and Toxoplasmosis''. which he co-wrote with Sharma. The

elected Sharma as a fellow in 2006 and he received the elected fellowship of the

in 2012.

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sharma, Amit Prakash Living people 1968 births 20th-century Indian biologists Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science Indian parasitologists Purdue University alumni Alumni of the University of Oxford Northwestern University alumni N-BIOS Prize recipients Indian scientific authors