Alok Bhattacharya
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Alok Bhattacharya (born 1951) is an Indian parasitologist, academic and a professor at the School of Life Sciences of the
Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...
. He chairs the ''Biotechnology Information System Network'' (BITSNET) as well as the Life Sciences Expert Committee of ''FIST program'' of the Department of Science and Technology (DST). He is an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy and is known for his studies on Entamoeba histolytica and ''species-specific calcium binding protein and its gene''. 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 l ...
, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1994, for his contributions to biological sciences.


Biography

Alok Bhattacharya, born on 2 February 1951, did his graduate studies in science at
Hansraj College Hansraj College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi, in Delhi, India. The departments of Hansraj college includes science, liberal arts and commerce. History The was founded on 26 July 1948 in memory of the prominent Indian ...
of the
University of Delhi Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and is recognized as an Institute of Eminence (IoE) ...
and obtained a master's degree in chemistry from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur in 1972. Subsequently, he did his doctoral research at the School of Life Sciences,
Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...
(JNU) under the guidance of Asis Datta, a renowned geneticist and Padma Bhushan laureate, to secure a PhD in 1976. He moved to the US for his post-doctoral studies which he did at the Laboratory of Pathophysiology of
National Cancer Institute The National Cancer Institute (NCI) coordinates the United States National Cancer Program and is part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which is one of eleven agencies that are part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. ...
during 1977–79 and at the Springer Lab of
Harvard Medical School Harvard Medical School (HMS) is the graduate medical school of Harvard University and is located in the Longwood Medical Area of Boston, Massachusetts. Founded in 1782, HMS is one of the oldest medical schools in the United States and is consi ...
from 1979 to 1981. Returning to India the same year, he joined the All India Institute of Medical Sciences Delhi and worked there as a senior research officer at the Department of Biochemistry till 1982 when he joined Tata Research Development and Design Centre of the Tata Consultancy Services located in
Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...
, where he worked till 1985. In 1986, Bhattacharya had a short stint at the Laboratory of Parasitic Diseases of the
National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...
as a guest researcher, after which he joined his alma mater, Jawaharlal Nehru University, as an associate professor at their School of Life Sciences, where he is the incumbent professor and adjunct faculty. During his service at JNU, he held various positions, including that of the coordinator of Bioinformatics Centre (1998–2008), dean of School of Life Sciences (2002–2004) and the dean of School of Information Technology (2004–2008). He is also a professor of life sciences at Shiv Nadar University, Dadri and a visiting faculty at Banaras Hindu University. Alok Bhattacharya is married to
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 d ...
, a known parasitologist. She is a professor at
Jawaharlal Nehru University Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) is a public major research university located in New Delhi, India. It was established in 1969 and named after Jawaharlal Nehru, India's first Prime Minister. The university is known for leading faculties and r ...
and is a co-author of some of his publications. The couple lives in Delhi.


Legacy

Bhattacharya's researches were focused on
parasitology 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 fo ...
, computation biology and
bioinformatics Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...
, with special focus on the biology of Entamoeba histolytica, an anaerobic parasitic
protozoan Protozoa (singular: protozoan or protozoon; alternative plural: protozoans) are a group of single-celled eukaryotes, either free-living or parasitic, that feed on organic matter such as other microorganisms or organic tissues and debris. Histo ...
causing amoebiasis. His studies elucidated the molecular mechanisms during the
opsonization Opsonins are extracellular proteins that, when bound to substances or cells, induce phagocytes to phagocytose the substances or cells with the opsonins bound. Thus, opsonins act as tags to label things in the body that should be phagocytosed (i.e. ...
process of the pathogen and identified new proteins such as EhCaBP1, EhCaBP3 and EhC2PK which play a role in the phagocytosis and actin dynamics of the parasite. His team developed new genomic tools and also proposed new algorithms for the identification of genomic variations. His work on
lipophosphoglycan Lipophosphoglycan (LPG) is a class of molecules found on the surface of some eukaryotes, in particular protozoa. Each is made up of two parts, lipid and polysaccharide (also called glycan). They are bonded by a phosphodiester, hence the name lip ...
and its identification and characterization as well as on the ''species-specific calcium binding protein and its gene'' are reported to have been pioneering. These studies are known to have widened the understanding of the pathogenesis of the protozoan at the molecular level. For pursuing his researches on Entamoeba histolytica, he founded a dedicated laboratory at JNU. He has also worked on the pathogenesis 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
visceral leishmaniasis Visceral leishmaniasis (VL), also known as kala-azar (Hindi: kālā āzār, "black sickness") or "black fever", is the most severe form of leishmaniasis and, without proper diagnosis and treatment, is associated with high fatality. Leishmaniasis ...
(kala-azar) and his researches are documented in a number of articles of which 188 have been listed by
ResearchGate ResearchGate is a European commercial social networking site for scientists and researchers to share papers, ask and answer questions, and find collaborators. According to a 2014 study by ''Nature'' and a 2016 article in ''Times Higher Education'' ...
, an online repository of scientific articles. Bhattacharya is associated with the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and is the chairman of two of DST's initiatives. ''Biotechnology Information System Network'', a bioinformatics program for establishing a centralised database and nationwide network of affiliated organizations is one while the other is ''Fund for Improvement of S&T Infrastructure in Universities and other Higher Educational Institutions'' (FIST) where he heads the Expert Committee on Life Sciences. He is a member of Guha Research Conference and a former vice president of the Indian National Science Academy (2011–13). He serves as a member of the governing council of 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 l ...
(CSIR), as a member of CSIR Society and as a member of the research councils of
Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology C.S.I.R - Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology or CSIR-IHBT established in 1983 is a constituent laboratory of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research ( IAST: ''vaigyanik t ...
and
Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute Central Salt and Marine Chemicals Research Institute (formerly Central Salt Research Institute) is a constituent laboratory of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India. The institute was inaugurated by Jawahar Lal Nehru on ...
, both constituent laboratories of CSIR. He sits in the USER committee of the Department of Science and Technology and chairs the Task force on Bioinformatics, Computation Biology and Systems Biology of 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 ...
. He is the managing trustee of ''GNE-Myopathy International'', a forum of patients who suffer from GNE-Myopathy, a genetic disorder affecting young people and is associated with several science journals including ''Parasitology International'', ''
Journal of Biosciences The ''Journal of Biosciences'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the Indian Academy of Sciences, Bengaluru, India. The current editor-in-chief is Prof. B J Rao (IISER Tirupati, Tirupati). According to the ''Journal Citation Rep ...
'', ''Genome Analysis'', ''Bioinformatics: From Molecules to systems'', ''International Journal of Integrative Biology'', '' PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases'' and ''
Nature Nature, in the broadest sense, is the physics, physical world or universe. "Nature" can refer to the phenomenon, phenomena of the physical world, and also to life in general. The study of nature is a large, if not the only, part of science. ...
''. Bhattacharya is a former vice president (2009–10) of the Society of Biological Chemists (India), a science society based at the Indian Institute of Science, serves as a member for internal expert panel of the Council of Indian Institutes of Technology and is involved with the ''Project AMOEBAC'' of the Infect-ERA, a global organization for researches on human infectious diseases. He has delivered several guest lectures and keynote addresses and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the ''National Symposium on Bioinformatics and Computational Systems Biology'' organized by the National Network for Mathematical and Computational Biology (NNMCB) of the Department of Science and Technology to be held during 12–14 November 2016 at
Central University of Himachal Pradesh Central University of Himachal Pradesh is a central research university headquartered from Dharamsala, Himachal Pradesh, India. It is operating from a temporary campus at Shahpur, Kangra district, pending the construction of two permanent camp ...
. He has also mentored research scholars in their doctoral researches.


Awards and honors

Bhattacharya, a Robert McNamara Fellow of the
World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...
(1985–86), was awarded the
Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize 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 ...
, one of the highest Indian science awards, by 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 l ...
in 1994. He is also a recipient of Science Exhibition Award of
Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...
in 1968 and 1969 and the Rockefeller Biotechnology Career Development Award for 1988–1990. He is a J.C. Bose National Fellow of the Department of Science and Technology, India and an elected fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and the Indian Academy of Sciences. He received the Aryabhatta Medal of the Indian National Science Academy in 2015.


Selected bibliography

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See also

*
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 d ...
* Veena Tandon *
Hereditary inclusion body myopathy Hereditary inclusion body myopathies (HIBM) are a group of rare genetic disorders which have different symptoms. Generally, they are neuromuscular disorders characterized by muscle weakness developing in young adults. Hereditary inclusion body m ...
* Entamoeba histolytica * Asis Datta


References


External links

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Further reading

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bhattacharya, Alok Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science 1951 births Scientists from Delhi Delhi University alumni IIT Kanpur alumni Jawaharlal Nehru University alumni Academic staff of Jawaharlal Nehru University National Institutes of Health people Harvard Medical School alumni Tata Consultancy Services people Indian parasitologists Indian scientific authors Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi alumni Academic staff of Banaras Hindu University Living people 20th-century Indian biologists