Chhitar Mal Gupta (born 1944) is an Indian molecular biologist and academic, known for researches on transbilayer phospholipid asymmetry in biological membranes., drug targeting in parasitic diseases and characterization of structure and function of Leishmania actin and actin binding proteins. He is former director of the Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow and the Institute of Microbial Technology, Chandigarh. A Distinguished Biotechnology Fellow and Distinguished Biotechnology Research Professor of the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, he is an elected fellow of

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 deve ...

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 Acade ...

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 ...

and the

National Academy of Medical Sciences National Academy of Medical Sciences (India), better known by its acronym, NAMS, is a nodal agency under the Government of India, which acts as an advisory body to the Government in matters related to National Health Policy and Planning and as a ...

. 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 ...

, the apex agency of the Government of India for scientific research, awarded him 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 or fundamental, in biology, ...

, one of the highest Indian science awards, in 1985, for his contributions to biological sciences.

Education and research

Gupta graduated in medicinal chemistry from the

Central Drug Research Institute The Central Drug Research Institute is a multidisciplinary research laboratory in Lucknow, India, employing scientific personnel from various areas of biomedical sciences. Prof. Tapas Kumar Kundu, a molecular biologist, academician and recipien ...

, Lucknow,

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

with the degrees MSc and PhD. He served as the director of the Institute of Microbial Technology,

Chandigarh Chandigarh () is a planned city in India. Chandigarh is bordered by the state of Punjab to the west and the south, and by the state of Haryana to the east. It constitutes the bulk of the Chandigarh Capital Region or Greater Chandigarh, which a ...

for five years, and director of the

(CDRI),

Lucknow Lucknow (, ) is the capital and the largest city of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh and it is also the second largest urban agglomeration in Uttar Pradesh. Lucknow is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous district and division ...

for over ten years. After his superannuation, he continued to work at CDRI first as distinguished biotechnologist and then as distinguished biotechnology research professor up to the age of 70 years, and thereafter, he joined the Institute of Bioinformatics & Applied Biotechnology in Bengaluru, Karnataka, where he is still working as Distinguished Professor( Hon.) & Infosys Chair . His areas of specialization are membrane biochemistry/biophysics and medicinal & pharmaceutical chemistry. He has extensively contributed in the areas of drug targeting in parasitic diseases and membrane phospholipids transbilayer dynamics, and is working on elucidation of actin cytoskeletal network in Leishmania. These studies have resulted in publication of about 136 original research papers, 10 review articles, 5 book chapters and 6 patents. Besides this, he is also responsible for planning, design and initiating construction of new campus at the Sitapur Road for CDRI. He has received several honors and awards and has served as a member of a number of important national and international committees. He along with CDRI scientists have been accused of attempted fraud bid for a clinical isolates that was published in an International journal.

Awards and honors

The Indian National Science Academy awarded Gupta the Young Scientists Medal in 1974. He received 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 or fundamental, in biology, ...

in 1985, the same year as he received the Ranbaxy Research Foundation Award. He has also received the FICCI Award (1994–95), Om Prakash Bhasin Award (1999), Goyal Prize (2000) and the Golden Jubilee Commemoration Medal (2001) of the Indian National Science Academy. The

elected him as a fellow in 1987 and the Indian National Science Academy followed suit in 1989. Two years later, the

elected him as their fellow. With his election in 2000, Gupta became one of the few people from outside medical profession to be elected as a fellow of the

. The same year, The World Academy of Sciences also elected him as a fellow.

References

External links

* https://web.archive.org/web/20071119135543/http://biospectrumindia.ciol.com/content/careers/104010801.asp * https://web.archive.org/web/20100613031630/http://cdriindia.org/museumpic6.htm * http://www.hindustantimes.com/india/cdri-scientists-accused-of-fraud-bid/story-ZSePRuxe1m6QpFiogu6s7I.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Gupta, C. M. 1944 births Living people Scientists from Uttar Pradesh Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Fellows of The National Academy of Sciences, India Fellows of the National Academy of Medical Sciences TWAS fellows 20th-century Indian biologists Indian molecular biologists Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science