Dinakar Masanu Salunke is an immunologist and structural biologist Presently, he is the Director of

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 ...

(ICGEB) New Delhi. Earlier he was the Executive Director of newly established

Regional Centre for Biotechnology The Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB) is an autonomous institution of education, training and research established under the auspices of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and Department of Biotechn ...

(RCB), an institution jointly set up by

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 ...

(India) and

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture. It ...

at Faridabad. He is the recipient of Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology in the category of biological sciences (year 2000) and Fellow of all major science academies in India.

Education and personal life

Salunke was born and brought up at

Belgaum Belgaum (ISO 15919, ISO: ''Bēḷagāma''; also Belgaon and officially known as Belagavi) is a city in the Indian state of Karnataka located in its northern part along the Western Ghats. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

, India. He earned his

B.Sc. A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University of ...

Physics Physics is the natural science that studies matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force. "Physical science is that department of knowledge which r ...

Mathematics Mathematics is an area of knowledge that includes the topics of numbers, formulas and related structures, shapes and the spaces in which they are contained, and quantities and their changes. These topics are represented in modern mathematics ...

and

Statistics Statistics (from German language, German: ''wikt:Statistik#German, Statistik'', "description of a State (polity), state, a country") is the discipline that concerns the collection, organization, analysis, interpretation, and presentation of ...

(1976), and

M.Sc. A Master of Science ( la, Magisterii Scientiae; abbreviated MS, M.S., MSc, M.Sc., SM, S.M., ScM or Sc.M.) is a master's degree in the field of science awarded by universities in many countries or a person holding such a degree. In contrast to ...

in Physics (1978) from

Karnataka University Karnatak University is a public state university in Dharwad district of Karnataka state, India. The university is recognized by University Grants Commission and accredited by National Assessment and Accreditation Council (NAAC). As of 2014, ...

Dharwad Dharwad (), also known as Dharwar, is a city located in the north western part of the Indian state of Karnataka. It is the headquarters of the Dharwad district of Karnataka and forms a contiguous urban area with the city of Hubballi. It was merge ...

. After completion of his M.Sc. with first class distinction, he joined Prof. M. Vijayan for his Ph.D. degree at Molecular Biophysics Unit, Indian Institute of Science,

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

. He did his postdoctoral research at

Brandeis University , mottoeng = "Truth even unto its innermost parts" , established = , type = Private research university , accreditation = NECHE , president = Ronald D. Liebowitz , pro ...

Waltham, Massachusetts Waltham ( ) is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, and was an early center for the labor movement as well as a major contributor to the American Industrial Revolution. The original home of the Boston Manufacturing Company, th ...

, United States (year 1985-88). Salunke is married to Madhuri and the couple has one daughter. They live in Delhi.

Professional career

Salunke joined the National Institute of Immunology (NII),

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

in 1988 as a staff scientist and worked there until 2015 at (NII), Delhi. From Nov 2015 onwards, Dr. Salunke nurtured the

as its first Director. Previously, he headed the newly established

, an institution of education, training and research, as its first Executive Director (years 2010-2015). He has also served as the Executive Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Delhi (years 2010-2011). For more than 3 decades, he has extensively worked in the field of immunology involving structural biology of

immune recognition The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as cancer cells and objects such as wood splinters, ...

molecular mimicry Molecular mimicry is defined as the theoretical possibility that sequence similarities between foreign and self-peptides are sufficient to result in the cross-activation of autoreactive T or B cells by pathogen-derived peptides. Despite the preva ...

and

allergy Allergies, also known as allergic diseases, refer a number of conditions caused by the hypersensitivity of the immune system to typically harmless substances in the environment. These diseases include hay fever, food allergies, atopic derma ...

Awards and recognitions

Salunke has been awarded Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (Category –Biological Sciences, Year 2000) from

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). He is fellow of all the 3 major science academies in India e.g. Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS), Bangalore; Indian National Science Academy (INSA), Delhi;

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 ...

(NASI), Allahabad. He was recently elected as Fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). Other achievements include the GN Ramachandran Gold Medal for Excellence in Biological Science & Technology from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India (2011)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salunke, Dinakar Mashnu Living people Scientists from Karnataka Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology Indian Institute of Science alumni Indian immunologists People from Belgaum N-BIOS Prize recipients 20th-century Indian biologists Year of birth missing (living people) Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science