V. Nagaraja (born 16 May 1954) is a

Professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an academic rank at universities and other post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin as a "person who professes". Professors ...

, Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology,

Indian Institute of Science The Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is a public, deemed, research university for higher education and research in science, engineering, design, and management. It is located in Bengaluru, in the Indian state of Karnataka. The institute was ...

, Bengaluru. He had received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in the year 1973 and 1975 from the

Bangalore University Bangalore University (BU) is a public state university located in Bangalore, Karnataka, India. The university is a part of the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU) and affiliated by Univer ...

. He completed his Ph.D. in 1981 from Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at IISc and the work on mycobacteriophage I3 and role of DNA gyrase in mycobacteria set the stage for his later work when he joined the Institute as an assistant professor in 1989. After his PhD in 1981, he was a research associate at Biozentrum, University of Basel, Switzerland (1981–85) and at Department of Biology, University of Rochester, USA(1985–89). He joined in 1989 as an assistant professor, in Centre for Genetic Engineering, IISc and was involved in setting up of the department. He became an associate professor in 1995 at Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, IISc, Professor in 2000 and served as professor and chairman of the department (2008–2013). He has been appointed president of

Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research The Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) is a multidisciplinary research institute located at Jakkur, Bangalore, India. It was established by the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, to ...

(JNCASR) by the Cabinet Committee on Appointments with effect from 14 October 2015.

Early life and education

V. Nagaraja was born in a

Kannada Kannada (; ಕನ್ನಡ, ), originally romanised Canarese, is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by the people of Karnataka in southwestern India, with minorities in all neighbouring states. It has around 47 million native s ...

-speaking

Havyaka Brahmin Havyaka Brahmins are the Hindu Pancha Dravida Vedic Brahmins from the Indian state of Karnataka. Havyakas profess the Advaita philosophy propounded by Adi Shankaracharya. Most Havyakas can trace their immediate ancestry to either Sirsi, Utta ...

Family. Nagaraja's father's name is Mahadeva Shastry who was a doctor and mother Parvathi Amma was a housewife His native place is Kanyana a village in Mangaluru, Dakshina Kannada District. He had received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in 1973 and 1975 from the Bangalore University. He completed his Ph.D. in 1981 from Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology at IISc and the work on mycobacteriophage I3 and role of DNA gyrase in mycobacteria set the stage for his later work when he joined the institute as an assistant professor in 1989.

Research

Nagaraja has done research on DNA topoisomerases, topology modulation, regulation of gene expression to understand the underlying molecular mechanisms and their importance in cellular function. Understanding the biology of the pathogen that causes TB has been a major research effort. As a result, several seminal contributions have been made leading to potential applications. His interaction with industry includes – development of commercial biotech products such as restriction enzymes and other DNA transaction enzymes, design and development of high fidelity restriction enzyme, new inhibitors for the generation of lead molecules as a step for novel therapeutics against tuberculosis. These have been successfully applied and resulted in international patents. Under his guidance, 21 students have completed doctoral degree and 10 students are at various stages of their PhD. In addition, a large number of project assistants, summer fellows and postdoctoral researchers are trained under him.

Awards and recognition

Nagaraja is a Fellow of Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, Fellow of TWAS and life member of several science bodies/ societies. He is a recipient of

Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award The Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology (SSB) is a science award in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-la ...

(1999), J. C. Bose Fellowship (2008), Srinivasaya Memorial Award, First Product Process and Technology Development Award of DBT(2001), Hon. Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, IISc Alumni Award for Excellence in Research, Ranbaxy Science Foundation Award (2003), Dr. NityaAnanad Endowment Lecture Award of INSA-2009, J. C. Bose Medal of Indian National Science Academy (2010),

TWAS Prize This is a list of recipients of the TWAS Prize, awarded annually by The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS). Summary Agricultural Sciences Biology Chemistry Earth Sciences Engineering Sciences Mathematics Medical Sc ...

in Biology (2011). Recently, he has been awarded with prestigious Sir M. Visvesvaraya state award by government of Karnataka, India.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagaraja, V. 1954 births Living people Scientists from Karnataka Bangalore University alumni Academic staff of the Indian Institute of Science Kannada people Fellows of the Indian Academy of Sciences Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy Fellows of The National Academy of Sciences, India TWAS fellows People from Dakshina Kannada district 20th-century Indian biologists TWAS laureates Recipients of the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in Biological Science