Date of Birth : 18th February 1953

Complete mailing address & Phones : 
Secretary to the Govt. of India
(Deptt. of Health Research), Ministry of Health & Family Welfare &
Director General,  Indian Council of Medical Research, V. Ramalingaswami Bhawan, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi – 110029 ; Phone Nos:  011-26589620, 26588204; FAX:  011-26588662; E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ; Webpage : www.icmr.nic.in

Born 18th February, 1953, Hamirpur (H.P.), MBBS-1974 (Shimla), M.D. 1978 (AIIMS, New Delhi); VA Medical Centre, Long Beach, CA, USA (1980-81) ;  National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK (1984-85); other specialized trainings; Joined Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) for Talent Search Schemes (TSS) Fellows and posted at  JALMA  Agra in 1978,  selected as Director of this Institute in December 2001; Selected as First Secretary to the Govt. of India,  Department  of Health Research, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare &   Director-General, Indian Council of Medical Research and joined this position on 18th Nov 2008.

Important Contributions: Developer of molecular methods of  rapid diagnosis of TB, leprosy , DNA chips; DNA fingerprinting methods; viability determination methods like ATP bioluminescence etc. Has contributed 251 National/International research papers.  Studies carried out by his research group at and with collaborators from other institutes, universities and medical colleges have led to important new findings and new technologies such as  enzyme based methods in 1980s, molecular biology based techniques in 1990s and genomics based methods in the recent past.  These studies have resulted in identification of new genotypes, new diagnostic techniques / molecules for better understanding of molecular basis of drug resistance and  mechanisms of pathogenesis of TB, leprosy and other  mycobacterial infections.

Awards/ Honours: Recipient of various awards : Young Scientist Award of IAMM 1985; Shere-I-Kashmir Shiekh Abdulla Memorial Oration Award 1989; Dr.CGS Iyer Oration Award of ICMR 1990; Erwin Stindl Memorial Oration Award of German leprosy Relief -Organization 1991; Dr.S.C.Agarwal Oration Award of IAMM 1994; Dr.Manu Patel Prize of IADVL 1999; JALMA Trust Fund Oration Award 1999 of ICMR, IAMM Endowment Award 2003; Ranbaxy Science Foundation Award 2004.   ‘Excellence in Science & Technology Award’ for the year 2010-2011 by Indian Science Congress Association.

Fellowships

Fellow of all prestigious academies of country : National Academy of Sciences (FNASc); Fellow of National Academy of Medical Sciences (FAMS); Fellow of Academy of Sciences, Bangalore (FASc); Fellow of Indian Academy of Science (FNA)