The Indian Council for Medical research (ICMR) Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize which is awarded for the best published research work in the field of biomedical science including clinical research while ICMR Chaturvedi Ghanshyam Das Jaigopal Memorial Award is awarded for the eminent work carried out by a scientist in the field of Immunology.
Dr. Nooruddin Khan, Assistant professor in the Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad (UoH), has been bestowed with prestigious ICMR awards – Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize and ICMR Chaturvedi Kalawati Jagmohan Das Memorial Award at the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) annual award ceremony held on October 11, 2017 at the National Academy of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.
Hon’ble Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Govt. of India Smt. Anupriya Patel was the Chief Guest for the event along with Dr. VK Paul, Member, NITI Aayog, Dr. K Vijay Raghvan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology and Shri Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha, Special Secretary, Ministry of AYUSH.
Dr. Khan has been awarded the Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize for the research work on “Molecular mechanisms of vaccine induced protective immunity”. Dr. Khan’s findings have a potential bearing for the design and development of novel vaccine formulation against emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases. The Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize was instituted in 1953 by late Major General Amir Chand for significant research contribution by young scientists in biomedical sciences. This prize is awarded for the best published research work in the field of biomedical science including clinical research.
Dr. Khan was one of the few awardees who received another highly prestigious ICMR Chaturvedi Kalawati Jagmohan Das Memorial Award for outstanding research contribution in the field of Immunology. The ICMR Chaturvedi Kalawati Jagmohan Das Memorial Award was instituted in 1985 by Dr S.P. Chaturvedi in memory of his parents and is given to extraordinary research work in the field of Immunology. Dr. Khan received this award for his work on understanding the regulatory mechanisms through which immune cells sense and respond to the conditions of nutrient restriction. The finding suggests that activation of nutrient sensing pathway during amino acid starvation triggers homeostatic processes that elicits anti-viral properties to Flavi-viruses as well provide protection from inflammation associated pathologies during Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD).
The award carries cash prize, gold medal, citation and certificates.
Dr. Khan’s laboratory at UoH is to understand immunological regulations under various setting including vaccination, infections and autoimmunity and further translate these findings towards the design and development of newer vaccine/therapeutics to treat emerging infectious and metabolic diseases such as HIV, TB, Dengue, Diabetes and IBDs. Dr. Khan published research papers in renowned journals such as Science, Nature, PLOS computational biology, Nature Immunology, Blood, Immunology, International Immunology, Cellular Microbiology, etc. and he is recipient of several national and international awards. He is Visiting and courtesy Assistant Professor at the Department of Microbiology and Immunology, Cornell University, USA.