Prof. Atanu Basu
Prof. Atanu Basu, Deputy Director & Head, Electron Microscopy and Pathology Group, NIV, Pune, Adjunct Professor, School of Basic Sciences, IIT, Mandi India
After having obtained a BSc in Physiology from Presidency College, Calcutta, and a Doctorate in Biochemistry from Pune University, Prof. Basu pursued his post-doctoral studies at NIH, Bethesda, Maryland, USA. Prof. Basu is a Gold Medalist of Calcutta University, a Fogarty Fellow, Fellow EMSI, and a recipient of Robert Koch Oration Award (Robert Koch Institute Berlin Germany). He is on the Editorial Advisory committee of Eur J Biophysics 2012, , Adviser on Biosecurity International Federation of Biosecurity, and a Task Force member , Biosecurity, Govt of India.
His research interests have been focussed on the pathogenesis, and development of therapeutics for Viral Hemorrhagic Fevers (VHF), like Dengue and Ebola. His group has developed a very high resolution electron tomography imaging platform through cryo electron microscopy interface that has the potential to address both macromolecular imaging and 3D real time tomography of cell-virus interactions.
Abstract:
Ebola, the name of a river, that is in a rather ubiquitious geographic area of Congo in Africa became the most feared name in modern medical history as this region became the fountainhead of the most dreaded virus in medical history- the Ebola virus. The virus is a filamentous RNA virus whose natural cycle is still not well understood and involvement of several animals like bats and wild non-human primates have been suggested to play a role in its transmission chain. Human infection is usually associated with fatal and severe hemorrhagic disease and human to human transmission can evolve into major outbreaks. There are no vaccines or high efficacy drugs yet to treat Ebola infections. From its first discovery in 1960s Ebola virus outbreaks have occurred in several parts of Africa and in animal facility staff in both Europe and North America where infected primates had been thought to import the virus. An enigma of recent epidemiology has been the steady increase in outbreaks in the recent past with the most severe outbreak occurring in 2014 that has affected greater than 2000 people leaving more than a thousand dead. This outbreak has raised several pertinent questions about origin of the virus, the geographical spread pattern and timing of the disease. While there are five major species of Ebola virus, the ongoing epidemic is caused by the most dreaded Ebola Zaire 1976 strain. How did Ebola Zaire get all the way to South Africa? A question that is now the most prominent debate remains unanswered. Multifactorial contribution from large demographic changes, civil war, collapse of a public health system and erosion of a nation are perhaps some of the ingredients of the present apocalyptic situation in West Africa. The present talk will integrate the fabric of various aspects of Ebola virus ranging from evolution, biology, disease and examine the impact on India and other parts of the world where the virus may get introduced in the recent future.
