Two scientists from IISER Pune, Dr Akanksha Chaturvedi (Assistant Professor in Biology) and Dr Krishanpal Karmodiya (DST INSPIRE Fellow), have won the Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award (IYBA) for the year 2014. The award is given by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Government of India to outstanding young scientists for pursuing research in frontier areas of biotechnology. It consists of a grant-in-aid of Rs. 50 lakhs for carrying out a research project along with fellowship for the awardee.

Dr Akanksha Chaturvedi is an immunologist who works on receptor signalling in B cells. Her group is trying to understand the molecular mechanisms by which B cells integrate signals received from innate and adaptive immune components to tailor the body’s antibody response. She also plans to explore the area of inappropriate B cell activation and its role in autoimmunity. Visit her webpage to learn more about her work.

Dr Krishanpal Karmodiya’s research focusses on epigenetic and transcriptional regulation in the malarial parasite, Plasmodium falciparum. He and his team work on characterization of novel transcriptional regulators from Plasmodium that may be involved in virulence and pathogenicity of the parasite. You can learn more about Dr Karmodiya’s research on his webpage.

We congratulate Dr Akanksha Chaturvedi and Dr Krishanpal Karmodiya and wish them the best for their future endeavours.