Governance
Dr. T.S. Balganesh
Dr. T.S. Balganesh (DIN: 00648534) holding a PhD in Medical Microbiology from University of Calcutta, Dr. T.S. Balganesh completed his post-doctoral research at Brookhaven National Lab, USA and Max Planck Institute, Germany. He has also been awarded an honorary doctoral degree from the University of Uppsala, Sweden.
Possessing more than three decades of experience in antibacterial drug discovery, Dr Balganesh served as Head of Research at AstraZeneca’s antibacterial drug discovery unit in Bangalore before rising to become the Managing Director and member of the board of AstraZeneca India Pvt. Ltd. in the past. Currently, he is holding the position of President and a Director on the board of GangaGen Biotechnologies Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore. He also serves as a Director on the Board of Open Source Pharma India, Bangalore, IKP, Hyderabad, PI Fermachem Pvt. Ltd., PI Bioferma Pvt. Ltd. (Formerly known as PI Enzachem Pvt. Ltd.) and PI Health Sciences Limited.
Satyajit Rath
Satyajit Rath was trained as a physician and a pathologist in Pune and Mumbai in the seventies and eighties, but since then he has worked on mechanisms involved in the development and functioning of the immune system, initially in India and overseas, then as a faculty member at the National Institute of Immunology (NII) in New Delhi, and since retirement, in honorary capacities, variously, at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune, the Christian Medical College in Vellore, and the Ashoka University in Sonipat. He also works with the government on issues of science and society-related policy, with scientific journals in an editorial capacity, with small companies on drug discovery, and with civil society groups, especially those involved in science education and those working more broadly at the interface of science and society.
Dr Madhu Dikshit
Dr Madhu Dikshit, a leading scientist of the country has made significant contributions to the general area of Molecular Pharmacology with special interest in redox biology. Dr Dikshit has impacted the area of neutrophil biology, by enhancing our understanding that how nitric oxide modulates neutrophil free radical generation, NETosis, chemotaxis, phagocytosis, apoptosis and also their differentiation. She has systematically investigated the enzymatic synthesis of NO during neutrophil maturation and role of redox sensitive tetrahydrobiopterin and L-arginine. Moreover, the molecular mechanisms involved in the translocation of NOS to the phagosomal compartment and inflammatory potential of neutrophil extracellular traps has also been delineated by her pioneering work. She also initiated and led the team of anti-thrombotic drug discovery at CDRI, which has seen two of CDRI anti-thrombotic molecules advancing to pre-clinical/clinical stage. One of the molecules has now received DCGI permission for Phase I clinical trial. Dr Dikshit has published more than 175 well cited papers & 22 reviews in peer reviewed journals, edited three books, has eight patents and has supervised more than 35 Ph.D., 10 MD theses, and has given training to more than 50 graduate students.
Dr Taslimarif Saiyed
Dr. Tarlimarif Saiyed’s initial training has been in neurosciences, where he received his PhD from Max-Planck Institute for Brain Research, Germany and followed it up by postdoctoral training at University of California San Francisco (UCSF). At the same time, he also underwent training in management for Biotech and Innovation from QB3 at UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley and UC San Francisco. He has also completed a biotech management program for biotech executives at Wharton School of Management. In the Bay area, he served as a Management Consultant with QB3 New Biotech Venture Consulting and in an individual capacity, he also consulted for many biotech firms in the US.
Dr. Saiyed is an Adjunct Faculty at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras and also Amrita Institute – School of Biotechnology. He also heads the Discovery to Innovation Accelerator program at C-CAMP. He is actively involved in promoting innovation in lifescience / healthcare by supporting translation of discoveries to application, entrepreneurship and technology development.
Proff A.P Dash
Prof. Aditya Prasad Dash is an Indian biologist with special interest in malaria and vector borne diseases. His areas of interest include biomedical science, transmission biology of tropical disease, and modern biology of disease vectors. According to Vidwan, the national network for researchers and experts, Dash has authored 320 publications co-authored 699 publications. Since September 2020, Dash has been serving as the Vice Chancellor of Asian Institute of Public Health (AIPH) in Bhubaneswar. Before joining AIPH, he was the Vice Chancellor of Central University of Tamil Nadu during the period from August 2015 to August 2020. He had also worked at the World Health Organization (WHO) as the Regional Advisor for the South-East Region. He has also worked as the Director of the National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), New Delhi, of the Institute of Life Sciences (ILS), Bhubaneswar and of the National Institute for Research on Tribal Health, Jabalpur.
Dr Rupesh Dash
Dr. Rupesh Dash is a cell and molecular biologist who works in the field of tumor biology. He did his Ph.D from IIT Kharagpur after which completed his post-doctoral training from VCU School of medicine, USA and IMCB Singapore. His research interests mostly focus on understanding the molecular mechanism of cell death in cancer cells. As an independent researches at BRIC-Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, his group focuses on exploring therapeutic targets to rewire drug resistant Oral and Colorectal cancer. Using high through put genomics and pharmacological screening his groups identifies I) the causative factors those play important role in chemo resistant tumors and II) small molecules which can sensitize the drug resistant tumors to existing gold standard chemotherapies. His long term objective is to prevent relapse of solid tumour in patients aiming to reduce cancer related mortality.
Mr B Kasi Viswanathan
With over 30 years of experience in retail financing, investment banking, and insurance, Kasi Viswanathan has a diverse and accomplished background. He is currently the Director of PINC Insurance, where he oversees a full spectrum of insurance services and risk solutions across all business sectors. PINC Insurance provides risk consultancy, underwriting, claim advocacy, and policy purchase for corporate clients and is one of the leading Indian insurance brokers with a global presence in over 40 countries. Prior to his role at PINC Insurance, Kasi co-founded the Microsol group along with three colleagues, focusing on the manufacturing of Photovoltaic Solar Cells for global markets. In 2012, Microsol acquired SOLON SE, Germany, with Kasi playing a key role in the acquisition. Since then, he has been managing the Solon companies across various geographies. In 2000, Kasi co-founded and became the COO of Apnaloan.com, an online marketplace for financial services products similar to Lendingtree.com in the USA. This venture was equity funded by Jump Start-up Fund Advisors, ING, and FMO. In 2003, Apnaloan was sold to ICICI Bank. During his tenure at ICICI Bank Ltd., India’s largest private sector bank, Kasi set up the franchisee distribution system for their auto and other retail asset products business. He advanced to head their sales & distribution division for a comprehensive range of retail products, including car finance, credit cards, and bank liabilities. Kasi began his career with an in-house finance company of a leading car manufacturer, setting the foundation for his extensive experience in the financial services and insurance sector.
Prof Balachandran Ravindran
B.Ravindran is a Microbiologist trained in JIPMER, Pondicherry and Delhi University and later in Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, UK and University of Connecticut Health Centre, USA. He worked with Indian Council of Medical Research for more than two decades and was later Director of the Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, an autonomous research institution under Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt of India for about 11 years till 2016. His scientific interests include Immunobiology of infectious diseases, regulation of inflammation, macrophage biology, evolution of immune system in mammals etc. His laboratory uses in vitro cell culture and experimental animals as well as humans exposed to pathogens as model systems. He has been an active member of a large global consortium of investigators from Institutions in UK, USA, Germany, France, Netherlands, Malaysia and Indonesia for nearly a decade. He has been a visiting Scientist at University of Edinburgh, University of Bonn and Pasteur Institute at Lille. His group has very widely published in leading international journals and he is a primary inventor of 6 patents, one of which was transferred to a Dutch industry and another patent has resulted in generation of a spin off company Byonox Pvt Ltd. Over the last three decades 19 PhD and 16 MD students worked in his laboratory and are placed in several institutions in India and abroad. He continues to serve as a member of Board of Governors and Scientific Advisory Committees of many Research institutions and Universities. He mentors several young investigators in many institutions in India and functions as a peer-reviewer for scientific journals and funding agencies in India and abroad.
Prof Latha Ravindran
Latha Ravindran, a Ph.D. in Economics, was Professor in Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar for more than three decades, until she retired in 2019. She has also served as a visiting faculty in XLRI, Jamshedpur, Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai and in Ahmababad University, Ahmadabad.
She specialised in the domain of land acquisition, displacement of people, Resettlement and Rehabilitation, and her research work has been published in national and international journals. She has worked as a consultant to the World Bank, UNICEF, UNDP and to several industrial and mining companies located in Odisha.
She was a member of national level working group, for framing the Rules for the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act (2013) of Government of India.
She also worked as a member of a High-level Committee constituted by Government of Odisha, for making amendments to the Resettlement and Rehabilitation Policy of the State.
Currently, she is an Independent Director in Indian Metals and Ferro Alloys Ltd. (IMFA) and Utkal Coal Limited (UCL); Member in the Institutional Ethics Committee of LV Prasad Eye Institute, Bhubaneswar.
Latha Ravindran is Past President of Rotary Club of Bhubaneswar Metro and has served as the Assistant Governor of Rotary International District 3262, for two terms. She is also a Paul Harris Fellow (Level-3) and contributed regularly to the Polio Fund of The Rotary Foundation.