Deccan Herald

Mangalore, Aug 7: Professor and head of the department of Microbiology at the College of Fisheries in Mangalore, Dr Indrani Karunasagar, has been bestowed with the prestigious Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Award for her outstanding research contribution, by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR).

According to a press release, Union Minister for Agriculture Sharad Pawar presented the Award to Dr Indrani at a glittering function held in New Delhi recently.

The award, given once in 2 years, is named after Rafi Ahmed Kidwai, a freedom fighter and the first food and agriculture minister of India. Dr Indrani has been recognised for her contribution to Fisheries Biotechnology and Aquatic life sciences, in particular to the development and application of molecular tools to study of pathogens, vaccine development, phage therapy and marine toxins. The award consists of a certificate, citation, a gold medal and a cash prize of Rs 3 lac.

Dr Indrani is involved in research pertaining to public health related pathogens and study of diseases of aquatic animals, in particular on the development of molecular diagnostics for viral and bacterial pathogens.

She was a member of the FAO-NACA committee on aquatic animal health, scientific advisor for International Foundation for Science and Director of the UNESCO Microbial Resources Centre for Marine Biotechnology. She has published more than 150 research papers and is operating several research projects funded by government and international agencies. Her most recent project is on RNA interference as an antiviral mechanism against hepatopancreatic parvovirus.

She has received several prestigious awards including Dr M S Swaminathan Award of Professional Fisheries Graduates Forum, Outstanding Woman Scientist Award of ICAR, Lifetime achievement award during the ‘Year of Water’ of Department of Biotechnology and many others. She is also a recipient of various fellowships.