Akhil Chandra Banerjea

Akhil Chandra Banerjea (born 1956) is an Indian virologist and is currently the Director at Institute of Advanced Virology, Kerala. He was earlier an emeritus Scientist at the National Institute of Immunology, India. Known for his studies on viral pathogenesis and gene therapy, Banerjea is an elected fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India and the Indian National Science Academy. The Department of Biotechnology of the Government of India awarded him the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences in 2001.

Biography

Akhil C. Banerjea, born in 1956 in the Indian state of West Bengal, did his under-graduate studies at Gorakhpur University and after earning a BSc, he continued his studies at G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology to obtain a master's degree (MSc). Subsequently, he joined National Institute of Virology for his doctoral research in virology which earned him a PhD from Savitribai Phule Pune University. His post-doctoral work was in the US where he did research at Duke University Hospital, simultaneously working as an assistant professor from 1984 to 1990 and spent the next four years (1990–94) at the National Institutes of Health as a senior staff fellow. He has delivered key note or invited speeches at seminars and conferences at places such as Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Duke University, University of California, Los Angeles, National Cancer Institute, Drexel University and National University of Singapore. He has also mentored many research scholars in their studies. He is also a recipient of the National Foreign-Associateship of the Department of Biotechnology and the Shakuntala Amir Chand Award of the Indian Council of Medical Research. The Indian National Science Academy elected him as a fellow in 2012; INSA would honor him again in 2016 with the Senior Scientist Award.

Selected bibliography