Virander Singh Chauhan

Virander Singh Chauhan is an Indian scientist and a Rhodes Scholar working in the fields of genetic engineering and biotechnology. He is known for his contributions to the development of a recombinant vaccine for malaria. and for synthetic structural peptides with biological functions. He was honored by the Government of India in 2012 with the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri. He is the present Chancellor of the Gandhi Institute of Technology and Management.

Biography Virander Singh Chauhan, born on 3 March 1950, In 1974, he obtained a Ph.D., after which he moved to Oxford University, on temporary leave from the college, on a Rhodes Scholarship where he stayed till 1977. in 1977.On his return from Oxford, he resumed his duties at St. Stephen's College where he worked till 1979. as senior scientist and was entrusted the leadership of the workgroup involved in the research on Malaria. In 1998, he was appointed as the Director of the institute,

Positions Virander Chauhan was the secretary of the Indian arm of Rhodes Scholarships UK and is a member of the selection committees of such as Inlaks, Felix and Dr. Manmohan Singh scholarships. A former president of the Society of Biological Chemists during 2009-2011, Chauhan is an elected member (1992) of all the three National Academies of Sciences including the Indian National Science Academy (INSA), National Academy of Sciences (NASI), and Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS) the International Clinical Epidemiology Network (INCLEN), the Inter-University Accelerator Centre (IUAC).

He has been a member of the executive councils of Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) for their Indo-US Vaccine Action Programme. South Korea, as a member of their Technical Research Groups. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology, Journal of Peptide Science, Asian Biotechnology and Development Review, Pakistan Journal of Biological Sciences, Indian Journal for Biochemistry and Biophysics, Journal of Molecular Structure and The Open Vaccine Journal. The Fruiteries of Immunology.

His many other national responsibilities include member of University Grants Commission (UGC) (HEFA) since its inception. He is also the Chairman of the Governing Council of the Sun Pharma Research Foundation.

Legacy Virander Chauhan was the leader of the workgroup engaged in the development of a vaccine during his early years in the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology. It is also reported to have helped in the development of high throughput screens for the discovery of drugs for Malaria. PubFacts and Pubget. He has also delivered keynote addresses at many seminars and conferences, workshops and convocations at several universities.

Awards and recognitions Virander Chauhan, a Rhodes Scholar of 1974 and a Fellow of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS), received Dr. MOT Iyengar Memorial Award from the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) in 1995. This was followed by Ranbaxy Research Award in 2001, Om Prakash Bhasin Award in 2002 and ICMR Basanti Devi Amir Chand Prize in 2003. He is also a recipient of Raj Kristo Dutt Memorial Award of the Indian Science Congress Association in 2010 and the BioSpectrum Person of the Year Award in 2011. In 2012, the Government of India awarded him the civilian honor of Padma Shri. He also holds the Fellowships of Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, India, and Indian Society for Parasitology.