Prof Chandrabhas Narayana appointed RGCB Director

A highly accomplished scientist and inter-disciplinary research leader, Prof Narayana succeeds Prof M Radhakishna Pillai, who retired as the RGCBs Director in August, after helming the Government of Indias facility for over 15 years. The appointment, approved by the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet, is for a period of five years, a press release said.

The Centre has appointed Prof Chandrabhas Narayana, currently Dean, (Research and Development) at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru, as the Director of the city-based Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology. RGCB is the countrys leading molecular biology and biotech research and development institute. A highly accomplished scientist and inter-disciplinary research leader, Prof Narayana succeeds Prof M Radhakishna Pillai, who retired as the RGCBs Director in August, after helming the Government of Indias facility for over 15 years.

The appointment, approved by the Appointments Committee of the Union Cabinet, is for a period of five years, a press release said. An autonomous national institution of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, RGCB s four major mandates include discovery research in disease biology, translational sciences, technology development and training and education.

Though a trained condensed matter physicist, Prof Narayana developed a keen interest in Biology soon after joining JNCASR. Subsequently, his group pioneered in the use of Raman Spectroscopy in drug-protein interaction for drug screening applications and diagnostic applications.

His projects proved to be trendsetters in inter-disciplinary research. He is a member of several governing and advisory bodies and board of studies of leading universities and higher education institutions in the country.