Professor R C Sobti, Senior Scientist (Indian National Science Academy), Former Vice Chancellor, Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University, Lucknow (UP) and Panjab University, Chandigarh, Former Education, Advisor, Governor of Bihar is, indeed, a polymath--a renowned academician, distinguished scientist, dynamic administrator and a visionary gifted with an immensely optimistic disposition and integrity of character, words and action. He has also been member of the EC of Society of Indian Institute of Mass Communication, India (2013-16), Chairman Governing Council, National Council of Science Museum (2014-2018) as well as member of various committees of UGC, DBT, CSIR, DRDO and NAAC. He was general president Indian Science Congress Association (2013-2014). Starting his career as a Cytogeneticist worked the animal molecular biology to look for solution to intricate problems of animal systems. Professor Sobti has been proactively involved in cancer biology and focused on finding out novel tumour markers of diagnostics and cancer prognostic importance for cancer. He evaluated the role of gene polymorphisms and their expression in the genesis of various cancers, COPD, AIDS and metabolic syndrome. The identification of disease susceptible /protective novel genotypes and determination of the crucial role of SACS-1 and STAT genes in the genesis of cervical and prostate cancers are the most noteworthy observations. He has recently identified certain Hub genes of diagnostic importance in uterine cancers, besides working on the importance of genes in development of animals as well as the role of certain rare plants on anti microbes. His immense contributions to science includes, inter alia, 350 plus high impact research publications 55 books especially the ones on Translational Research in Biomedical Sciences and various aspects of Covid 19 (6 books) under INSA Senior Scientist Programme published by international publishers like Springer Nature, Elsevier, CRC, Cambridge Scholar. He has also published more than 35 chapters in these books. He has successfully handled 23 Sponsored Research Projects and supervised more than 50 students for the Ph.D, M.Sc., M.Phil and a D.Sc. degrees. He has delivered numerous keynote addresses at reputed National and International forums, based on implications and applications of science and scientific temper for general awareness and improvements of everyday life and lifestyle in a lucid and people-centric manner. Professor Sobti is a Fellow of the Third World Academy of Sciences (TWAS), National Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academies of Medical Sciences and Agricultural Sciences and Canadian Academy of Cardiovascular Diseases. He is also associated with many other Academic Associations and Institutions in the domain of higher education and research. The litany of honours showered on him includes, among others, the INSA Young Scientist Medal (1978), UGC Career Research Award, Punjab Rattan Award, JC Bose Oration Award and the Life Time Achievement Award of the Punjab Academy of Sciences, Zoological Society of India, and the Environment academy of India, besides many other medals & awards of various reputed National and International Organizations. He has visited UK, Japan, Germany under exchange programme of those countries with INSA, UGC etc. In recognition of his enormous contributions to higher education, he has been bestowed with a large number of prestigious awards and medals which adorn his academic and professional career. The Government of India bestowed upon him the honour of "PADMASHRI" in 2009 by way of rightfully acknowledging his great contribution to higher education in India. On 2nd July, 2016, he was also honoured with 'Bharat Gaurav', Life Time Achievement Award at the House of Commons, British Parliament, London, U. K. Professor Sobti, not only excels in creating academic atmosphere, but is also equally steadfast and loyal towards environment and society. His charismatic aura and unrelenting attitude, that does encourage and motivate all, has an inherent capacity of transforming the organisation into a synergistic, cohesive and vibrant team. Professor Sobti's pragmatic approach and dynamic vision encapsulated in his view that education in University should be a mechanism for social change and liberating force for the individual and the society, resulted in initiating various Community Engagement Programmes. His innovative ideas in enthusing the faculty and students to excel in research and academics and his efforts in transferring these ideas to the needy through scientific spirit and temper can be pronounced as distinct and exceptional. Professor Sobti has not only instilled the importance of science and scientific perspective in the personal and societal development, but has also rigorouslycampaigned and spread awareness about the ill-effects of the abuse of scientific and technological advancements for greed. He has set examples and personally taken initiatives to make the campuses wherever he has worked as Vice Chancellor-environment conducive, safe, and healthy through the successful implementation of numerous socially relevant and meaningful initiatives. Professor Sobti has always gone beyond the call of duty in every arena, be it for his innovative ideas, constant encouragement, and his speedy actions aimed at comprehensive development of the society. Professor R.C. Sobti is a personification of energy, synergy, positivity, creativity and development. He encompasses the best of tradition and modernity both to engineer a dynamic today-which is of vital significance to create a great future. He is an epitome of kindness, hard work and solidarity, an active researcher and a perfect protagonist in popularization of science and can carry along a large community towards a developed and progressive Nation. Dr. N K Ganguly, is MBBS from R. G. Kar Medical College, Calcutta University, MD (Microbiology) from Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh, and has been conferred with six Doctorate of Science D. Sc (honoris causa) degrees by Indian universities. Prof. Ganguly has published more than 800 research papers and has supervised more than 158 Ph.D. theses as Supervisor/Co-Supervisor. He has been conferred with several prestigious awards, including 9 International and more than hundred national awards - (113 National Awards). Prof. Nirmal Kumar Ganguly, is the former Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). He was formerly President of the Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), as well as that of the Asian Institute of Public Health, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, New Delhi; former Director, PGIMER (Chandigarh); and former Director, National Institute of Biologicals (Noida). He has been General President, Indian Science Congress Association, 2004-05 and Former President, National Academy of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and also Elected Fellow (FISC) - 2019, Indian Science Congress Association, Kolkata, He has been the Past-Presidents of Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists, Indian Society of Parasitology, Indian Immunology Society, The Indian College of Allergy and Applied Immunology, Delhi, International Society of Heart Research (National Chapter). Current Positions: * Honorary Senior Research Professor (Clinical Research), Institute of Liver & Biliary Sciences, New Delhi, India & * Professor (GRIPMER), The Ganga Ram Institute for Postgraduate Medical Education & Research, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, New Delhi * Senior Scientific Advisor, Global HealthStrategies * President of the Immunology Foundation of India * President of the Gut Microbiota and Probiotic Science Foundation (India), and * President, Indian Society of Translational Research * Emeritus Professor, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh * Emeritus Professor, National Academy of Medical Sciences, New Delhi * Adjunct Professor, Department of Molecular Medicine, School of Interdisciplinary Sciences and Technology, Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi * Distinguished Professor, SRM University, Sonepat, Haryana International Boards/Committees: 1. Prof Ganguly was invited as a member of the European-African consortium project's Scientific and Ethics Advisory Committee, that was submitted to the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP) related to the further clinicaldevelopment of a therapeutic vaccine for prevention of post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis. (Chaired by Paul Key with the knowledge partner being MM Global Health Consulting, Zurich, Geneva, Berlin) 2. Member - Advisory Board, Post-Polio World - supported by Sanofi-Pasteur since 2019 3. INCENTIVE Consortium Helmholtz Centre for Infection Research Frankfurt, Germany 4. Member, Advisory Board of Roche Diagnostics Centralised and Point-of-Care Solutions, Switzerland, to gain consensus on the utility of the Roche SARS-CoV-2 assay portfolio for appropriate diagnostic algorithms for testing - 23rd November 2020 Chair of the RTAG for KA elimination WHO 2023 5. Advisory Board Member Regional Director SEARO 6. Member ACHR SEARO 7. Member of International Committee Meeting Accelerate and Innovate to end TB and NTDs in the South-East Asia Region, SEARO WHO 8. Prof. N. K. Ganguly serving as Commissioners - Lancet Commission - integrated and synergistic program that will accelerate implementation of a global strategy for intervention of Aedes-transmitted viral diseases since February' 2019 9. He was also a Member, Lab Director Recruitment process of ICDDRB Dhaka and member of the Board of Trustees ICDDRB He was also a Member of the INCLEN (International Clinical Epidemiology Network) Board of Trustees. 10. Member of the International Scientific Advisory board of International Congress for Tropical Medicine and Malaria (ICTTM - 2020) to be held from 20-24 September 2020 at the Bangkok International Trade and Exhibition Centre (BITEC), in Bangkok, Thailand 11. Member Multidisciplinary Assessment Committee for the Canada Foundation for Innovation. 12. Review Committee (Biomedical Expert), Wellcome Trust, London, UK 13. Drugs for Neglected Diseases (DNDi)Core Group National Committees: 1. Chairman, Scientific Advisory Committee (Advanced Centre for Treatment Research and Education in Cancer), Tata Memorial Centre, Mumbai 2. Member, Tata Memorial Governing Council and Selection Committee, TMC, Mumbai - 2019 3. Board member of L V Prasad Eye Institute Hyderabad. 4. Chairman, Clinical Trial Accreditation Committee of National Accreditation Board of Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) - November, 2022 5. Member, Apex Advisory Committee of National Accreditation Board of Hospitals and Healthcare Providers (NABH) February, 2023, for a term of two years 6. National Accreditation Board for Testing and Calibration Laboratories Board Special Invited Member to (NABL) Board Meetings 2023 7. Medical Biotechnology and Nanotechnology Sectional Committee, MHD 20 Board Member 2023 8. Member Advisory Board President, National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) (Prof Ganguly Emeritus ProfessorNAMS Former President of NAMS) 9. Member S20 Apex Committee INDIAN NATIONAL SCIENCE ACADEMY, INSA 10. Member KEM Hospital Research Centre Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) KEM Hospital Pune 11. Member - Advisory Committee of the constituent Institutes of Medical Stream of the Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University) - MM(DU), Mullana-Ambala 12. Chairman- Task force project on pneumonia etiology- Steering Committee - 2019, ICMR, New Delhi 13. Member, Rotavirus Vaccine Expert Group and National Pneumococcal Vaccine Expert Group, Immunization Division, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, 2018 14. Patron, Epidemiology Foundation of India vide EFI communique letter no. EFI/EXT/001 dated 08.03.2023 15. Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the 16th ASCODD 2022 conference in Kolkata - November, 2022 16. Member, High Level committee under the Chairmanship of Hon'ble Union Health 17. Minister for review of the evolving scenario of Covid-19 vide MoHFW, GOI office memorandum dated 29th March 2020 18. Chairperson for the Expert Committee on CSIR initiative on Microbiomics Mission - India Microbiome Initiative - Indigut - February'2020 19. Chairman, Technical Committee for "IndiaCovid-19 Emergency Response and Health Systems Preparedness Package - Phase II" (ECRP-Phase-II) vide Govt. of India, MoHFW (Disaster Management Cell) - October 2021 National and State Universities Board /Committee Members 1. Member 'Board of Management' of the Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University 2. Member Board of Management of Jamia Hamdard University 3. Nominee of the Board of Management, Rajasthan University of Health Science, Selection Committee of Vice Chancellor 4. Chairperson of the reconstituted Governing Body for Delhi School for Skill Enhancement & Entrepreneurship Development (DSSEED) - Nominated as the Delhi University Vice-Chancellor's nominee, under the Institution of Eminence (IoE), University of Delhi - August, 2021 5. Member Advisory Committee of Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar University (A Central University - Lucknow) 6. Member - Advisory Committee of the constituent Institutes of Medical Stream of the Maharishi Markandeshwar (Deemed to be University) - MM(DU), Mullana-Ambala, Haryana - August 2022 7. Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Global Consortium of Breast Cancer in Young Women (GCBCYW) - July 2022 from Swami Rama Himalayan University, Uttarakhand 8. Member - NAMS Standing Committee: Advocacy Committee - March, 2022 9. Member - Academic Advisory Committee of Mahayogi Gorakhnath University, Gorakhpur (UP) - January 2022 10. Chairman of the Institutional Ethics Committee of Adamas University (AU-IEC) for the Subhash Mukhopadhyay Centre for Stem CellBiology and Regenerative Medicine (SM-SCBRM) - September, 2021 11. Prof Ganguly is PhD Thesis Examiner: JNU Delhi, Calcutta University, Jamia Hamdard and others Awards & Achievements: In 2022, he has been conferred with the Lifetime Achievement Award along with a Gold Seal by the ASCODD for his immense contribution in familiarizing science in the field of Diarrhoeal Diseases and the Lifetime Achievement Award by the International Society for Adaptive Medicine (ISAM), University of Central Florida, Orlando USA. He has also been conferred with the Bio-Bank India Foundation (BBIF) - BBIF Pioneer Award for the year 2022 towards his outstanding contributions for setting up new facilities, shaping policies and promoting the bio-banking practices in India. Certificate of Appreciation from Regional-Director, WHO-SEARO as Eminent Speaker at the 18th WHO Dialogue on "How the Modern Science is impacting healthcare and public health" at the Regional Office on 3rd of May' 2023 He has been honored with the prestigious 'Padma Bhushan' Award by Her Excellency, the President of India on 26th January, 2008 in the field of "Medicine" ¿Professor Rakesh Kumar, a molecular cancer biologist, holds the Endowed Chair Professor and Distinguished Emeritus Professor position at the Cancer Research Institute, Himalayan Institute of Medical Sciences, India. Professor Kumar is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of the Breast Cancer in Young Women Foundation, a non-profit international organization based in the United States. The foundation is dedicated to saving the lives of young women affected by breast cancer by promoting and supporting awareness and advanced research and advocacy. He is also an adjunct professor at the Rutgers New Jersey School of Medicine and the Virginia Commonwealth School of Medicine in the United States. Originally hailing from Himalayan hillocks, Professor Kumar's academic journey began with a master's degree in Chemistry from Bareilly College in 1976. Building upon his strong Foundation, he earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in New Delhi in 1984. Following a brief stint at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, he began a new chapter by relocating to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City in January 1986. Throughout his career spanning nearly forty years, he played a significant role as an academician at leading Cancer Centers and Universities in the United States as a tenured faculty member from 1996 until 2017, including more than two decades at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center - New York City and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center - Houston. During this time, Professor Kumar held several institutional academic and research leadership positions, served as a department deputy chair and chair, as an endowed distinguished professor, and endowed chairs in the United States. Alongside his scientific career in the United States, Professor Kumar remained devoted to cancer research and mentoring the country's next generation of scientists in the United States and India. In 2017, he returned to India as a Govt of India National Chair in Cancer Research and Distinguished Professor at the Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology, where he served until 2022, before joining as a Distinguished Emeritus Professor at the Swami Rama Himalayan University. Professor Kumar's research contributions have been innovative and foresight in cancer research. For example, while defining the mechanism of growth inhibitory activity of monoclonal antibody 4D5 against the HER2 receptor, in collaboration with Professor John Mendelsohn, he discovered its ability to block HER2 tyrosine phosphorylation and inhibit HER2 signaling. The mAb4D5 was later humanized and developed as Herceptin by Genentech; similarly, in collaboration with Professor John Mendelsohn - the inventor of Cetuximab, Professor Kumar established that one of the mechanisms of action of the anti-EGFR monoclonal antibody C225/ Cetuximab functions involve interruption of an extracellular autocrine loop-a finding essential for the clinical development of the first generation of targeted anti-HER therapeutics. Over time, his studies have opened new avenues for further exploration of growth factor receptors, estrogen signaling, and regulatory mechanisms of gene expression. His impact extends beyond academic contributions, with over three hundred research articles, invited reviews in esteemed scientific journals, and editing nine books or volumes, including the current monograph. Stanford University data from the past four years has consistently ranked Professor Kumar among the under 0.30% of oncology and carcinogenesis scientists globally. Professor Kumar's excellence isn't limited to research and publications. He has been an active member of variouseditorial boards for leading cancer research journals for nearly twenty-five years. He continues to serve on the board of several journals at the forefront of cancer research. He has also contributed his scientific expertise to nearly 100 peer-review panels of national and international funding agencies for over three decades, including the National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense, and Veteran Administration of the United States, multiple foreign governmental funding agencies, DBT-Welcome Trust, India-French and India-German Alliance Funding Programs, Breast Cancer Foundations, and the Monitoring Committee of the National Breast Cancer Genome and the Making Cancer Care Affordable Projects. The recognition of Professor Kumar's original research contributions has led to several prestigious awards and honors throughout his career. Notable accolades include the 1995 Outstanding Investigator Award from the Hinkle Society of Penn State University College ofMedicine, the 2004 MD Anderson Cancer Center Faculty Achievement Award in Basic Sciences, the 2004 Norman Brinker Award for Research Excellence, the 2006 Ranbaxy (Sun Pharma) Research Award in Pharmaceutical Sciences, the 2013 Lifetime Achievement Award from the American Association of Indian Scientists in Cancer Research. Beyond his research accomplishments, Professor Kumar has made a profound impact as a mentor, guiding and training over 67 graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and physician-scientists. Many of his mentees now hold esteemed faculty positions worldwide, including the United States, India (i.e., Indian Institute of Technology -Chennai and -Kharagpur, Institute of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Indian Liver and Biliary Sciences, etc.) China, Italy, and other countries. Sharing his wealth of knowledge and experience, Professor Kumar has delivered over 280 invited lectures at national and international scientific conferences, universities, medical schools, and hospitals. In 2023, Professor Kumar led a significant step by establishing the first Breast Cancer in Young Women Foundation in the United States and globally. The Foundation's vision is to create a reality in which the death of a young woman from breast cancer becomes a rare event.
