Rajanish Giri , an assistant professor from the Indian Institute of Technology-Mandi (IIT-Mandi) has been awarded the Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award (IYBA) 2018 for his proposed innovative idea on Zika virus Capsid Folding and inhibitor discovery. Along with the discovery, he has also proven expertise in understanding and solving the fundamental problems of protein folding in various structured and Intrinsically Disordered Proteins.
He is awarded by the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology. “This award is for an innovative idea to execute. I propose to work on Zika virus capsid protein biophysical perspectives,” said Giri.
In addition to the award, Mr. Giri also received a research grant for three years to find more insight into the biophysical research on Zika Capsid protein system by running well-equipped lab and hiring and training the people or senior research fellows etc.
Giri originally started his work in 2016 after the Zika virus was declared as medical health emergency globally. His research finding led to understanding of Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) or dark proteome in Zika Virus system. Giri is interested in the Mechanistic insights into Zika virus parthenogenesis and the biophysics of Zika virus.
Under the supervision of Rajanish Giri, a PhD Scholar, Nitin Sharma from IIT Mandi also received ‘Newton Bhabha Doctoral Placement Grant’. This placement offer provides funding to India and UK PhD scholars for short period of their research at any UK or Indian higher education institution.
The British Council, in partnership with the Departments of Science and Technology (DST) and Biotechnology (DBT), is providing this funding support.
The Zika virus is known to cause deformities of the foetus and even fatalities of the unborn child if the mother is infected. When a person gets infected with the Zika virus, it replicates in the human host, disrupting the person’s nerve cells. This is why fetuses are extremely vulnerable as nerve cells are extensive during embryogeny.