IIT Mandi Professor Awarded For Path-Breaking Research On Zika Virus, Will Aid In Developing Low-Cost Medicine

Indian Institute of Technology Mandi (IIT Mandi) Assistant professor Dr Rajanish Giri has been awarded the Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award (IYBA) for his breakthrough research on Zika Virus, India Today has reported.

He was credited with furthering the study about Zika virus’s Capsid Folding, inhibitor discovery by the Department of Biotechnology and Ministry of Science and Technology.

He also showed expertise in solving the fundamental problems of protein folding in various structured and Intrinsically disordered proteins.

Giri was also awarded a research grant for three years, to aid him in finding more insight into the biophysical research on Zika Capsid protein system.

He started his work on understanding Zika virus proteome in 2016 after an international health emergency was declared against it.

The research gives insights about Intrinsically Disordered Proteins (IDPs) or dark proteome in Zika Virus system. He plans to research further in the mechanistic insights into Zika virus parthenogenesis and the biophysics of Zika virus.

The research can help in the development of drugs against Zika infection and low-cost medicines in future.

During his Zika virus research, Giri published several works in various reputed journals such as Journal of Molecular Biology, Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology etc.