Gagandeep Kang is the first Indian woman to get elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society. Being a Fellow of the Royal Society is one of the great honors among the scientific community.
According to the website of The Royal Society, Gagandeep Kang is known for her inter-disciplinary research in studying the transmission, development and prevention of enteric infections and their sequelae among children in India. If one were to ask what is the profession of Gagandeep Kang then it would apt to say that she is a renowned microbiologist and virologist from India.
For her pioneering contributions towards understanding the natural history of rotavirus and other infectious diseases that are important both globally and in India, she was awarded Infosys Prize in Life Sciences in 2016. No significant biography of Gagandeep Kang can be written without mentioning these two above-mentioned globally revered recognitions of her.
Presently, Gagandeep Kang is working in the Wellcome Trust Research Laboratory, a division of Gastrointestinal Sciences at the Christian Medical College (CMC) in Vellore as a Professor of Microbiology. Vellore is a city in the Tamil Nadu state of India.
About Gagandeep Kang
Gagandeep developed a deep interest towards science from a young age. When she was barely 12, she built a lab at home with the help of her father where she used to experiment in biology, physics and chemistry.
She went on to do her MBBS in 1987, which she followed with her MD in 1991. Gagandeep got both the degrees from Christian Medical College, Vellore. From the same institution, she earned her Phd.in 1998. She has over 375 published papers across national and international journals.
Gagandeep was the Executive Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad, which is an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. She served in that tenure during August 2016 to July 2020. Since early 1990s, she has been working on diarrhoea diseases and public health in India.
Besides the two above-mentioned globally renowned distinctions, the work of Gagandeephas been recognized with several awards and honors over the years, which includeWoman Bioscientist of the Year from the Government of India (2006) among others.
The news on Gagandeep Kang also tells us that she is the co-author of the book titled Till We Win: India’s Fight Against The COVID-19 Pandemic. She c-authored the book with Chandrakant Lahariya (a leading doctor in India and a public policy and health system expert) and Randeep Guleria (the Director of AIIMS, New Delhi.)
There is also news on Gagandeep Kang that since 2020, the eminent researcher has been an ex-officio member of a working group on COVID-19 vaccines. The group was formed by the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts at the WHO.
FAQs
She was born in Shimla on 3rd November 1962. The age of Gagandeep Kang is 59 years. She did her schooling in north and east India. Her mother was a teacher of English and history and her father worked with Indian Railways as a mechanical engineer.
She is a renowned microbiologist and virologist from India.
She is an Indian who was born in Shimla.
The major focus of her research is on viral infections among children, and the testing of rotaviral vaccines. She is now most known for being the first Indian woman to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.
She did her schooling from 10 schools around north and east India. She did major chunk of her higher education from Christian Medical College, Vellore. She did her post-doctoral research from Baylor College of Medicine, Houston.
