T Govindaraju has made significant contributions in the medical field. He is a professor in the Bioorganic Chemistry Laboratory at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCAR), Bengaluru. Bioorganic Chemistry uses chemical methods in the study of biological processes.
Prof. Govindaraju is from a remote village in Karnataka. As a school boy, he saw that mentally ill patients were treated cruelly. This image guided him to choose his area of research. He completed his PhD from CSIR-NCL. He then did post-doctoral research in the U.S and Germany. His research was on neuro degenerative diseases and cancer. Neuro degenerative diseases occur when cells in the central nervous system stop working.
You must have also heard about Alzheimer’s disease. This occurs when the brain becomes small and the brain cells die. Prof. Govindaraju and his team discovered a new molecule -TGR63 which could be the future drug to treat Alzheimer’s. A Delhi based pharma company has obtained the rights to do its trial runs.
Prof. Govindaraju found the similarities between Alzheimer’s disease and cancer and this led to the discovery of TGP 18, another molecule-based drug. This could be used to treat lung cancer.
He was a Humboldt research fellow in Germany and a visiting faculty at the University of Paris, France. He is also keen on raising the standards of rural schools and has been a part of outreach initiatives. He is also into bringing awareness about mental illness among school children in Karnataka and other states.
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