Gagandeep Kang, vaccine scientist, quits top research institute
Dr Gagandeep Kang, one of India’s most eminent medical scientists who played a critical role in the development of the indigenous rotavirus vaccine, has unexpectedly resigned as executive director of the Translational Health Sciences and Technology Institute (THSTI), the prestigious Faridabad-based public health research institute under the Ministry of Science and Technology’s Department of Biotechnology.
The resignation of Prof Kang, the first Indian woman scientist to be elected Fellow of the Royal Society (FRS), London, came around two months after a committee to look into indigenous Covid-19 drugs and vaccines that she headed, was disbanded.
Dr Kang said on Monday that she had resigned due to personal reasons. A professor in the Department of Gastrointestinal Sciences at Christian Medical College (CMC) Vellore, she had been on lien to THSTI since 2016, and had another year to go in her tenure.
In April, THSTI was allowed to test for Covid-19 as an extension of Faridabad’s ESIC Medical College and Hospital. Under Dr Kang’s guidance, researchers at the institute had been working to develop antigen tests to check for SARS-CoV-2 more efficiently.
The panel on Covid-19 drugs and vaccines that she was chairing had met a few times before it was “shut down” in May, a member of the erstwhile panel told The Indian Express. Another member said the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) had found an overlap in the work allocated to the panel and that of other committees. Both scientists spoke on condition of anonymity.
When contacted on Monday, Dr Kang said the disbanding of this committee had “nothing” to do with her resignation.
Comments
Post a Comment