1981 - MSc - Chemistry Professor @ National Centre for Biological Sciences TIFR, Bangalore
Prof. Jayant B. Udgaonkar is an accomplished teacher/ scientist in the area of Biological Sciences, particularly in protein chemistry/ biochemistry. Many of his accomplishments came after he joined the National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Tata Institute for Fundamental Research (TIFR), Bangalore. His research at NCBS has earned him many awards and recognitions.
Prof. Udgaonkar is currently a senior professor of NCBS, TIFR, and a pioneer in protein folding, protein stability and protein aggregation. His laboratory uses several small proteins as archetypical model proteins for studying how proteins fold, unfold and misfold. He uses the tools of protein engineering and physical biochemistry, including diverse optical spectroscopic methods, time-resolved fluorescence methods, as well as nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy and mass spectrometry methods. Highlights of his recent work on protein folding and unfolding include the demonstration of competing pathways for the folding of monellin. Highlights of recent work on protein misfolding and aggregation include the demonstration that the transformation of soluble oligomers of barstar into amyloid protofibrils occurs in multiple steps.
Prof. Udgaonkar has 106 publications to his credit in top-notch journals such as Nature and Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences, USA. He has received several distinctions at the national and international levels, among them: Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences, Fellow of Indian National Science Academy, Biotechnology Career Fellow of the Rockefeller Foundation (1991-1995), B.M. Blrla Award for Biology (1996), Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Biological Sciences (2000), J.C. Bose National Fellowship (2007), and Honorary Faculty Member, JNCASR, Bangalore (1999). He was awarded a Golden Jubilee Biotechnology Award by the Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, in August 1997, and the B. M. Birla Science Prize for Young Indian Scientists during 1998. He was awarded the Swarnajayanti Fellowship by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, in July 1998. Since 2003, he has been a Member of the Editorial Board of Protein Engineering, Design and Selection.
In recognition of Prof. Udgaonkar’s outstanding contributions to the field of bio-chemical sciences, IIT Madras and its alumni are proud to confer on him this award.
