Gagandeep Kang becomes the first Indian woman scientist to be elected as the FRS

 

Gagandeep Kang the seasoned Indian biologist and a professor at the Christian Medical College in Vellore has become the first Indian woman scientist to be selected in as the Fellow of the Royal Society.

The professor has developed two indigenous vaccines against rotavirus and typhoid.

Apart from this, the 57-year-old researcher was the executive director of the Translational Health Sciences and Research Institute and was the winner of the Infosys Science Foundation Prize.

Kang was one of the leaders in the three-decades-old rotavirus vaccine (that prevents lakhs of diarrhoeal deaths among children) project. Launched commercially last year, the vaccine would be a part of the universal immunisation programme for the entire country.

“Out of 1,6oo odd living Fellows (of the Royal Societies), only 133 have been women. Although founded in 1660, no woman became FRS till 1945. Such are the odds for a woman to become FRS. So we feel particularly proud that Kang became an FRS this year. R A Mashelkar, former director general of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and an FRS himself, reported to the media.