Awardee of the Year 2022

The sixth “Shiv Nath Rai Kohli memorial mid-career Best Scientist award, 2022” awarded to:

(1) Dr. Raj Kumar, FRSC, 

Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Natural Products, 

Central University of Punjab, 

Village Ghudda, Bathinda, 151401, Punjab 

Significant contributions: 

Professor Raj Kumar is a distinguished academic and researcher in the field of Medicinal Chemistry. He currently serves as a Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Natural Products at the Central University of Punjab (CUP), India. Before joining CUP in 2011, Professor Kumar worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at ISF College, Moga, Punjab. Professor Kumar completed his postdoctoral research at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. During this time, he made a significant contribution to the development of RK-33 (Raj Kumar-33), a potent lung anticancer molecule. His work on RK-33 led to its co-invention and its subsequent development as the first DDX-3 inhibitors at Johns Hopkins University. The breakthrough was published in several prestigious journals, including Organic Letters (2008) and ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters (2011). And world patent. Professor Kumar earned his Ph.D. from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali, an Institute of National Importance, under the guidance of Professor A. K. Chakraborti. His doctoral research, conducted between 2003 and 2007, focused on the design, synthesis, and biological evaluation of cyclooxygenase inhibitors as novel nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory agents. Additionally, he was involved in an industrial project on synthesizing Phosphodiesterase-4 inhibitors, sponsored by Ranbaxy Research Laboratories. Professor Kumar’s research primarily centers on drug discovery and the development of novel anticancer agents. His work focuses on targeting various growth factors and their associated signaling pathways, including kinases such as EGFR, PKM2, and CDKs, topoisomerases, DNA repair enzymes (APE-1), and epigenetic regulators like HDACs. His group explores innovative strategies to combat cancer, including the design of new heterocyclic compounds for anticancer therapies. One of his significant contributions is the development of redox cycler-doxorubicin, which targets mitochondria in cancer cells, producing exogenous reactive oxygen species (ROS) to induce cell death. Moreover, his group is working on discovering xanthine oxidase inhibitors to treat XO-harboring tumors, further expanding their focus beyond drug development into diagnostic agents for distinguishing cancer cells from normal ones. Recently, Professor Kumar’s research has ventured into the development of Protein Degraders (PROTACs) for cancer therapeutics. PROTACs are a cutting-edge approach that utilizes targeted protein degradation to treat diseases, and the molecules his group has synthesized have shown strong potential in preclinical studies for clinical application. Throughout his career, Professor Kumar has been awarded numerous accolades, including the “Outstanding Research Award” and “Best Teacher Award” by the Central University of Punjab. His research has earned him significant funding from both national agencies like the Department of Science and Technology (DST), CSIR, and UGC, as well as international organizations such as Bristol Myers Squibb (USA) and Bimini Biotech, Netherlands and Transasia BioMedicals Pvt. Ltd. (consultant). Professor Kumar has published over 100 research papers in leading journals in the fields of medicinal chemistry, organic chemistry, and pharmaceutical sciences, with a cumulative impact factor exceeding 300. Additionally, Professor Kumar’s edited book, Fused Pyrimidine-Based Drug Discovery, is highly regarded in the scientific community and is classified as a top-choice reference for researchers in medicinal chemistry and drug discovery. His h-index is 41 according to Scopus and 42 according to Google Scholar. He also holds five national and international patents. In 2021 and 2023, he was featured in the list of the top 2% international scientists, compiled by Stanford University. Additionally, Professor Kumar was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC), UK.

more detail: https://cup.edu.in/Dr_Raj_Kumar.php

The sixth “Shiv Nath Rai Kohli memorial mid-career Best Scientist award, 2022” awarded to:

(2) Dr. Rajendra Srivastava, 

Professor, Chemistry Department, 

Indian Institute of Technology 

Ropar, Rupnagar, Punjab - 140001,India

Significant contributions: 

Dr. Rajendra Srivastava is currently working as a Professor, Chemistry Department, IIT Ropar. He joined the Department of Chemistry, IIT Ropar, as an Assistant Professor. He then joined the same department as Associate professor in 2015, headed the Department from March 2015 to May 2018. He acquired his Ph.D. degree from CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India, where his doctoral work won him the Best Thesis Award of 2006, conferred by the Catalysis Society of India. Afterward, he worked as a Postdoctoral research fellow in KAIST, South Korea (2005−2007) and as a JSPS fellow in the Hokkaido University, Japan (2007−2009). He received the NASI-SCOPUS Young Scientist Award 2017, The Catalysis Society of India Young Scientist Award 2018 and a Midcareer Faculty Research and Innovation Award 2019 by IIT Ropar. Recently, his name appeared at 5th rank (in India) and 242 ranks (world) under Physical Chemistry discipline, by the Stanford University study list of top 2% Scientists of the world. He was also featured as one of the highly cited authors from IIT Ropar, by Elsevier 2021. His fields of interest include the design and synthesis of nanostructured functional materials for catalytic applications, including photocatalysis and electrocatalysis. He has published >155 peer-reviewed articles and has been granted nine patents. 

More detail: https://www.iitrpr.ac.in/rajendra-srivastava