Prof. Bharat B Chattoo
Prof Bharat B Chattoo (b.25th May 1951 - 15th Nov 2017), a JC Bose National Fellow,[1] was a scientist of global repute, specialising in the field of Biotechnology, Genomics and Proteomics.
Prof Chattoo was responsible for establishment of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University, Jammu, as the Founding Vice-Chancellor[2], between August 19, 2001 and August 31, 2004 right from the initial conceptualisation stage.
This university which began its academic programmes in 2004 was established under an Act of the Jammu & Kashmir legislature as a residential and highly technical university.
Initial Years
Bharat was born in post-independence India, to Pt Shivjee Nath Chattoo and Smt Jaya Chattoo, residents of Ali Kadal, Srinagar, India. After initial years of home schooling under the guidance of his father, maternal uncles and cousins, Bharat proceeded to complete his BSc (1968) and MSc(1971) from the University of Jammu and Kashmir,India. He then completed his PhD in the field of Microbial Genetics from the University of Delhi in 1976.
Prof Chattoo was then appointed the Co-ordinator at the Centre of Biosciences, at the University of Roorkee (Now Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee). In 1982 Prof Chattoo had a brief stint at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, India.
Thereafter, later that year, Prof Chattoo moved overseas to Basel, where he was associated with the Frederich Meischer Institute for Biomedical Research and Ciba-Geigy (Now Novartis).
In 1986 Prof Chattoo moved back to India and joined the academia, taking up a position at the prestigious Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara, Gujarat.
The Academic Life
In 1986 he joined the M S University (MSU) of Baroda as Professor and became Head of the Department of Microbiology (1996–2001) and the Director of Centre for Genome Research of the University (Now renamed as the Dr Bharat Chattoo Genome Research Centre)[3] ,since 2001.
The Biotechnology Centre at MSU is widely regarded as one of the leading schools in biotechnology in the country with its alumni occupying responsible positions in academia and industry in India and abroad. Over 25 students have completed their Ph D and around 200 students completed their M Sc dissertation projects under his supervision during the past few decades at MSU.
From August 2001 to 2004 he also took responsibility as the Founding Vice-Chancellor of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (Jammu) to conceptualize and establish the new University, at Katra, near Jammu.
In the meantime, at Baroda he established a Cluster Innovation Centre to encourage the interface of industry and entrepreneurship in Gujarat.[4]
His laboratory has successfully expressed therapeutic proteins of pharmaceutical interest such as Hepatitis B surface antigen and human epidermal growth factor in non-conventional yeasts and transferred the know-how to the industry.
He received the National Technology award at the Technology Day Programme on 11 May 2001 from the Vice President of India for transfer of technologies to the industry. He was awarded the Rockefeller Foundation Biotechnology career fellowship and the STA fellowship from Japan Science and Technology Corporation.
His active research collaborations included Federal Institute of Technology (ETH), Zurich (for bioprocess development, reactor design, bioprocess control and automation under Indo-Swiss Collaboration in Biotechnology); International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), Salk Institute, La Jolla, San Diego, The John Innes Institute, Norwich ; Weizmann Institute of Science (for cooperation in bioinformatics sponsored by UNESCO and DBT, GoI and Indian industrial partners); University of Leeds and the Weizmann Institute of Science; the Rice Genome Programme, Tsukuba (for molecular mapping and genome analysis in rice), National Institute of Bioscience and Human Technology, Tsukuba; Tel-Aviv University, Israel.
He served on several expert committees of the Government of India and was a member of the Gujarat Biotechnology Council.
Prof Chattoo was the team leader of the first Indian team that participated in the International Biology Olympiad held at Antalya, Turkey in 2000.
Awards and Fellowships
He has been awarded a Centre of Excellence and Innovation under the Category of ‘Outstanding Scientist Research Programme in Biotechnology’, by the Department of Biotechnology, New Delhi in 2009.
Recipient of Acharya J. C. Bose National Fellowship from the Department of Science and Technology 2009.
Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 on behalf of an International Rice Blast Research Community, in Korea.
He received the National Technology award at the Technology Day Programme on 11 May 2001[5][6] from the Vice President of India for transfer of technologies to the industry.
He was awarded the Rockefeller Foundation Biotechnology career fellowship and the STA fellowship from Japan Science and Technology Corporation.
A Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA)[7], New Delhi;
A Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc), Bengaluru;
A Fellow of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences (NAAS)[8], New Delhi;
A Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India (NASI)[9], Allahabad;
An Elected Member of the Guha Research Conference (GRC)
An Elected Member of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS)[1]
A Member of the Genetics Society of America, International Society of Plant Molecular Biology, American Society of Microbiology, Society of Biological Chemists-India, National Science Foundation Bi-national (US-Israel) Grants Review Panel, Review Panel of Swiss National Science Foundation, Review Panel of Indo-Swedish Collaboration in Biotechnology,
On the Board of Governors of Vikram A. Sarabhai Community Science Centre Society[10]-Ahmedabad,
Chair of Expert Advisory Committee for the Biotechnology Initiatives of the State Government of Gujarat, Gujarat Biotechnology Council[11], Governing Council of Gujarat Biotechnology Mission, Society of Cell Biology, etc
Coordinator and senior member of the NAAC[12]
- ^ "MSU professor bags JC Bose fellowship - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ "http://eindia.eletsonline.com/2012/prof-bharat-bhushan-chattoo-founder-vice-chancellor-shri-mata-vaishno-devi-university/". eindia.eletsonline.com. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
{{cite web}}: External link in|title= - ^ "Dr. Chattoo's Introduction". www.bcmsu.ac.in. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ "MSU to set up cluster innovation centre - Times of India". The Times of India. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ "Dr. Chattoo's Introduction". www.bcmsu.ac.in. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ "Dr. B.B. Chattoo Award". www.bcmsu.ac.in. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ "Fellowship | Indian Academy of Sciences". www.ias.ac.in. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ "NAAS Fellow List".
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "The National Academy of Sciences, India - Fellows". www.nasi.org.in. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ "VASCSC". www.vascsc.org. Retrieved 2017-10-30.
- ^ "Gujarat Biotech Council" (PDF).
{{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter:|dead-url=(help) - ^ "PeerTeam Visits | Welcome to National Assessment and Accreditation Council". www.naac.gov.in. Retrieved 2017-10-30.