Gujar Mal Modi Award 2013 in Delhi on Aug. 9

Report by Santanu Ganguly, New Delhi: The Gujar Mal Modi Foundation, arranging the Award ceremony of Gujar Mal Modi Award for Innovative Science & Technology, 2013 on August 9, 2013 in New Delhi. This year the award will be conferred upon Dr. Vinod Prakash Sharma for his outstanding contribution in the field of basic and applied research on Malaria and vector Biology, which means malaria research, control and prevention, including other vector borne diseases. Hon’ble Minister for Ministry of Science and Technology, Mr. S. Jaipal Reddy will be the Chief Guest of the event.

Details of the event:

Event: Gujar Mal Modi Award for Innovative Science & Technology, 2013

Awardee: Dr. Vinod Prakash Sharma

Chief Guest: Mr. S. Jaipal Reddy, Hon’ble Minister for Ministry of Science and Technology

Date: August 09, 2013 (Friday)

Time: 6 PM

Venue: Shri Sathya Sai Auditorium, Lodhi Road, New Delhi - 110003

Please find attached the profile of Dr. Sharma.

PS: Please contact us if you are interested in interviewing Dr Sharma.

We will be sending the invitation card at your office. Request you to please carry the invitation card along with your press card owing to security reasons.

The Gujar Mal Modi Innovative Science and Technology Award is among the highest cash awards in the country in the field of Science and Technology. The award was instituted in 1988 in the memory of one of the great industrialists of India, late Rai Bahadur Gujar Mal Modi. It is given each year to a person who has demonstrated the qualities of excellence and innovation through outstanding research and providing leadership in the development and promotion of Science and Technology in India.

Dr. Vinod Prakash Sharma, a scientist of international repute, born on 6th April 1938 in Bulandshahr district, Uttar Pradesh, had his early education in UP and did his M.Sc. in 1960; D.Phil. in 1964; and D.Sc. in 1979 all from Allahabad University. He was Post Doctoral Research Associate, University of Notre Dame and Purdue University, USA (1965-1968); Pool Officer, Forest Research Institute, Dehradun (1969-1970); Senior Scientist WHO/ICMR Unit on Genetic Control of Mosquitoes, New Delhi (1970-1975). Dr Sharma was Deputy Director Vector Control Research Centre/Malaria Research Centre (1975-1982). He was appointed Director, Malaria Research Centre now National Institute of Malaria Research (NIMR), and as its Founder Director (1982-1998) he laid the foundation of basic and applied research for prevention and control of malaria in the country. He superannuated in 1998 as the Additional Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research.

Dr. Sharma is a fellow of all the three science academies i.e. Indian National Science Academy, New Delhi (INSA); Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS), Bangalore; National Academy of Sciences, India (FNASc), National Academy of Medical Sciences (FAMS), Third World Academy of Sciences (FTWAS), and Fellow of several other learned societies. He is considered an authority on Malaria & Vector Biology. He has 40 years of research and field experience, and has published about 400 scientific papers with high impact factor, and several books. Under his leadership NIMR had earned international reputation of excellence in malaria research and control, and established linkages with the leading national and international laboratories. His research papers have high citation index. He has translated some of his scientific contributions in two books in Hindi on “Malaria” and “Dengue and Chikengunya”.

Dr. Sharma conceptualized a novel bioenvironmental malaria control strategy as an alternative to spraying chemicals and successfully demonstrated malaria control in various eco-epidemiological settings. Dr Sharma’s work has become legendry. As a result of his indefatigable efforts today we have technologies to fight malaria which are environmentally safe, cost effective, produce sustainable impact on the society and are free from ecological hazards that are often associated with DDT and other insecticides.
He was invited to work on various WHO panels since 1980s. He was Chair, WHO/UNEP/FAO Panel of Experts on Environmental Management (PEEM) for Vector Control (two 5 yr terms). WHO invited him to write/review Global Fund for AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM) proposals for South East Asia Regional countries i.e., Indonesia, Timor Leste, Myanmar, Bhutan, Bangladesh, India; and for Sierra Leone by one NGO. He was the principal architect for writing World Bank and other projects for the Indian Programme in malaria control. He chaired review committees of the NMEP, Nepal, Bhutan, Thailand, and is involved in the evaluation of the countries capabilities to proceed towards malaria elimination. He was actively associated with developing malaria control strategies which have converged to become important component of the WHO’s Malaria Elimination strategy. He had been WHO Temporary Adviser for a number of meetings in Geneva and New Delhi. He represented India on the Scientific Committee on the Problems of the Environment, Paris (SCOPE) for nearly 20 years and later elected as the executive member of the SCOPE. In that capacity he coordinated the “Health and Environment” cluster of the SCOPE.

He was President, The National Academy of Sciences, India, (1999-2000); Indian Society for Parasitology (1993-1997); National Academy of Vectors and Vector Borne Diseases (1979-2008), Chief Editor, Indian Journal of Malariology, and currently Chief Editor; Journal of Parasitic Diseases of the Indian Society for Parasitology and the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, India, Section B Biological Sciences. He was Council Member of the International Congress of Entomology, U.K. (2 terms), Member WHO Expert Committee on Malaria, Geneva (3 terms).

He is the recipient of several National and international awards/honours. Some of these are: the Distinguished Parasitologist by World Parasitologist Federation 2010; Darling Foundation Prize, World Health Organization, Geneva 1999; Padam Shree 1992; Inventions award 1971; Chancellor's best student Bronze Medal, Agra University 1958; Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) MOT Iyengar Award 1990 and B.R. Ambedkar Centenary Award 2000; Om Prakash Bhasin Award 1985; Ranbaxy Award 1990; M.L. Gupta Trust Award 1989. Federation of Indian Chambers Commerce and Industry (FICCI) Cash Award 1998. Vasvik Award 2001; Green Scientist Award 2001; Dr. R.V. Rajam Oration Award 1987; Best Scientist Award 1995; Dr. U.S. Srivastava Memorial Lecture Award 2002; G.P. Chatterjee Memorial Award of Indian Science Congress Association 2003-2004; B.N. Singh Oration Award Gold Medal 1990; Life Long Contributions in Public Health ISMOCD Oration Award 2001; Life Time Achievement award 2005; and many other awards.

He was Meghnad Saha Distinguished Fellow (2005-2010), and presently he is NASI Distinguished Professor and ICMR Chair in Public Health Research (2010-2015) at the Indian Institute of Technology, New Delhi. His contributions in the National Academy of Sciences have culminated into successful programmes with significant impact on society. He is spearheading the “Safe Water” campaign of the National Academy of Sciences, India launched during the Year of Science. His team is currently developing action oriented plan of “Safe Water for all” in Bundelkhand Region. His work on popularization of science, creating awareness and science education programmes of NASI are widely appreciated including in very remote areas. For almost four decades Dr. V.P. Sharma has dedicated himself towards research, promotion and application of science and technology leaving an everlasting effect.