Top award for Hyderabad professor

Hyderabad: A professor from Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, has been awarded the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) medal in the Young Scientist category for 2017.

Dr Aravind Kumar Rengan, assistant professor in the department of biomedical engineering at IIT Hyderabad, is being recognised for having devised a novel way of nano delivery using liposomes and gold nano particles, which is useful for both imaging and therapeutics.

 Since 1974, INSA annually presents the Young Scientist Award to distinguish young scientists who have made notable research contributions in science and technology.

The INSA Young Scientists Award is considered to be the highest recognition of promise, creativity and excellence in a young scientist. Through this research, Dr Aravind was able to engineer a biodegradable nano-system for photothermal therapy of cancer and proved its in-vivo biodegradability has shown it has got immense translational potential and can be used to treat cancer in an affordable way with minimal side effects.

His research work was published in the journal of Nanoscale and Nano Letters, both being prestigious journals in nanotechnology. Dr Aravind’s entire bio-engineering research work was carried out in India, bringing credit to India in the International arena. An elated Dr Aravind, who is assistant professor in the department of biomedical engineering at IIT Hyderabad, said, “When I switched my career trajectory from clinical medicine to nanomedicine, little did I know it was going to be highly rewarding. This award is an encouragement for the good scientific work that we do in India, which is comparable to international standards.”

“I would be very happy if many more young medicos take up research as their mainstream career, which will benefit our country in the long run. I dedicate this prestigious award to my teachers, my UG and PG institutes and my supportive family which, includes IIT Hyderabad,” he said.