Flash255 at 06:24, 31 October 2025

2025-10-31T06:24:13Z

New page

{{Short description|Indian virologist (born 1956)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=July 2018}}
{{Infobox scientist
| name = Akhil Chandra Banerjea
| image =
| alt =
| caption =
| birth_date = {{birth year and age|1956}}
| birth_place = [[West Bengal]], India
| death_date =
| death_place =
| fields = {{ublist | [[Molecular biology]] | [[Biochemistry]] }}
| workplaces = {{ublist | [[National Institutes of Health]] | [[National Institute of Immunology, India]] }}
| alma_mater = {{ublist | [[Gorakhpur University]] | [[G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology|G. B. Pant University]] | [[National Institute of Virology]] | [[Savitribai Phule Pune University]] | [[Duke University Hospital]] | [[Colorado State University]] }}
| doctoral_advisor = {{ublist | }}
| doctoral_students =
| known_for = Studies on [[viral pathogenesis]] and [[gene therapy]]
| awards = {{ublist| 2001 [[National Bioscience Award for Career Development|N-BIOS Prize]] | 2016 [[Indian National Science Academy|INSA]] | [[Department of Biotechnology|DBT]] National Foreign-Assocaiateship | [[Indian Council of Medical Research|ICMR]] Shakuntala Amir Chand Award }}
}}
'''Akhil Chandra Banerjea''' (born 1956) is an Indian virologist and is currently the Director at Institute of Advanced Virology, Kerala. He was earlier an emeritus Scientist at the [[National Institute of Immunology, India]]. Known for his studies on [[viral pathogenesis]] and [[gene therapy]], Banerjea is an elected fellow of the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]] and the [[Indian National Science Academy]]. The [[Department of Biotechnology]] of the Government of India awarded him the [[National Bioscience Award for Career Development]], one of the highest Indian science awards, for his contributions to biosciences in 2001.<ref name="Awardees of National Bioscience Awards for Career Development">{{Cite web |url=http://dbtindia.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/list_of_bioscience_awardees.pdf |title=Awardees of National Bioscience Awards for Career Development |date=2016 |publisher=Department of Biotechnology |access-date=2017-11-20 |archive-date=4 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180304191331/http://dbtindia.nic.in/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/list_of_bioscience_awardees.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Biography ==
[[File:VC Office building Pantnagar.JPG|thumb|left|G. B. Pant University]]
Akhil C. Banerjea, born in 1956<ref name="NASI fellows">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=K |title=NASI fellows |date=2017-11-12 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India |access-date=2017-11-12 |archive-date=15 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315081652/http://nasi.org.in/fellows.asp?RsFilter=K |url-status=dead }}</ref> in the Indian state of [[West Bengal]], did his under-graduate studies at [[Gorakhpur University]]<ref name="Indian fellow">{{Cite web |url=http://insaindia.res.in/detail/P12-1567 |title=Indian fellow |date=2017-10-21 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=2017-10-22 |archive-date=4 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171204223005/http://insaindia.res.in/detail/P12-1567 |url-status=dead }}</ref> and after earning a BSc, he continued his studies at [[G. B. Pant University of Agriculture and Technology]] to obtain a master's degree (MSc).<ref name="Akhil C. Banerjea - faculty profile">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nii.res.in/research/akhil-c-banerjea |title=Akhil C. Banerjea - faculty profile |date=2017-11-29 |website=National Institute of Immunology |access-date=2017-11-29}}</ref> Subsequently, he joined [[National Institute of Virology]] for his doctoral research in [[virology]] which earned him a PhD from [[Savitribai Phule Pune University]]. His post-doctoral work was in the US where he did research at [[Duke University Hospital]], simultaneously working as an assistant professor from 1984 to 1990 and spent the next four years (1990–94) at the [[National Institutes of Health]] as a senior staff fellow.<ref name="Indian fellow" /> On his return to India, he joined the [[National Institute of Immunology, India|National Institute of Immunology]] and chaired the department of virology for a while. After superannuation from service, he continues his association with the institute as an emeritus Scientist.<ref name="Akhil C. Banerjea - faculty profile" /> In between, he had a two-year stint at Colorado State University as a visiting professor during 2002–04.<ref name="Indian fellow" />

== Legacy ==
Banerjea's research has been focusing on [[HIV/AIDS]] with special emphasis on the [[pathogenesis]], host-gene interactions and the genetic as well as the functional characterization of [[HIV-1]].<ref name="Akhil C. Banerjea - faculty profile" /> He worked on developing catalytic nucleic acids for antiviral uses and later, at [[Colorado State University]], his research was centered around conversion of [[Small interfering RNA]] (siRNA) into stem cells which was reported inn 2003 by ''[[The New York Times]]''; the approach was subsequently put on clinical trial in the US.<ref name="Indian fellow" /> He has also worked on the effect of lentiviral vectors, stem cells, catalytic nucleic acids and siRNA for developing gene therapy against HIV/AIDS as well as the study of host or viral genes in understanding the HIV/AIDS pathogenesis. His studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and [[ResearchGate]], an online repository of scientific articles, has listed 103 of them.<ref name="On ResearchGate">{{Cite web |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Akhil_Banerjea |title=On ResearchGate |date=2017-11-23 |access-date=2017-11-23}}</ref> He has delivered key note or invited speeches at seminars and conferences at places such as [[Albert Einstein College of Medicine]], [[Duke University]], [[University of California, Los Angeles]], [[National Cancer Institute]], [[Drexel University]] and [[National University of Singapore]]. He has also mentored many research scholars in their studies.<ref name="Indian fellow" />

== Awards and honors ==
The [[Department of Biotechnology]] of the Government of India awarded Banerjea the [[National Bioscience Award for Career Development]], one of the highest Indian science awards in 2001.<ref name="Awardees of National Bioscience Awards for Career Development" /> The same year, he was elected as a fellow by the [[National Academy of Sciences, India]].<ref name="NASI Year Book 2015">{{Cite web |url=http://www.nasi.org.in/Year%20Book%202015.pdf |title=NASI Year Book 2015 |date=2017-11-24 |publisher=National Academy of Sciences, India |access-date=2017-11-24 |archive-date=6 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150806211716/http://www.nasi.org.in/Year%20Book%202015.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> He is also a recipient of the National Foreign-Associateship of the Department of Biotechnology and the Shakuntala Amir Chand Award of the [[Indian Council of Medical Research]].<ref name="WebmedCentral Editor">{{Cite web |url=https://www.webmedcentral.com/wmc_editor_details/2877 |title=WebmedCentral Editor |date=2017-12-04 |website=WebmedCentral |access-date=2017-12-04}}</ref> The [[Indian National Science Academy]] elected him as a fellow in 2012;<ref name="INSA Year Book 2016">{{Cite web |url=http://www.insaindia.res.in/pdf/YearBook_2016.pdf |title=INSA Year Book 2016 |date=2017-11-26 |publisher=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=2017-11-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161104001952/http://www.insaindia.res.in/pdf/YearBook_2016.pdf |archive-date=4 November 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> INSA would honor him again in 2016 with the Senior Scientist Award.<ref name="INSA Senior Scientist Award">{{Cite web |url=https://insaindia.res.in/name1.php |title=INSA Senior Scientist Award |date=2017-12-04 |website=Indian National Science Academy |access-date=2017-12-04 |archive-date=12 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220112121310/https://www.insaindia.res.in/name1.php |url-status=dead }}</ref>

== Selected bibliography ==
* {{Cite journal |author=Swagata Roy |author2=Nidhi Gupta |author3=Nithya Subramanian |author4=Tanmoy Mondal |author5=Akhil Chandra Banerjea |author6=Saumitra Das |title=Sequence-specific cleavage of hepatitis C virus RNA by DNAzymes: inhibition of viral RNA translation and replication |journal= Journal of General Virology |date=2008 |volume=89 |issue=7 |pages=1579–1586 |doi=10.1099/vir.0.83650-0|pmid=18559927 |doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal |vauthors=Lata S, Ali A, Sood V, Raja R, Banerjea AC|title=HIV-1 Rev downregulates Tat expression and viral replication via modulation of NAD(P)H:quinine oxidoreductase 1 (NQO1) |journal=Nat. Commun. |date=2015 |volume=6 |issue=7244 |article-number=7244 |doi=10.1038/ncomms8244|pmid=26059226 |bibcode=2015NatCo...6.7244L |doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal |author=Rameez Raja |author2=Larance Ronsard |author3=Sneh Lata |author4=Shubhendu Trivedi |author5=Akhil C. Banerjea |title=HIV-1 Tat potently stabilises Mdm2 and enhances viral replication |journal=Biochem. J. |date=2017 |volume=474 |issue=14 |pages= 2449–2464 |doi=10.1042/BCJ20160825
|pmid=28468838 |pmc=5509382 }}
* {{Cite journal |author=Larance Ronsard |author2=Tripti Rai |author3=Devesh Rai |author4=Vishnampettai G Ramachandran |author5=Akhil C Banerjea |title=In silico Analyses of Subtype Specific HIV-1 Tat-TAR RNA Interaction Reveals the Structural Determinants for Viral Activity |journal=Front Microbiol |date=2017 |volume=8 |issue=8 |pages= 1467 |doi=10.3389/fmicb.2017.01467|pmid=28848502 |pmc=5550727 |doi-access=free }}
* {{Cite journal |author=Larance Ronsard |author2=Nilanjana Ganguli |author3=Vivek K Singh |author4=Kumaravel Mohankumar |author5=Tripti Rai |author6=Subhashree Sridharan |author7=Sankar Pajaniradje |author8=Binod Kumar |author9=Devesh Rai |author10=Suhnrita Chaudhuri |author11=Mohane S Coumar |author12=Vishnampettai G Ramachandran |author13=Akhil C Banerjea |title=Impact of Genetic Variations in HIV-1 Tat on LTR-Mediated Transcription via TAR RNA Interaction |journal=Front Microbiol |date=2017 |volume=8 |issue=8 |pages= 706 |doi=10.3389/fmicb.2017.00706|pmid=28484443 |pmc=5399533|doi-access=free }}

== See also ==
* [[RNA interference]]
* [[Gene knockdown]]
{{Portal|India|Biology|Medicine}}

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
* {{Cite book |url=https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Banerjea%20AC%5BAuthor%5D&cauthor=true&cauthor_uid=28468838 |title=A. C. Banerja on PubMed |date=1 December 2017 |publisher=US National Library of Medicine |access-date=1 December 2017}}

{{N-BIOS Laureates 1999–2009}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Banerjea, Akhil Chandra}}
[[Category:N-BIOS Prize recipients]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian biologists]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Scientists from West Bengal]]
[[Category:Fellows of the Indian National Science Academy]]
[[Category:Indian molecular biologists]]
[[Category:Fellows of the National Academy of Sciences, India]]
[[Category:Indian virologists]]
[[Category:Deen Dayal Upadhyay Gorakhpur University alumni]]
[[Category:Savitribai Phule Pune University alumni]]

Akhil Chandra Banerjea - Revision history

Flash255 at 06:24, 31 October 2025