Global-NAMRIP member Ravi Kant wins Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation award

A Global NAMRIP award-winner from the University of Delhi has received an award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Ravi Kant, a senior research fellow working at Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research (ACBR, University of Delhi), has received an award from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to present his research findings aimed at combating the global challenge of Antibiotic resistance in pathogenic Neisseria at an International conference held in Cape Town, South Africa (9th-14th October).

Ravi, a Senior Research Fellow of the Indian Council Of Medical Research (ICMR), had previously won a Global-NAMRIP award to support his research from a competition hosted at Global-NAMRIP's first virtual conference (17 June 2021) for his work ' Combating the global AMR challenge by targeting Glutamate racemase (MurI) from the cell wall biosynthesis pathway of Neisseria gonorrhoeae : A computational approach '.

Ravi notes that the emergence of antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, including Neisseria gonorrhoeae , has challenged the efficacy of almost all available antibiotics:

“ N. gonorrhoeae is a Gram-negative bacterium involved in several sexually transmitted infections such as gonorrhoea, neonatrum blindness, infection of  the mucous membranes of the reproductive tract, including cervix, uterus, and fallopian tubes in women, and the urethra in women and men. This pathogen has been identified as a “superbug” by the World Health Organization” said Ravi.

Ravi’s research studies were carried out under the supervision of Prof. Daman Saluja (Director, ACBR), with the computational component supervised by Prof. Madhu Chopra (specialized in Computational Drug Discovery). His research has won him a string of awards, including Young Investigator Award from India & Southeast Asia, Young Scientist Award, Young Investigator Award, Outstanding Researcher Award, and Travel Awards from Department of Biotechnology, Government of India, The International Society of Infectious Diseases, The Asia Pacific Society of Infectious Disease, International Union of Sexually Transmitted Infection (allowing him to present in United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, South Korea, Singapore and Thailand).