Sandeep Sehrawat & Pragya Gupta jointly receive Yellapragada Subba Rao GEM Award

Hyderabad: Sandeep Sehrawat and Pragya Gupta have been jointly honored with the Yellapragada Subba Rao GEM Award for Doctoral Students, sponsored by Govin Holdings. This prestigious award acknowledges their significant contributions to biomedical sciences. Sandeep's project, "BiSpekDAb An Engineered Antibody for Severe Asthma", targets and neutralizes key cytokines involved in asthma inflammation, offering a new therapeutic option that surpasses current treatments in efficacy and safety. BiSpekDAb represents a significant advancement in asthma care, with the potential to improve quality of life for millions suffering from this chronic condition.

Pragya Gupta received accolades for her research in β-thalassemia and sickle cell disease. Her work focuses on reactivating fetal hemoglobin to alleviate symptoms of these genetic disorders. By using CRISPR/Cas9 to edit specific regulatory elements of the β-globin gene, her studies have led to the development of novel cell models that show promise in reversing the disease phenotype. This innovation could lead to effective new treatments for blood disorders that currently have limited therapeutic options.

The awards not only recognise individual achievements but also underscore the broader implications of these innovations for global healthcare. The award ceremony featured Dr Jitendra Kumar, with Dr Anand Govindaluri from Govin Holdings in attendance, applauding their pioneering research and the potential it holds for advancing scientific understanding and enhancing therapeutic interventions.

FABA extends its gratitude to the sponsors of this year’s awards for their invaluable support in nurturing the next generation of scientific innovators. The selection committee, comprised of Dr. Ajith Kamath, Prof. Reddanna Pallu, Dr Uday Saxena, Dr Ranjan Chakrabarti, Dr Suresh Poosala, Dr Surya Sankuratri, Dr Sharmishta Banerjee, and Dr Venkateswarlu Akella, has brought over 250 years of combined experience to the judging process, ensuring the high standards of the awards are maintained.