On February 28, 2020, Prof T P Singh was conferred with the SASTRA – G. N. Ramachandran Award for Excellence – 2020. He has now got all G.N. Ramachandran Awards of our country including Dr. G.N. Ramachandran Award of the Kerala State Council of Science, Technology and Environment in the year 2017, Professor G.N. Ramachandran-Born day Lecture Award of the Central University of Haryana in the year, 2016, Professor G.N. Ramachandran Lecture Award of the Society of Biological Chemists of India in the year 2015, Professor G.N. Ramachandran CSIR Gold Medal for the Excellence in Biological Sciences and Technology in the year 2006 and Professor G.N. Ramachandran 60th Birthday Commemoration INSA Medal in the year 2006.
Profile
Prof.T.P.Singh is a scientific leader who has made noteworthy contributions in the field of Rational Structure based drug design, Protein Structure biology and X-ray crystallography. He has established the research programmes on protein structure determination and structure-based rational drug design at All India Institute of Medical Sciences, where he leads a vibrant scientific group. He has consistently demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities from the beginning of his career, when the country was still in its infancy in the areas of molecular biology, protein crystallography and drug design. He has made exceptional contributions and led the nation to the point where India can boast of standing among the first in the world, where the number of protein structures determined are concerned. Despite several challenges in terms of infrastructure and facilities over the years, he has created a scientific hub in the form of an active research group which as a nucleus, has produced not only significant scientific results and discoveries but has also created new group leaders who have branched out and created many more scientific core groups in the nation. He has published more than 400 research papers in leading international journals.
He has also mentored more than 100 MSc, PhD, MD and Post-Doc students who are currently independent group leaders in leading scientific institutions in various parts of the country. He has made significant collaborations with other academic institutions as well as industry partners all over the country. He has been nominated as a fellow of six national and international academies, namely, The World Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences, Indian Academy of Sciences, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation and Biotech Research Society of India.
In addition to the Ramachandran medals, he has been awarded various national and international awards over the years, for instance, the Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Lecture Award of INSA (2011), Annual Award of the Instrumentation Society of India (2011), CSIR Foundation Day Lecture award (2010), Goyal Prize in Life Sciences (2007), Sir J. C. Bose Memorial Award of the Indian Sciences (2006), K.K. Foundation award for Science and Technology (2001), Canadian Development agency Award (1991), Humboldt – Foundation Fellowship Award (1978). Additionally, he has served as a Vice President (Foreign Affairs) in the Indian National Science Academy.
Work
The three-dimensional structures of atleast 30 classes of proteins including enzymes from the multi drug resistant bacteria Acinetobacter baumannii, lactoferrins from several species, lactoperoxidases from different mammalian species, peptidoglycan recognition proteins, hyaluronidase lyases, peptidyl-tRNA hydrolases, ribosome inactivating proteins and its complex with a natural ligands from parasitic plant mistletoe and other plants, bifunctional inhibitor proteins from various plant sources and several serine proteases and their inhibitors have been determined in his laboratory. The elaborate structural studies of proteins from several important systems which are important potential drug targets such as phospholipases A2 (PLA2), cyclooxygenases (COX-2), lipoxygenases (LOX), endothelin receptor, endothelin converting enzyme, mammary gland/breast cancer regression proteins and matrix melanosomal proteins as well as their complexes with natural and designed synthetic ligands, recent proteins such as lactoperoxidase, hyaluronidase enzyme, peptidyl-tRNA hydrolases and TIM barrel based inhibitor proteins are being carried out.
Education and Early Years
Prof. Tej P. Singh obtained his M.Sc. degree with first rank from University of Allahabad. He started his research career in 1971 as a Ph.D. student at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore under the supervision of Professor M.Vijayan. He obtained his Ph. D degree in the mid 70’s working on X-ray crystallographic structure determinations. Soon after obtaining his Ph.D. degree, he worked for a year as a lecturer at the University of Indore. He then spent more than two years (1978–1980) as an Alexander von Humboldt / Max-Planck, post doctoral fellow in the German laboratory of Professor Robert Huber, who later received the Nobel Prize in 1988. After his return to India he worked as a reader at Sardar Patel University (1980–83) and an additional professor (1984–85) in the Department of Biophysics at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He was appointed professor and head of the department in 1986.
Quotes from his students
Imitiyaaz Hassan and Pradeep Sharma said, Prof. Tej P. Singh has been a dream mentor and guiding light to his students. He is a person who leads by example and inspires everyone to work hard with dedication and devotion. He always has words of encouragement to lift the moral of students whenever they are struggling with difficult projects. He has inculcated in his students a great deal of scientific temperament by his analytical approach to scientific problems, sharp intelligence, and investigative approach. Prof Singh’s intellectual contributions, along with his magnanimous personality and humble nature, makes him a rare scientist and a leader whose influence and impact will be felt for generations to come.
Comments from the Biotech Research Society, India BRSI
BRSI is overwhelmed to announce that Prof TP Singh, President of BRSI has been conferred G. N. Ramachandran Award for excellence in Physics instituted by SASTRA which carries a cash prize of Rs 5.00 lakh and a citation and was presented on February 28, 2020 at SASTRA Campus in Thanjavur.
Prof. Tej P. Singh is currently SERB Distinguished Fellow at the Department of Biophysics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. His main research fields include Structural Biology, Biological Crystallography, Protein Structure Determination and Peptide Design; Rational Structure Based Drug Design. He is known for his work in the fields of Rational Structure-based drug design, Protein Structure biology and X-ray crystallography. He has played an active role in the development of drug design in the fields of Antibacterial therapeutics, Tuberculosis, Inflammation, Cancer and Gastropathy. The three-dimensional structures of various proteins including lactoperoxidase, peptidoglycan recognition protein, lactoferrin from several species, ribosome inactivating proteins, bifunctional inhibitor proteins from plant seeds and various serine proteases and their inhibitors have been determined by his group. The elaborate structural studies of proteins from several important systems as potential drug targets such as phospholipase A2, cyclooxygenase, lipoxygenase, endothelin receptor, endothelin converting enzyme, breast cancer regression proteins and matrix metanosomal proteins as well as their complexes with natural and designed synthetic ligands have been carried out. He had developed the rules of peptide design with alpha, beta – dehydro – amino acids through extensive studies using syntheses, and X-ray and NMR structure determinations. These design rules are being exploited for making specific peptides to act as tight inhibitors of target enzymes and potent antagonists of target receptors for eventually leading to useful therapeutic agents.
He initiated a new programme on Clinical Proteomics at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in which it is intended to characterize all the proteins that are expressed during various patho/physiological conditions. The newly identified proteins will either be useful as biomarkers or they may be associated with the progression of diseases making them important targets for drug design.
Prof Singh is one of most outstanding scientist in India and contributed significantly for the growth of science and society through his dedicated efforts. He is Fellow of the Biotech Research Society, India, Third World Academy of Sciences, Indian National Science Academy, National Academy of Sciences, Indian Academy of Sciences, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation. Prof Singh has been decorated with a large number of awards and honors which include Distinguished Professorship of the University of Mysore, Distinguished Lecture Award of the A.P. Science Congress, Professor D.M. Bose Memorial Award of the Bose Institute, Kolkata, Thathachari Memorial Science Award for Science and Technology, Jawaharlal Nehru Birth Centenary Lecture Award of INSA, Annual Award of the Instrumentation Society of India, Doctor of Science, D.Sc. (h.c.) conferred by Karnataka State Open University, Mysore, CSIR Foundation Day Lecture award, Goyal Prize in Life Sciences, Professor G.N. Ramachandran CSIR Gold Medal for Excellence in Biological Sciences and Technology, Professor G.N. Ramachandran 60th Birthday Commemoration INSA Medal, Sir J. C. Bose Memorial Award of the Indian Sciences – Congress, K.K. Foundation award for Science and Technology, Canadian Development agency Award, etc.
We congratulate Prof TP Singh, the President of the Biotech Research Society, India for this prestigious award.
