Gagandeep Kang Becomes First Indian Woman to Join Royal Society

She has been inducted alongside two other researchers of Indian origin – Manjul Bhargava and Akshay Venkatesh.

Gagandeep Kang, the first woman to be inducted as Royal Society Fellow

(Photo Courtesy: www.royalsociety.org/Altered By The Quint)

Biologist Dr Gagandeep Kang has become the first Indian woman to be elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society.

Kang is currently employed as the Executive Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute in Faridabad.

She has been inducted in the list alongside two other researchers of Indian origin – Manjul Bhargava and Akshay Venkatesh.

“Kang is investigating the complex relationships between infection, gut function and physical and cognitive development, and seeking to build a stronger human immunology research in India. She has established strong training programmes for students and young faculty in clinical translational medicine aiming to build a cadre of clinical researchers studying relevant problems in India,” her profile on the Royal Society website reads.

She has built national rotavirus and typhoid surveillance networks and conducted phase 1-3 trials of vaccines, which have supported two WHO pre-qualified vaccines, the website further says.

“Over the course of The Royal Society’s vast history, it is our Fellowship that has remained a constant thread and the substance from which our purpose has been realised: to use science for the benefit of humanity,” Professor Venki Ramakrishnan, the president of The Royal Society, said through a media release, while announcing the name of the 51 eminent scientists.