Personal Life
Year of Birth: 1956
Education
Navin Chandra Khanna obtained BSc (1977) and MSc (1977) from Lucknow University. He was awarded a Ph.D. (1983), in the area of medical sciences from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi. He worked as an Alberta Heritage Foundation Fellow at the University of Calgary Canada with Professor David M Waisman in the area of cell regulation (1984-1988) and further trained as a Post Graduate Biologist studying signal transduction with Professor Richard Firtel at Univ of California at San Diego (1988-90). He worked as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of California at Irvine (1990-91). He returned to India and joined as a group leader at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, in New Delhi (1991-2018). For over 26 years at ICGEB, he has been engaged in the design and expression of novel recombinant proteins of medical use at ICGEB. He is also an Adjunct Professor at the School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, USA. He is an adjunct faculty at the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad.
Career
Dr. Navin Khanna is a Senior Scientist and Group Leader of the Recombinant Gene Products Laboratory at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi. He is also an adjunct professor at the Translational Health Sciences and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad. Dr. Khanna holds a Doctoral Degree in Biochemistry from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi. He was an Alberta Heritage Foundation Fellow at the University of Calgary, Canada. He worked as a PostGraduate Research Biologist at the Center for Molecular Genetics, University of California San Diego (UCSD), and later as a Research Assistant Professor at the University of California Irvine (UCI). For the past twenty years, Dr. Khanna has been working on genetically engineered bio-molecules of medical use at ICGEB, New Delhi. Several diagnostics kits have been successfully commercialized through his research efforts. At present, his major research activities are focused on the development of experimental Dengue tetravalent subunit vaccines in yeasty
Academic and Research Achievements
Dr. Khanna’s research focused in the area of recombinant proteins of medical use. The “know-how” developed by him has resulted in developing over 20 diagnostic kits, for various viral infections, like Dengue, HIV, HCV, and HBV. These highly affordable and high-performing diagnostic kits are being sold in over 40 countries. His research outcome has resulted in the signing of 2 commercial agreements between ICGEB and Sun Pharma for the clinical development of the world’s first botanical drug against dengue and a yeast-based dengue subunit vaccine candidate for global use. His novel approach may be a game-changer for the dengue vaccine that has remained elusive for several decades. He has published over 150 research articles in different national and international journals of repute and has contributed to >10 patent applications.
Other Contributions
As a Group Leader at ICGEB and conforming to the spirit of Make in India, Dr. Khanna’s noteworthy contribution in the field of medical diagnostics has helped Indian companies to make a global footprint. His work has made a significant impact on public health and has led to several tie-ups with diagnostic companies like Tulip, J Mitra, XCyton, etc. His contributions have made Indian companies become exporters of diagnostic kits. The World Health Organization purchases these highly affordable and high-performing Indian diagnostic kits, for their programs in several developing countries.
Awards and Honours
Dr. Khanna is a recipient of several awards and honors including the Anjani Mashelkar innovation award (2017), Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India, Scientist Award (2015), Om Prakash Bhasin Foundation Award in Biotechnology (2013), Ranbaxy Research Award in Pharmaceutical Sciences, by Ranbaxy Science Foundation (2012), Biotech Commercialization Award by Department of Biotechnology, Govt. of India (2011), VASVIK Industrial Research Award in Biological Science and Technology (2007). He is a Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (2016) and a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences (2015). He is an adjunct professor at the School of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, USA, and an adjunct faculty at THSTI, Faridabad.
