Research

Main areas of research: Molecular infection biology, host-pathogen interaction, tuberculosis, drug resistant tuberculosis, Functional Molecular Epidemiology of Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Seyed E. Hasnain is a microbiologist whose main research interest lies in the field of molecular infection biology. He earlier provided important insights into pathogen‐host interaction within the framework of baculovirus infections in insect cells. In other work he researched the epidemiology of tuberculosis pathogens (mycobacterium tuberculosis).

Baculoviruses enter insect larvae by being ingested in their food and result in the death of the insect. As a consequence, these viruses have great importance in biological pest control methods. Seyed E. Hasnain researched the overexpression of genes in the baculovirus expression system and the role played by host factors in this process. His insights made a significant contribution to the understanding of the mechanism of overexpression. Baculoviruses are used as expression systems in genetic engineering. Interferon and Interleukin 2 are examples of components commercially produced by means of genetic engineering for use in medicines, including a candidate malaria vaccine. His earlier collaborative work on HBV generated some novel findings with clinical applications.

Studying the dissemination dynamics, using genetic typing of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (M.tb) isolates from India, Hasnain’s group showed the presence of ancestral isolates as the predominant form circulating in India which could explain the lack of concordance between bacterial load and disease burden in the Indian population. Functional characterization of M.tb hypothetical PE/PPE protein family revealed their importance as diagnostics, vaccine candidates and drug targets. Other areas of Seyed E. Hasnain ́s work include an emphasis on the genetic foundations of antimicrobial drug resistance in the mycobacterium tuberculosis pathogen. In addition, he was able to identify new antigenetic substances in the pathogen. His tuberculosis research with regard to the PE/PPE gene family has led to new molecular targets for medicines. These results are important because there are increasingly more drug‐resistant tuberculosis bacteria strains (MDR, XDR, TDR) as well as a greater incidence of cases of multi‐resistant tuberculosis that are resistant to both of the leading antituberculosis medicines. Seyed E. Hasnain hopes to gain greater insight into the disease’s mechanisms so he can develop new therapies.

Seyed E. Hasnain and his team have sequenced another mycobacterium that is being used in the treatment of leprosy and named it as Mycobacterium indicus pranii. Using comparative genomic and proteomic analyses, Hasnain and his group have shown the importance of gene cooption and moonlighting in mycobacterial pathogenesis and evolution. Hasnain has long been committed to the continuance of German‐Indian research links. He was awarded the Federal Cross of Merit (Das Verdienstkreuz, 1.Klasse) of the Federal Republic of Germany for his engagement in this area.

Career

• 2012 Visiting Professor at the Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences (ILBS) in New Delhi, India
• 2011-2012 Visiting Professor at the King Saud University in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
• since 2011 Invited Professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IIT), India
• 2011-2014 Visiting Professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal, India
• since 2007 Distinguished Research Professor at the Dr Reddy’s Institute of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, India
• 2005-2011 Vice Chancellor (President) of the University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India
• 2005-2010 Honorary Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) Bangalore, India
• 1999-2005 Founder Director of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad, India
• 1987-2001 Scientist at the National Institute of Immunology, India
• 1982-1983 Lecturer at the Botany Department, University of Delhi, India
• 1981-1987 Postdoc at the University of Alberta, Canada, and the Texas A&M University, USA
• 1980 Ph.D at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
• 1978 M.Phil at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
• 1977 M.Sc at the Magadh University, India
• 1975 B.Sc at the Magadh University, India

Functions

• since 2016 Member of the Academic Council, Jamia Millia Islamia University, New Delhi
• since 2015 Member of the Governing Council, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, India
  Member of the Academic Council, Hamdard University, New Delhi
  Member of the Academic Council, Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi
  Chairman, NIPER Academic Review Committee, Ministry of Petroleum and Chemicals, Govt. of India
• since 2013 Member, Academic Committee, Institute of Liver and Biliary Sciences(ILBS,) New Delhi
• Member, Executive Council, Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh
• 2013-2015 Council of the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
• 2013 Member of the Biotechnology Vision Group for UP, Council of Science & Technology, Uttar Pradesh, India
• 2012 Chairman of the Task Force “Infectious Disease Biology”, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), India
• since 2012 Member of the Scientific Advisory Board, All India Institute of Medical Science (AIIMS), New Delhi, India
• 2012-2014 Member of the Advisory Board, Elsevier's International Academic, Amsterdam, Netherlands
• 2011-2014 Member of the University Grants Commission
• 2011-2013 Member of Society of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Bhopal, India
• since 2010 Member of the Scientific Advisory Council to the Chief Minister of Jammu &Kashmir, Govt. of J&K
• 2010-2015 Chairman, PGIMR Academic Committee, Chandigarh
• 2010-2015 Member, PGIMR Institute Body and Governing Council
• 2008-2012 Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Union Cabinet of the Indian Government
• since 2005 Member of the Hyderabad Eye Research Foundation, Hyderabad, India
• 2005-2014 Member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Indian Prime Minister
• 2000-2012 Member of the Executive Council, Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India

Honours and Memberships

• 2015 Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Award for Excellence in Biomedical Sciences, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR)
• 2014 Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany
• 2014 Fellow, American Academy of Microbiology, American Society of Micorbiology (ASM), USA
• 2014 Doctor of Sciences (h. c.), Amity University, Jaipur
• 2011 Doctor of Medical Sciences (h. c.), Queen’s University Belfast, UK
• 2010 Sivananda Eminent Citizen Award of the Sanathana Dharma Charitable Trust, Hyderabad
• 2010 LIONS International Fellow of Excellence (LIFE) Award, LIONS Clubs International
• 2010 Award of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI), New Delhi, awarded by the Indian Prime Minister
• 2009 Robert Koch Fellow of the Robert Koch Institute Berlin
• 2009 Humboldt Research Prize, Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany
• 2009 Doctor of Science (h. c.), Assam Central University Silchar
• 2008 Dr. Yellapragada Subba Row Memorial Award of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA)
• since 2006 Member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina
• 2006 Padma Shri National Civilian Award, awarded by the Indian Prime Minister
• 2006 J.C. Bose Fellowship, Department of Science and Technology of the Indian Government
• 2006 Dr Nitya Anand Endowment Lecture for Biomedical Research of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA)
• 2004 Goyal Award of the Kurukshetra University
• 2004 Shri Om Prakash Bhasin Award for Science & Technology , Shri Om Prakash Bhasin Foundation for Science & Technology
• 2002 Dr. K. V. Rao Scientific Society Endowment Oration Award
• 2001 GD Birla Award For Scientific Research of the KK Birla Foundation
• 2001 Rustom Ranji Oration Award of the Hyderabad Eye Foundation
• 2001 Indian Academy of Neurology-Oration, New Delhi
• 1999 Platinum Jubilee Lecture Award, Indian Science Congress Association Ranbaxy
• 1997 Ranbaxy Research Award for Basic Medical Sciences
• 1997 Golden Jubilee Biotechnology Fellowship Award, Department of Biotechnology of the Indian Government
• 1995 Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize in Biological Sciences, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) of the Indian Government
• 1991 NII Award for “Outstanding Basic Research Of The Year”
• 1992 Professor Uma Kant Sinha Memorial Award, Indian Science Congress Association
• 1990 YMSA-88 Young Scientist Award for Biological Sciences
• 1989 Wood-Whelan Fellowship Award of the International Union Of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, USA
• 1989 WHO Visiting Scientist, NEGRC Institute of Virology, Oxford
• 1988 IUB-Travel Award, International Congress of Biochemistry, Czechoslovakia
• 1983-1985 Fellow, Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research, Alberta, Canada