Chandak Giriraj Ratan

Chandak, a physician scientist, is the former director of the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, and Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose Fellow at the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. He received his Doctor of Medicine degree in biochemistry from the Institute of Medical Sciences, at Banaras Hindu University, and his PhD in biochemistry from Osmania University. He is a Fellow of all four National Science Academies in India. His research interests include understanding the genetic and epigenetic basis of complex disorders of pancreas, including chronic pancreatitis, type 2 diabetes, and intermediate traits associated with them, with a focus on the foetal origins of adult common diseases. His other passion includes reducing the genetic burden on the society through the development of robust, rapid and affordable genetic tests for common genetic disorders like hemoglobinopathies and musculopathies and extending prenatal diagnosis and genetic counselling to the common man. He has developed a whole blood-based screening-cum-confirmatory molecular test that can help in early identification and aid to eliminate sickle cell anaemia In India.