A Talk on ‘The Nobel Prize in Medicine, 2024’ by Dr Lakshman Varanasi

ABOUT THE TALK
Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun discovered microRNA, a new class of tiny RNA molecules that play a crucial role in gene regulation. Their groundbreaking discovery in the small worm C. elegans revealed a completely new principle of gene regulation. This turned out to be essential for multicellular organisms, including humans. MicroRNAs are proving to be fundamentally important for how organisms develop and function.

ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Dr Lakshman Varanasi is deeply invested in research in the detection and management of catastrophic lifestyle diseases such as cancer. His work has included basic and translational cancer research and has centered on the early diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers. Over the course of this work, his interests have evolved to include the gamut of disciplines that constitute precision medicine.

He is also engaged with industry to provide scientific expertise and depth for the development of biomedical systems, for the delivery and management of healthcare, such as in the use of electronic health information in prediction/ diagnosis (Healthkon). Most recently, he has helped communicate stem-cell research, services, and products to the general public (Transcell Oncologics).

Dr Varanasi holds an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry and Microbiology from Osmania University (2002), Master’s in Life Sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University (2004) and a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA (2010), where he worked on the mutational analysis of respiratory proteins in the bacterial model. Subsequently, he conducted post-doctoral research in Dr Luis Martinez’s lab at UMMC, on the basic biology of DNA damage and repair in cancer cells. The work was a prelude to his work on cancer; his interest in protein analysis led him to studies on chemically modified proteins in the blood, as evidence for the presence of cancers of the gut, at the Institute of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Olomouc, in the Czech Republic.