Manju Sharma | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | (1940-12-13)13 December 1940 |
| Died | 31 October 2024(2024-10-31) (aged 83) New Delhi, India |
| Alma mater | University of Lucknow (Ph.D.) |
| Known for | Research and Administration in Biotechnology |
| Spouse | Vinod Prakash Sharma |
| Children | Amit Sharma |
| Awards | Padma Bhushan (in 2007) |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Biotechnology, plant science |
| Institutions |
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| Patrons | Government of India, The Puri Foundation for Education in India |
Manju Sharma (13 December 1940 – 31 October 2024) was an Indian biotechnologist and administrator of several scientific research and policy-making bodies in India. She was most recently the president and executive director at the Indian Institute of Advanced Research inGandhinagar, Gujarat. She earlier served as the secretary,Department of Biotechnology, in the IndianMinistry of Science and Technology,[1] and was awarded thePadma Bhushan in 2007.[2]
Some credit Sharma with pioneeringbiotechnology research in India.[3] She played a significant role in establishing several institutions in the country, including theNational Institute of Immunology, theNational Institute of Plant Genome Research, the Biomass Research Centres atLucknow andMadurai, the Plant Molecular Biology Unit inUniversity of Delhi and theCentre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics.[4]
Sharma was the granddaughter ofMadan Mohan Malaviya, an educationist and politician. She was married toVinod Prakash Sharma, amalariologist andentomologist. Their son, Amit Sharma, specialises inprotein crystallography.[5]
Sharma graduated fromLucknow University, winning the first rank and receiving theBirbal Sahni Memorial Gold Medal.[4] She earned her Ph.D. at Lucknow University in 1961 and then worked atPurdue University as a post-doctoral researcher. Collaborating withA. Carl Leopold and Richard Hall, her research on enhancinglatex production through the use of ethereal oil found commercial application in Malaysian rubber plantations.[6]
Sharma's research on plantidioblasts led to her becoming a visiting scientist at the Institute of Plant Anatomy and Cytology,University of Copenhagen.[5] She then joined theForest Research Institute,Dehra Dun, where in researchingwoody plants, she established a correlation betweensilica content and the hardness of wood.[4] After moving toDelhi, she became a research officer at theIndian Council of Medical Research and co-authored a monograph on Indianmedicinal plants.
Sharma joined theIndian Department of Science and Technology in 1974 as a senior scientific officer. She became the senior advisor in 1990, and assumed charge as the secretary of the government body in 1996.[5] She was instrumental in the creation of theBiotech Consortium India Limited, apublic-private partnership to promote the commercialization of biotechnology research.[4] Upon the completion of her tenure, she was appointed advisor to the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2004.
Sharma founded the Indian Institute of Advanced Research in 2006,[6] helped by endowments from the Puri Foundation for Education in India, to conduct research and provide higher education in plant sciences, human health, biomolecular medicine and bioinformatics. She served as president and executive director until 2012, when the institute re-constituted itself as a university and introduced a new governance mechanism.[7] WhenM. S. Swaminathan took initiative in introducing a chapter on science and technology for women in theSixth Five-Year Plan (1980–85), a team led by Sharma prepared a report which was incorporated in the plan document on women and development. This was the first focused scheme on the subject, which has since been operated by theDepartment of Science and Technology.[8][9]
Sharma died in New Delhi on 31 October 2024, at the age of 83.[10]