Mazumdar-Shaw International Post Doctoral Oncology Fellowship Program launched at MIT
India’s successful Biotech entrepreneur Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, who recently made it to the 2010 Times 100 list, has funded a new fellowship on cancer research in India at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). A Koch Institute Partnership for catalytic cancer research at MIT, this program is to help raise a new generation of cancer researchers in India whose careers and professional networks will increase globally. The broader mission is to build India’s position as an intellectual hub for oncology research from which significant advances are expected to emerge.
Cancer is the leading cause of death in the world – a global challenge that calls for a global response. In India, about a million new cases are diagnosed every year, and that number is projected to triple in the next 20 years. Efforts are now under way in India to make cancer research a priority — an endeavour that is getting a boost from a new program at MIT’s David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.
This new program, a high-impact bilateral collaboration with India focusing on cancer research training as its cornerstone, funded by Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, Chairman and Managing Director of Biocon, one of India’s largest biotechnology firms, will bring Indian scientists to MIT to train for two years. Those researchers will then return to India to continue their research and share the benefit of their MIT training with their Indian host institution.
“As an entrepreneur whose company is pursuing cancer research, I am acutely aware of the need to augment cancer research in the country at a basic scientific level,” said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw. “If we are to develop new onco-therapies for Indian patients, we must create a strong research ethos amongst the medical and scientific communities engaged in the area of cancer.”
This Fellowship program offers opportunities for postdoctoral scientists, engineers, and physicians to undertake cancer research at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, working at the interfaces between biology/medicine and the diverse fields of mathematics, engineering, computer science, and the physical and chemical sciences.
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The Mazumdar-Shaw International Oncology Fellows Program provides funding for:
- A two year full-time postdoctoral research fellowship within the Koch Institute at MIT
- Travel expenses to India for the researcher and a Koch Institute faculty advisor to share their research with colleagues at the Fellow’s Indian host institution as well as other peer institutions in India.
The Fellowship is awarded with the firm expectation that the Fellows will continue their research in India for a third year for which funding will need to be secured from the host institution. Mazumdar-Shaw International Oncology Fellows will have extensive opportunities for substantive engagement with the KI research community, the larger Boston-area research community, and other postdoctoral researchers at MIT.
About Ms Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw:
A successful technocrat of global standing, Ms. Shaw heads India’s leading Biotechnology enterprise, Biocon. She is highly respected in the corporate world and has recently made it to the 2010 Times list of 100 Most Influential People in the world. Her pioneering efforts in biotechnology have drawn global recognition both for Indian Industry and Biocon.
Ms. Shaw is the recipient of several prestigious awards including the Nikkei Asia Prize, 2009 for Regional Growth, Express Pharmaceutical Leadership Summit Award 2009 for Dynamic Entrepreneur, the Economic Times ‘Businesswoman of the Year’, the ‘Veuve Clicquot Initiative For Economic Development For Asia, Ernst & Young's Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Life Sciences & Healthcare, ‘Technology Pioneer’ recognition by World Economic Forum and The Indian Chamber of Commerce Lifetime Achievement Award. Her most cherished awards are the national awards, PADMASHRI (1989) and PADMA BHUSHAN (2005) presented to her by the President of India, for her pioneering efforts in Industrial Biotechnology.