The National Academy of Medical Sciences (NAMS) will confer the ‘Dr. V.R. Khanolkar Oration Award’ for the year 2010-2011 on Prof. (Dr.) Jai Rup Singh, Vice Chancellor of Central University of Punjab, Bathinda. The award is being delivered to Dr. Singh in the 51st Annual Conference of NAMS to be held from 14th – 16th October 2011 at Institute of Medical Sciences and SUM Hospital, Bhubneshwar. Dr. Singh will also make a Presentation on “Genetics of Congenital Contract: from phenotype to genotype” on 16th October, 2011 during the presentation session by NAMS Awardees.
Dr. V.R. Khanolkar Oration is a prestigious award that was established in 1987 by the National Academy of Medical Sciences in the memory of the first President of the Academy and till now it has been awarded to only ten medical scientists. The Oration includes a cash award and a commemorative medal. This award has been given in recognition of Dr. Singh’s outstanding contributions in the field of Medical Genetics. His significant contributions towards prenatal and postnatal diagnosis of Genetic Disorders in human population from Northern India have been especially applauded by the Oration and Awards Committee of NAMS.
The bestowment of this award on Prof. (Dr.) Jai Rup Singh adds another feather into the long list of his accomplishments, nationally and internationally. Prof. (Dr.) Jai Rup Singh is presently the founder Vice Chancellor of the Central University of Punjab, Bathinda. Prior to his joining this University, he was Vice Chancellor of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. Internationally recognized scientist, Dr. Jai Rup Singh, is amongst the pioneers of Human Genetics in India. He has done path breaking research on Genetics of eye diseases, diabetes and population disease profiling. Following his strategy for identifying candidate genes, his group has localized several genes for congenital cataract. He has been visiting Professor in many foreign universities; has delivered over 60 invited talks internationally and is represented on many national and international academic bodies. He has authored four books and published over 90 research articles in peer reviewed journals. He established the first independent Department of Human Genetics in India at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar and also the internationally reputed Centre for Genetic Disorders – the first in any Indian university. Dr. Singh has also been heading many esteemed Alliances and Societies related with Human Genetics and is member or advisor of many governing bodies/boards of international and national institutions.
