The ‘God Mother’ of India’s vaccine

Dr Gagandeep Kang recently hit the headlines by becoming the only Indian woman scientist to be inducted to the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, and only the second Indian in 180 years — the first being scientist Ardaseer Cursetjee, a Parsi shipbuilder and engineer belonging to the Wadia ship building family, who was elected to the Society in 1841.

With this, she joins an elite group of scientists like Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, Dorothy Hodgkins and Charles Darwin to be elected to the 360-year-old scientific body.

A leading scientist in India, Dr Kang’s main research focus is on viral infections in children, and the testing of rotavirus vaccines. With over 300 scientific research papers to her credit, she serves on the editorial boards for several journals.

Interestingly, she started out as a doctor, but soon realised that while most doctors help patients one at a time, scientists have the opportunity to help understand disease and help countless people with the devices, drugs or vaccines they develop. “So I chose the latter route,” says Dr Kang, executive director of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI), Faridabad.

Talking about the fellowship of The Royal Society of London, the modest scientist says, “I don’t know. I guess I was nominated and it happened because the Royal Society thought that whatever my group and I have done was of value.”

Significantly, Dr Kang developed an oral vaccine against the rotavirus that causes diarrhoea, a disease that kills almost 100,000 children in India annually.

“Two rotavirus vaccines are made in India — Rotavac by Bharat Biotech in Hyderabad and RotaSiil in Serum Institute of India in Pune. I played a small role in both vaccines, but have done a fair amount of research on rotaviruses. Rotavirus vaccines are now in the public sector, reaching half of India’s children with the goal of reaching all children next year and my group is currently carrying out a very large study to measure the impact of these vaccines across India. We will have the data available soon, and this is the first time that the impact of a new vaccine in the national program will be measured on such a large scale,” says Dr Kang, also known as India’s vaccine ‘Godmother’.

The vaccine was first identified by researchers at the All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi way back in 1985. Since then, with over $100 million in funding — including that from the Indian government and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation — it is now part of India-approved vaccines.

Talking about her most exciting research so far, Dr Kang says, “It’s still unfulfilled. I am trying to understand why some viruses infect only neonates. What keeps me up at night is the logistics of trying to study human immunology in the context of disease. I am working on the idea of volunteer infection studies, starting with typhoid, where I would like very much to be the first volunteer, but we have a very long process of discussions and approvals before we get there.”

Elaborating on investigating the complex relationships between infection, gut function and physical and cognitive development, Dr Kang says, “Children who are exposed to contaminated environments are infected early and often by bacteria, viruses and parasites. These repeated infections lead to inflammation and gut damage. A damaged gut does not function well to keep out infectious agents, and also does not absorb nutrients well, a condition known as environmental enteropathy. Even if they are then fed an adequate diet, they do not absorb enough nutrients to grow, leading to chronic malnutrition or stunting.”

Further, she explains, “When chronic malnutrition persists, it affects cognitive function as well, which can be measured as IQ scores, so chronically malnourished children have lower IQs. One way to prevent gut damage is to prevent infections, and a good way to prevent infections is to make vaccines against infectious agents. To make good vaccines, it is important to understand the immune system, so knowing how immunity develops when a person is infected might help design good or better vaccines.”

As for achieving a work-life balance, the recipient of the Infosys Science Foundation Awards says, “My family does not think I have a work-life balance, but I love what I do, and I do make time for family and friends. I think finding time for exercise, reading, the theatre (or whatever you enjoy) and family and friends are essential. Institutions need to ensure that such activities and facilities are available, particularly for students. For women particularly, but hopefully applicable to men as well, onsite child care and flexible working will allow them to handle family responsibilities better.”