Dr. Chhitar M. Gupta (born
September 1, 1944) received his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from Agra
University in 1969, based on research conducted at CSIR-Central Drug Research
Institute (CDRI), Lucknow. After a brief tenure as Scientist at CDRI, he
pursued postdoctoral research in C-nucleoside and carbohydrate chemistry at
Syntex Research, Palo Alto, CA (1974–76), followed by work in membrane
biochemistry and biophysics at MIT, Cambridge, MA (1976–78). Returning to India
in 1978, he held key positions at CDRI (1978–92), served as Director of
CSIR-IMTECH, Chandigarh (1992–97), and later as Director of CDRI (1997–2007).
Dr. Gupta has served on several national and international committees,
including WHO Steering Committees and DNDi’s Scientific Advisory Committee. A
recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar
Prize, he is a fellow of all three Indian science academies and The World
Academy of Sciences, Trieste, Italy. Post-retirement, he continued his research
at CDRI as Distinguished Biotechnology Research Professor until 2014, and since
then at the Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology, Bengaluru,
as Distinguished Professor & Infosys Chair (2014–2024) and now Emeritus
Professor. Dr. Gupta has mentored ~40 Ph.D. and postdoctoral researchers and published
~150 research papers. His research spans drug discovery, targeted delivery,
membrane biology, immunomodulation, and molecular parasitology.
