Rajesh S Gokhale, Director, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, Government of India, has pioneered research in two areas few have explored — tuberculosis and leukoderma.
According to World Health Organisation statistics for 2011, India has one of the highest cases of tuberculosis in the world, with an estimated 2.2 million cases out of a global incidence of 8.7 million cases. Prof Gokhale’s work showed that Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the bacteria that causes the disease, has thick cell walls that protect it from the host’s defence mechanisms, and allows it to survive in a dormant form, impervious to drugs (for which he received the Infosys Prize in Life Sciences 2013). To get to the bacteria, one needs to penetrate its fortress-like thick walls. The current drugs available for tuberculosis have to be taken every day for at least six months, posing a compliance challenge. Therefore, a single drug that can inhibit multiple targets holds great promise to be an effective form of treatment for tuberculosis, which Prof Gokhale has been trying to contribute to formulating.
Another research area of his includes understanding Leukoderma or vitiligo, a skin condition that causes white patches on skin. Edex catches up with him to know more.
Can you elaborate on your research in layman’ terms?
More than 20 per cent of TB cases are extra-pulmonary nature, meaning they do not affect the lungs but affect the bone, spinal cord and the lymph nodes. How does that happen? No one knows. This is what our team of researchers is trying to find out and use the knowledge to create drugs for Multi Drug Resistant TB.
The second research area is leukoderma. Our team of seven to ten researchers has been working on it only for the past four to five years and this research is fairly new to our lab. The disease starts during puberty. It is a disfiguring disorder. I know of only two other small groups who are researching it. For an autoimmune disease (diseases that arise from an abnormal immune response of the body to substances and tissues present in the body) like this, generally the patients are asked to apply sorolene (a cream) on affected areas, or the affected area is treated with UV rays. But UV treatment has side effects. Our research focuses on how and why cells produce pigmentation. Although research is limited in this field, there is much hope because there is easy access to affected skin tissues. TB on the other hand is difficult to research, as one can only use the body of a deceased person for the purpose.
What made you take up research in leukoderma despite limited studies available to follow up on?
People work on what is trendy. The Caucasian population is white, hence the disease is not as evident as it is in Indian skin. The disease, that changes a person’s appearance causes a lot of psychological trauma. This disfiguring disorder impedes their confidence and thereby everything from career to marriage with a debilitating effect on life. This disease needs more attention.
What are the challenges students face in terms of contribution to the research?
We’ve got a bright set of PhD students. But I would like to point out an important aspect of research here. In the US, people contributing to the lab have already done their PhDs but here the students contribute to research while simultaneously doing their doctoral thesis. In India, Engineers are 200 times more in number than doctors, and scientists are 0.1 per cent of the number of engineers. An endemic country like India needs more doctors and more scientists to research diseases.
The average age of a PhD student is 33 and by the time he finishes his doctoral work he still earns only one-fourth of the salary of a 23-year-old engineering student. I don’t deny that differential salary structures have been introduced for scientists but more incentives would be welcome.
Do you concur with the general perception that research in India is almost always mired in red tape?
Let me give you an example of auditing. It is commerce graduates that are sent for a scientific audit. The way you audit infrastructure is different from the way you audit science. But they don’t understand that. So, when our research findings do not coincide with the hypothesis, we are told, “You have caused a loss to the country”. In research, the benefit of doubt should be given. We should be allowed to take risks. Scientific auditing needs to change.
Do you receive enough grants for research?
In the past two to three years we have received 50 per cent less funds than we usually receive. We can just about manage with fewer funds but we need planned funds.
suraksha@newindianexpress.com