Krishna Kumar, a professor of chemistry in the School of Arts and Sciences and an adjunct professor of biomedical engineering in the School of Engineering, was in February honored by the Indian Society of Chemists and Biologists (ISCB) for his chemical research work with proteins that colleagues call "significant."
The organization's Award for Excellence in Chemical Sciences honors scientists across the globe who have made extraordinary accomplishments in the field of chemical sciences.
Professor of Chemistry David Walt praised the accomplishments that earned Kumar the recent recognition.
"Professor Kumar has developed methods for modifying proteins in a way that helps understand their function, and this fundamental work would have significant implications and applications towards drug development and understanding diseases that result from misfolding of proteins, such as in Alzheimer's disease," Walt said.
Walt nominated Kumar for the award, marking the first time he formally recommended an individual for the honor.
"I am thrilled to be able to extend my congratulations to Professor Kumar for his incredibly important work, and I'm sure that this is just the first of many significant awards that he will receive for his transformative research," Walt said.
A nonprofit established in 1995 to encourage and recognize the contributions in the natural sciences, ISCB selected Kumar along with Katsuhiko Ariga, a chemistry professor from Japan, as this year's two recipients for the award in chemical sciences.
"The fact that Professor Kumar was able to win this award … is really an incredible achievement," Walt said. "It's not just Professor Kumar who should be proud, but all of his colleagues in the department and all of the students at Tufts should take pride in the fact that a professor of his caliber should be recognized at that level."
The award ceremony, which also marked the 15th annual ISCB conference, took place this February at Saurashtra University in Rajkot, India.
Chemists and biologists from all across the world were in attendance, said Kumar, who gave a lecture at the ceremony. He spoke on the fundamentals of interactions of bio−molecules, the use of chemistry in medical therapies and diagnostics, and the origin of life.
Kumar studied at St. Stephen's College in Delhi, India, and received his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Brown University.
Kumar started out as an assistant professor in Tufts' Chemistry Department in 1998 and served as its chair from September 2006 until 2009.
Deniz Yüksel, one of Kumar's past advisees, noted Kumar's investment in his students' research. Yüksel is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School and Children's Hospital Boston.
Yüksel stated that Kumar's accessibility to students was one of his strengths as an adviser.
"He would be supportive in research in the lab and would be very understanding at a personal level," Yüksel said.
Yüksel said it was Kumar's research that motivated her to apply for the Ph.D. program in the chemistry department at Tufts, and upon acceptance, she joined his lab.
Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine student Rebecca Lambe, another past advisee who worked in a lab with Kumar as an undergraduate, described Kumar as an inspiring mentor.
"In terms of chemistry, he would always have answers, but [he] encouraged me to look for them on my own, so I could learn for myself," Lambe said.
