Radhakrishna Pillai

Background

About Radhakrishna Pillai

Profile at Professor Radhakrishna Pillai has a brilliant and unique track record in India as an administrator and scientist. With over 31 years of postdoctoral research experience in disease biology and clinical biotechnology, he is an elected fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (London), the National Academy of Medical Sciences and all three Indian Science Academies. In recognition of his contributions to medical biotechnology, Professor Pillai was appointed Director of Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, an autonomous institution of the Government of India at the age of 44. With more than 225 peer-reviewed publications and an H index of 44, Professor Pillai has a unique track record as a scientist and a perfect example of taking science from laboratories to direct public benefit. An excellent example is his work on cervical cancer, the most frequent cancer in women in India, caused by the human papillomavirus (HPV). Current estimates indicate approximately new cases diagnosed and deaths annually in India, accounting to nearly 1/3rd of the global cervical cancer deaths. Professor Pillai produced vast knowledge on the complex pathology of the virus, its molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry and epidemiology to redefine the empirical approach to HPV infection. Recognizing this, World Health Organization supported Professor Pillai as part of a large multi-institution clinical trial, to alleviate the huge economic and social burden of 3-dose vaccine against HPV in Indian women. These studies rationally proved the efficacy of 2-dose of vaccine, the first achievement of its kind in the world. This study went on to prove that one dose of vaccine also has significant potential to prevent infection. Published in the prestigious Lancet Oncology, this study changed international paradigms for cervical cancer prevention. The journal wrote in a commentary “The study will make a long-term contribution to understanding the role of HPV vaccines in preventing infection and disease in countries with high burdens of cervical cancer. The experience of Indian women participating in this vaccine study promises to lead the way in the assessment of one-dose HPV vaccination while formal randomized trials are being established”.