Dr. Madhu R | Chemistry | Young Scientist Award

Dr. Madhu R is a distinguished researcher currently serving as a Research Associate at IISER Tirupati/JNCASR, India, specializing in molecular therapeutics and neurodegenerative disease biology. He earned his Bachelor of Veterinary Science (BVSc & AH/DVM) in Veterinary Medicine from Veterinary College, Bidar, Karnataka, in July 2015, and completed his doctoral research at JNCASR (2017–2023) under the guidance of Prof. T. Govindaraju. His Ph.D. work focused on Alzheimer’s disease, neuroinflammation, RNA biology, and mouse models, where he investigated dysregulated miRNA-mRNA axes, ASRIJ gene functions, and developed multifunctional small molecule therapeutics targeting amyloid-β, tau, metals, oxidative stress, and mitochondrial dysfunction. He subsequently contributed to cutting-edge research on RNA therapeutics, dendrimers, peptide-based drugs, and biomarker probes for Alzheimer’s and cancer management. At IISER Tirupati, working with Prof. K. N. Ganesh, his research focuses on peptide nucleic acids (PNAs), including Janus PNAs for cellular uptake studies and therapeutic targeting of miRNA structures to modulate inflammation. His thesis titled “Visual detection of Listeria monocytogenes DNA using gold nanoprobes” reflects his early expertise in molecular diagnostics. Dr. Madhu has published impactful research, accumulating 592 citations, an h-index of 14, and an i10-index of 15, highlighting his significant contributions to neurobiology, RNA therapeutics, and molecular medicine.