Professor Chandrabhas Narayana ,FRSC, FNASc, FASc
Transdisciplinary Biology Program
Former Director,RGCB (2019-2025)
cbhas@gmail.com
Professor Chandrabhas Narayana joined RGCB as Director on November 06, 2020. Prof. Narayana a Bangalorean by birth, born to parents from Kerala did his PhD from the Department of Physics, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore after completion of his Bachelor and master’s in science education from Regional Institute of Education, Mysore (affiliated to Mysore University). He went to Cornell University, Ithaca, New York for his Post Doctoral Research. Before joining as the Director at Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), he was the Dean (Research and Development), the Chairman (Chemistry and Physics of Materials Unit) and the Dean (Fellowships and Extension Programmes) at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). Prof. Narayana specializes in Raman Spectroscopy. Though a trained condensed matter physicist, Prof. Narayana developed a keen interest in Biology within a few years at JNCASR. His group is a pioneer in the use of Raman spectroscopy in the areas of a) drug-protein interaction, for drug screening applications, b) protein structure function studies and c) diagnostic applications. Many of his works in these areas are trendsetters in inter-disciplinary research. Along with his interest in Biology, he also follows his interest in physics and chemistry. Overall his group has been one of the well-known groups in the country for use of Raman spectroscopy in the areas of Physics, Chemistry, and Biology. In the process, he holds three international patents, a few of these are on the verge of commercialization. He was till recently the coordinator for the two major Synchrotron projects for India, namely, The Indian beamline at the Photon Factory, KEK, Tsukuba, Japan and the PETRA III, Hamburg, Germany. This program permits researchers in India to perform various experiments using synchrotrons, fully funded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. His Light Scattering Laboratory at JNCASR is interested in looking at Physical properties of Materials using Raman spectroscopy, Brillouin Spectroscopy, x-ray diffraction under high pressures and temperatures. The research problems encompass Condensed Matter, Chemistry, and Biology. He has been awarded the Material Research Society of India bronze medal in 2007, Sir C.V. Raman Young Scientist Award (Karnataka Government) in 2008, C.N.R. Rao Oration award in 2009, Sheikh Saqr RAK-CAM Senior Fellow in 2016, MRSI-ICSC Super Conductivity and Materials Science Senior Award in 2017, Mizushima-Raman Lecture Award in 2018, Platinum Jubilee Lecture Award of the Indian Science Congress in 2020, for his research contributions. He is a Fellow of National Academy of Science, India, Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry and Fellow of Indian Academy of Sciences. He has published over 180 research papers in International Journals and 4 Chapters in Books and has an h-index of 39. His publications include Nature, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional Materials, Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (USA), Physical Review Letters, Angewandte Chemie, Chemistry and Biology, Physical Review B, Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, etc. This suggests the interdisciplinary nature of his Research, a must for every research in the current situation. He was a visiting Professor at Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA from 2001 to 2007 and at Institute of Mineralogy and Physics of Dense Matter, University of Pierre and Marie Curie, Paris, France from 2008 to 2016. He is also one of the editors of the International Journals: Journal of Applied Physics (American Institute of Physics), High-Pressure Research (Taylor and Francis Publishers), The Journal of Biomaterials and Nanobiotechnology. He is the member of the Corporate Advisory Board of REVA University, Bangalore, Governing Body of The Government Science College, Bengaluru and is the member of the Board of Studies for Department of Chemistry, St. Joseph’s College of Arts and Science, Department of Chemistry, Christ University, Department of Physics, M.S. Ramaiah Institute of Technology, Department of Physics, REVA University and was a member of the Board of Studies for Department of Nanotechnology at Calicut University. He was the Director of the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala from November 6, 2020 to September 30, 2025.
