Women scientists Mamta Sharma and Pooja Bhatnagar-Mathur are the joint recipients of Doreen Margaret Mashler Award for 2018, for significant work in plant pathology and biotechnology respectively at the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). The award was announced by ICRISAT’s governing board on Tuesday.
Dr. Sharma specialises in epidemiology of plant diseases and pathogens, focusing on disease-resistant breeding in chickpea and pigeonpea, two of ICRISAT’s mandate crops.
In 2017, she led a team that developed the Loop-Mediated Isothermal Amplification (LAMP) method to identify a pathogen affecting chickpea and over 500 crops globally. She also established the Centre of Excellence on Climate Change Research for Plant Protection to address the effects of climate change on insect-pests and diseases.
Her work on identifying new multiple disease-resistant sources has helped researchers in breeding programmes across the globe in understanding the mechanism of inheritance of resistance.
“The next few decades will see cutting-edge technologies in science in India. If youngsters pursue a career in science with focus, perseverance and planning, they can become leaders of innovation and address the unmet needs of the country,” she said.
The co-recipient of the award, Dr. Bhatnagar-Mathur, led an international, multi-institutional effort, for innovative biotechnology solutions to combat aflatoxin in groundnut using a ‘double-defence’ approach.
These include engineering ground nuts to stop Aspergillus flavus ungus by production of small proteins called defensins. In the second approach, the synthesis of aflatoxin by the fungus was shut down using gene-silencing RNA molecules.
This breakthrough resulted in resistance to fungal infection as well as remarkably low levels of aflatoxin contamination.
Describing the award as her motivation to contribute more to her professional goals, Dr. Bhatnagar-Mathur said she intended to build mutually-beneficial newer collaborations and partnerships that ultimately benefit smallholder agriculture.
“Over the years, my goal-oriented approach, interpersonal skills and a ‘can-do’ attitude have helped me overcome many challenges,” she said.
The award would be presented at the ICRISAT governing board meeting.
