Vinod Scaria, 39, Genomicist
The 39-year-old genomic scientist's initiative provides ready access to genomic, epidemiological datasets and protocols pertaining to Covid-19. He initiated projects to analyse the virus' genetic data from various parts of India. Conferred the CSIR Young Scientist Award in biological sciences for developing computational tools to analyse genomic data in 2012, Scaria has been pioneering the application of genomics to diagnose and solve rare genetic diseases in India, including discovering novel variants.
The Covid-19 Open Research, Data and Resources is an initiative to make available research and resources at his lab at the CSIR Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology in an open format to ensure they are widely accessible. Scaria's genome sequencing of the novel coronavirus is now widely used across the world to understand its characteristics.