IICT gets new director

HYDERABAD: Srivari Chandrasekhar has been appointed as director of CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT).
The appointment made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is also the president of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, was announced on Tuesday.
Chandrasekhar was born in Hyderabad and did his entire education in the city before joining IICT in 1986 as Junior Research Fellow for his Ph D.
Before his appointment as director of IICT, Chandrasekhar was leading one of the largest groups, natural products chemistry, at IICT. He has more than 250 publications to his credit and was also a recipient of the Infosys prize in chemical sciences 2014.
Chandrasekhar has made significant contributions in organic chemistry with a special emphasis on chiral chemistry, total synthesis of biologically active natural products and pharmaceutical products.
He developed polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a novel environmentally benign solvent medium. He also developed technologies for synthesis of latest anti-tuberculosis drug, bedaquiline, anti-tumor and abortive drug, misoprostol, anti-platelet molecule, beroprost, anti-depressive compound, sertraline, and drug for treatment of schizophrenia, Asenapine.