Biologist Gagandeep Kang has made history by becoming the first Indian woman to be elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, Britain’s main scientific academy.
Currently serving as the executive director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI) in Faridabad, Dr Gagandeep Kang is the first and only Indian woman to win one of the most coveted honours in the scientific world.
This is a huge honour for India and Dr. Kang, because she now joins the ranks of scientific geniuses, like Isaac Newton and Albert Einstein.
Dr. Kang is a leading scientist in India, with her main research focus on viral infections in children, and the testing of rotaviral vaccines. She was instrumental in giving India the vaccine against Rotavirus.
This news is pathbreaking in many ways, for women in science (a domain that has largely remained patriarchal). There is a palpable gender gap where women scientists are paid less, promoted less frquently.