Chandrashekhar has been associated with the IICT since his doctoral studies in the late 1980s. Dr S Chandrashekhar, director, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology (IICT), Hyderabad, has been appointed as the secretary of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), senior officers in the department confirmed.
He will assume charge from M Ravichandran, secretary, Ministry of Earth Sciences, who had the additional charge of the DST.
Chandrashekhar has been associated with the IICT since his doctoral studies in the late 1980s. He joined the institute in 1994 and since then has served in varying scientific positions till he took charge as the institute’s director in 2015. For a brief period between November 2020 and March 2021, he held the additional charge as director, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune.
Primarily working in the field of organic chemistry, he specialises in total synthesis of biologically active natural products and pharmaceutical products.
Chandrashekhar has developed technologies for the synthesis of bedaquiline, a key component used in the treatment of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis. He is also credited with the development of technologies for synthesizing anti-tumour and abortive drug called misoprostol, among others. He played a key role in introducing polyethylene glycol (PEG) as a novel and environmentally benign solvent medium.
Chandrashekhar is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy along with being an Alexander von Humboldt fellow. He has over 280 publications and 19 patents to his credit.
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