Anjana Munshi

The applicant, is a distinguished scientist in human, molecular, and translational genetics whose work has had a profound impact on precision medicine. Her research has decisively advanced understanding of the genetic basis of ischemic stroke and its subtypes, including pharmacogenomic determinants of response to statins and aspirin, enabling individualized therapeutic strategies. She has successfully demonstrated the neuroprotective potential of pleiotropic SGLT2 inhibitors in animal models of type 2 diabetes mellitus, a major risk factor for ischemic stroke, thereby bridging metabolic disease and neurovascular genetics.

Prof. Munshi has made landmark contributions to hemoglobinopathies, delineating mutation spectra in over 5,000 patients with β-thalassemia and SCA, information that is now directly utilized in clinical counseling and disease management. Her pioneering studies on modifier genes regulating γ-globin expression have provided mechanistic insights into disease amelioration, while her work on the pharmacogenomics of deferiprone has strengthened personalized therapy for β-thalassemia major.

In cancer genetics, she has identified mutational and inflammatory markers of breast cancer in Punjab, including novel mutations in male breast cancer, and elucidated pharmacogenomic predictors of cyclophosphamide response. Her research on tumor-suppressor microRNAs miR-181c and let-7c regulating KRAS via 3′UTR binding stands out as a significant contribution to molecular oncology.

With 194 publications, three edited books, and 32 book chapters, Prof. Munshi has led funded projects totaling ₹16.44 crore. As Punjab PI of the DBT National Mission on Pediatric Rare Genetic Diseases and Director of the DST–NIDHI iTBI–incubation cell, she has combined scientific excellence with innovation, entrepreneurship, and national capacity building.