Prof. Govindasamy Mugesh
Ph. D., 1999, Department of Chemistry

Prof. Govindasamy Mugesh is Professor in the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry from IIT Bombay in 1999.

While completing his Ph.D., Prof. Mugesh worked with IIT Bombay as Research Associate in the Department of Chemistry during 1998-2000. During 2000-2006, Prof. Mugesh joined the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry, Technical University, Braunschweig in Germany; in 2001, he worked as a Visiting AvH Fellow (with Prof. Helmut Sies) at the Institute of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at the Heinrich-Heine University in Germany and as Skaggs Postdoctoral Fellow (with Prof. K. C. Nicolaou) in the Department of Chemistry and The Skaggs Institute for Chemical Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, CA, USA. Prof. Mugesh joined IISc Bangalore in 2006 as Assistant Professor in the Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry.

Prof. Mugesh and his group made significant contributions to the area of artificial enzymes including and nanoisozymes. The group rationally designed artificial enzymes that can modulate the cellular redox signalling pathways. Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS), products of molecular oxygen in the respiratory system, play crucial roles in redox biology and cell signaling. An excessive amount of ROS induces oxidative stress, resulting in damage to biomolecules such as DNA, proteins and lipids. These damages lead to various disorders such as neurodegeneration,  cardiovascular diseases, Cancer and aging. Prof. Mugesh’s group has pioneered the concept of artificial enzymes as redox modulators and mediators of cellular redox signaling. The unique property of these small molecules and nanomaterials combined with their very low toxicity profile make them suitable not only for the regulation of the biological redox processes, but also for the development of therapeutic candidates to combat diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases that are associated with oxidative stress.

Prof. Mugesh has been awarded SASTRA-CNR Rao Award in Chemistry & Materials Science; Infosys Prize in Physical Sciences, Infosys Science Foundation; CRSI Silver Medal, Chemical Research Society of India; National Prize for Research on Interfaces of Chemistry and Biology; Fellow, Indian National Science Academy; J. C. Bose National Fellowship, SERB/DST, Government of India; Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, CSIR, Government of India; Fellow, The National Academy of Sciences, India; AstraZeneca Excellence in Chemistry Award – A Global Award by AstraZeneca; Fellow, Indian Academy of Sciences; and Swarnajayanti Fellowship, DST, Government of India.


Special Memories

“I went to IIT Bombay in 1994 without informing my parents to attend the Ph.D. interviews. IIT Bombay was the only Institute to which I applied for my Ph.D. Fortunately, I got the position, but coming from a family of farmers, it was a remarkable transformation. IIT Bombay, with an unbiased academic environment, showed me the way to understand myself. I stayed in Hostel 1 - Queen of the Campus - which increased my self-confidence”.