Dr. C.M. Gupta, Director, is the chief executive of the Institute. He is widely recognised in India and abroad for his valuable contributions to basic research in chemical and biological disciplines, as applied to drug research, basic membrane biology and R&D; management. His current broad interests are in target-specific drug discovery and designing: covering molecular level understanding of pathophysiology of disease/disease causing organisms, genomics, proteomics, targeted-specific screening of chemical libraries, lead optimization and drug development conforming to international standards.

Dr. Gupta has made significant research contributions specifically to the area of basic biology covering membrane phospholipid organization and dynamics (in malaria and cancer) and liposomised drug delivery for treatment of tuberculosis as well as fungal, leishmania and filaria infections. His own research group is currently engaged in characterization of microfilament structure in kinetoplastida.

Dr. Gupta has made significant research contributions specifically to the area of basic biology covering membrane phospholipid organization and dynamics (in malaria and cancer) and liposomised drug delivery for treatment of tuberculosis as well as fungal, leishmania and filaria infections. His own research group is currently engaged in characterization of microfilament structure in kinetoplastida.

Dr. Gupta was born in Bharatpur (Rajasthan) on 1st September, 1944. He completed his M.Sc. in Chemistry from Jaipur University in 1966 and obtained his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry for his work carried out at CDRI in 1969 to be then followed by a Post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. John G. Moffat at Institute of Molecular Biology, Syntex Research, Palo Alto, California during 1973-75 and later having the distinction of working as a Research Associate with Noble Laureate Prof. H.G. Khorana at MIT, Cambridge, USA during 1975-1978. He had joined CDRI as a Scientist in 1978 and was engaged in research in Membrane Biochemistry/Biophysics and served as Head of the Membrane Biology Division. He played a crucial role in directing basic research activities at the Institute as the Area Coordinator of the programme 'Generation of New Leads'.

Dr. C.M. Gupta took over as Director of Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) on 3rd April, 1997 after having served as Director of a sister CSIR laboratory, the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH), Chandigarh from April, 1992 to April, 1997. He is credited to have made significant contributions to the modernisation of IMTECH laboratories. Currently he is engaged in modernisation of CDRI's research facilities and infrastructure. Inspite of his busy schedule as the chief executive of CDRI and engagements in scientific affairs in the country and outside, he continues his research interests by regularly spending time in his laboratory with his research group.

Dr. Gupta has received several prestigious honours and awards, the most significant being, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (1985), FICCI Award (1994-95), Ranbaxy Research Foundation Award (1985), Om Prakash Bhasin Award (1999), Goyal Prize (2000), INSA Young Scientists Medal in Chemistry (1974). Besides, he has also been conferred fellowships of Indian National Science Academy, Indian Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Medical Sciences and Third World Academy of Sciences. He is also on the board of several national and international academic bodies, national and international committees . Dr. Gupta has published about 120 research papers in national and international journals and filed 5 patents. Some selected publications (last 10 years) are:

1. Tuftsin bearing liposomes as drug vehicles in treatment of experimental aspergillosis. FEBS Lett. 326, 56-58, 1993.
   
   

2. HSP 70-like protein in rhesus erythrocyte cytosol and its interactions with membrane skeleton under heat and pathologic stress. J. Biol. Chem. 268, 21344-21350, 1993.
   
   

3. Tuftsin bearing liposomes as rifampicin vehicles in treatment of tuberculosis in mice. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 38, 588-593, 1994.
   
   

4. Chloroquine encapsulated in malaria-infected erythrocyte-specific antibody bearing liposomes effectively controls chloroquine resistant Plasmodium berghei infections in mice. Antimicrob. Agents Chemother. 39, 180-184, 1995.
   
   

5. Transbilayer phosphatidylethanolamine movements in yeast plasma membrane. Evidence for protein-mediated, energy dependent mechanism(s).
   Eur. J. Biochem., 240, 798-806, 1996.

6. Role of the actin cytoskeleton in regulating the outer phosphatidylethanolamine levels in yeast plasma membrane. Eur. J. Biochem., 254, 202-206, 1998.
   
   

7. Asymmetric distribution of phosphatidylethanolamine in C. albicans: Possible mediation by CDR-I, a multidrug transporter belonging to ATP binding cassette (ABC) superfamily. Yeast, 15, 111-121, 1999.
   
   

8. Liposome-mediated cytosolic delivery of macromolecules and its possible use in vaccine development. Eur. J. Biochem. 267, 3946-3956, 2000.
   
   

9. Tuftsin-bearing liposomes as chloroquine in treatment of macrophage-based infections. Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, 41(8), 135-146, 2000.
   

10. Antibody-bearing liposomes as chroloquine in treatment of murine malaria. In: Methods in Molecular Medicine, Vol. 26. Drug Targeting (Francis, G.E. & Delgado, C., eds.) Humana Press Inc., Totowa, NJ, pages 227-239, 2000.