Mysore/Mysuru: Dr. Vikas Chonira has been awarded The Cain Fellowship Award for 2021, instituted by Texas A & M University, USA, for his creation of engineered protein therapeutics which are drugs that are genetically engineered versions of naturally occurring human proteins, against the COVID-19 Virus.

The award carries a prize money of 25,000 dollars and an opportunity to academically impact the scientific field.

Dr. Vikas is the son of Chonira T. Kariappa, ex-Chief Engineer from Shipping Corporation of India/retired DGM, Mangalore Chemicals and Fertilisers, and Dr. Geetha Kariappa (Pulianda), Professor, 

SJCE, Mysuru. He is the grandson of Pulianda late W. Ganapathi and late Ivy Ganapathi, Mysuru and 

Chonira late K. Thammaiah and late Gangamma,  Hudikeri, Kodagu.

Vikas was a student of St. Aloysius High School and St. Aloysius College, Mangaluru. He completed his MBBS degree from Kasturba Medical College, Mangaluru and acquired his International Physician Certificate – ECFMG from USA. He completed his Post-Graduation Studies in Genetics and earned his Ph.D in Molecular Biology, from the Department of Biological Sciences, Waikato University, New Zealand, on a full scholarship, in 2018. He worked on his Doctoral thesis, Engineering and Characterisation of Anti-progesterone OBodies. 

OBodies are a new class of high-specificity binding proteins with several important advantages over the conventional antibody approach. He was very successful in engineering his first commercial OBodies, while earning his Ph.D side by side.

Vikas is a molecular biologist, a protein engineering specialist with more than 7 years of international experience, who is currently working as a Research scientist, in the Department of Microbial Pathogenesis & Immunology, Texas A & M College of Medicine, Texas, USA. Earlier, he worked as a Post-doctoral research fellow, in The Feinberg School of Medicine, North Western University, Chicago, USA.