L'Oreal-UNESCO award for Women in Science Indira Nath (14 January 1938 – 24 October 2021) [1] was an Indian immunologist.
She worked in the area of infectious diseases, particularly leprosy, with Professor John Turk at the Royal College of Surgeons and Dr. RJW Rees at the National Institute for Medical Research, London.
[5] “Still, it was quite an exciting time to come back because you felt you could really play a role in building up research,” she said in an interview published on Nature Medicine in 2002.
She was one of 100 scientists gathered by Rajiv Gandhi when he became Prime Minister to make suggestions to improve Indian science.
Her research is focused on the cellular immune responses in human leprosy as well as nerve damage in the disease.
In a televised interview in the programme Eureka by India's state TV Doordashan, Indira said that the stigma around leprosy never affected her.
She was Member, Scientific Advisory Committee to Cabinet, Foreign Secretary INSA (1995–97), Council Member (1992–94, 1998–2006) and Vice President (2001–03) of the National Academy of Sciences (India), Allahabad, and chairperson, Women Scientists Programme, Department of Science and technology, India (2003).