Dr. Dayananda Siddavattam Joins GITAM as its New Vice-Chancellor
He is, however, first and foremost, a researcher par excellence, with his areas of research being Molecular Biology, Environmental Microbiology, and Regulation of Gene Expression. He started his career as a researcher by working at the Institute for Genetics in the University of Bayreuth. After returning to India, he established a molecular biology lab at SK University, Anantapur, by obtaining competitive research grants from various national and international funding agencies such as the DST, DBT, The Wellcome Trust, UK, and British Council, UK. Besides establishing a functional lab, he brought international visibility to the unit by collaborating with reputed international institutions like the John Innes Centre, Norwich, UK. His laboratory made fundamental contributions to the field of Environmental Microbiology and succeeded in identifying genetic and biochemical principles behind the survival of microbes in highly polluted and harsh habitats. By pursuing these extensive research projects, he discovered novel genes and unique degradation pathways. He critically questioned existing theories on the evolution of bacterial phosphotriesterase (PTEs) and demonstrated their role in iron acquisition and outer membrane transport. Furthermore, he has been a consultant to several leading pharma companies and has successfully executed several highly goal-oriented industry sponsored research projects.