Rate My Professor Prof. E.M. Shankar

Prof. E. M. Shankar is a Professor of Immunology and Microbiology in the Department of Biotechnology at the Central University of Tamil Nadu, Thiruvarur, where he joined in 2016 as Associate Professor and was promoted to Professor in 2019. He currently also serves as Dean (Research). An alumnus of the PG Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, University of Madras, he holds a BSc in Microbiology (1998), MSc in Microbiology (2002), and PhD in Microbiology (2007) from the University of Madras. He completed postdoctoral research as a scientist at the Department of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Linköping University, Sweden (2009-2011), investigating dendritic cell-T cell interactions in HIV infection. Prior roles include Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology at the University of Malaya Medical Center, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2011-2016), and Assistant Professor at the YRG Centre for AIDS Research and Education, Chennai (2006-2008). He is a certified Medical Microbiologist and Fellow of the Royal College of Pathologists (FRCPath, 2019) and the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB, 2019).

His research focuses on infection biology, encompassing anti-pathogen immunity, inflammation, novel immune biomarkers, and immune monitoring in chronic viral infections including HIV, HCV, HBV, and dengue, as well as SARS-CoV-2. Leading the Infection and Inflammation Research Lab, he has authored over 160 peer-reviewed publications, accumulating approximately 5,000 citations, an h-index of 40, and i10-index of 105. Key works include "Complement opsonization of HIV affects primary infection of human colorectal mucosa and subsequent activation of T cells" (eLife, 2020), "T-cell exhaustion in chronic infections: Reversing the state of exhaustion and reinvigorating optimal protective immune responses" (Frontiers in Immunology, 2018), "Metabolomic atlas of dengue virus-infected individuals unveils unique bioactive lipid imprints in the systemic circulation" (PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases, 2026), and studies on SARS-CoV-2 variants (PLOS One, 2026). Shankar has received the Outstanding Research Scientist Award (Antiviral Research Society India, 2022), Distinguished Scientist Award (2023), Lifetime Achievement Research Scientist Award (2024), and serves as President of the Infectious Diseases Society of India (2024), with editorial roles at Frontiers in Immunology, PLoS One, Scientific Reports, and others.