Did You Know… Prof. Bandyopadhyay’s research in algorithmic optimisation led to the discovery of a genetic marker for breast cancer, HIV, and Alzheimer?
In 2017, Prof. Bandyopadhyay was awarded the most noteworthy honour of the Infosys Prize in Engineering and Computer Science, given in recognition of her work in algorithmic optimisation and its major contribution to the study of biological data. She found a genetic marker for breast cancer, HIV and cancer frequently coexist, and white matter plays a role in Alzheimer’s illness. Her novel computer programme design makes it possible for the computer to automatically look for patterns and information in huge data sets. In order to find intriguing patterns that scientists and engineers can use to make new discoveries and improve health and social services, prodigious amounts of data are generated by contemporary scientific instruments such as sequencers and information networks. These data must be analysed quickly, sometimes at real-time speeds.
Currently, Sanghamitra is on the Prime Ministers’ Science, Technology and Innovation Advisory Council (PM-STIAC). It is a broad council that aids the Government of India’s Office of the Principal Scientific Adviser (PSA) in understanding challenges, formulating interventions, creating a visionary roadmap, and advising the Prime Minister accordingly. It does this by assessing the state of particular science and technology domains. The council is in charge of the Deep Ocean, National Language Translation, A.I., and Quantum Frontier missions, each of which is used to address socio economic issues in India and promote sustainable growth through technological advancements and partnerships between the public and private sectors in the context of the current and future ecosystem.
Sanghamitra worked in numerous universities and research facilities before joining the PM-STIAC, including the Los Alamos National Laboratory in the United States, the University of Maryland in Baltimore, Heidelberg University in Germany, the University of Roma in Italy, the International Centre for Theoretical Physics in Italy, and the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia. Her research fields include evolutionary computation, pattern recognition, machine learning, and bioinformatics, and she has received numerous awards, including the Young Scientist Award from the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) in 2000, the Young Engineer Award from the Indian National Academy of Engineers (INAE) in 2002, the Swarnajayanti Fellowship from the Department of Science and Technology in 2006, the Humboldt Fellowship in 2009, Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize (second woman scientist to receive the honour) in Engineering Sciences in 2010, the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Fellowship in 2016, the The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS) Prize for Engineering Sciences in 2018, and the Padma Shri for Science and Engineering by the Government of India in 2022.
Sanghamitra Bandypadhyay is a computer scientist specialising in computational biology from West Bengal, India with a Ph.D in Computer Science from the Indian Statistical Institute (ISI) and has completed her post-doctorate at the University of Texas, Arlington in the USA, Ben-Gurion University in Israel, and the Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics (ICTP) in Italy. She is a professor at the ISI Kolkata and the Indian Statistical Institute’s first women Director since 2015. She is in charge of all five ISI centres across the country.
Prof. Bandyopadhyay’s methodological advances in clustering algorithms reduce the time it takes computer programmes to converge on an optimal solution while improving solution quality in the face of multiple competing objectives. This ability to efficiently evaluate multi-criteria clustering alternatives is critical for its use in feature selection, gene selection, microarray data clustering, protein module discovery, segmenting remote sensing images, process plan generation in reconfigurable manufacturing systems, and view selection in data warehousing.
She is a tenacious researcher with a systematic problem solving mindset, a mentor to future researchers, and a leader in active research in bridging technology and healthcare and a never-ending desire to empower researchers with tools to create change and thrive in it. Sanghamitra Bandypadhyay puts it pointedly: “We are doing some very critical research in India. All we need is a little more encouragement and support from the government so more and more scholars can turn to research and not move away from the industry.”
Written by Simon Sundaraj Kühn
