Pune-based Dr Shekhar, Dr Sharmila Mande make history as IISc’s first husband-wife recipients of Distinguished Alumni Award

Dr Sharmila, a pioneering computational biologist and leader in bioinformatics, will be conferred the award in December. Together, they made history as the first couple to be recognised with this distinguished accolade.

Dr Sharmila Mande recalled that their story began as classmates during their MSc in Physics at Nagpur University. Later, both went on to pursue PhD at IISc – Dr Shekhar Mande in the Molecular Biophysics Unit under Prof M Vijayan, and Dr Sharmila in the Department of Physics under Prof M A Vishwamitra.

While Dr Shekhar Mande explored the structures of proteins, Dr Sharmila studied DNA, but their shared fascination with how physics, chemistry, and biology merge to explain life’s complexity brought them closer — both as scientists and as individuals.

They married during their PhD years and welcomed their son while completing their theses.

“Balancing research and parenthood wasn’t easy,” Dr Sharmila said and acknowledged the support of their families and nurturing environment at IISc, which made it possible. Both received their doctorates in 1991 and went on to do post-doctoral research in the Netherlands and the USA before returning to India, determined to build scientific careers at home.

The return, however, brought unexpected hurdles, recalled Dr Mande.

“Institutions were reluctant to employ both of us in the same city,” Dr Sharmila said.

Dr Shekhar joined IMTech, Chandigarh, while Dr Sharmila held a temporary CSIR pool officer position. Despite a strong research record, her job applications were repeatedly rejected, and her PhD in Physics was seen as a limitation rather than a strength.

“However, Dr Shekhar would also encourage me to select an unconventional path,” said Dr Sharmila, who set up and led the Bioinformatics R&D Division at Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) in 2001.

In a remarkable gesture of partnership, Dr Shekhar resigned from his permanent position to join her in Hyderabad, later joined the Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnosis as a scientist, and then served as Director, National Centre for Cell Science, Pune. Subsequently, he became the Director General, CSIR, and Secretary, DSIR, Government of India.

At TCS, Dr Sharmila built one of India’s first large-scale computational biology research programmes and, with pioneering work on the human microbiome, developed nearly 100 patented algorithms. The effort was to translate research into diagnostics and healthcare solutions. She continues as advisor to TCS Research and visiting professor at top institutes like IITs, IISER, IIIT, and holds the AYUSH Distinguished Scientist Chair from the Ministry of Ayush.

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