K.S. Hegde Medical Academy doctor gets NASI fellowship

MANGALURU: Lekha Pandit, Professor of Neurology and Director of the Center for Advanced Neurological

: Lekha Pandit, Professor of Neurology and Director of the Center for Advanced Neurological Science at K.S. Hegde Medical Academy, under Nitte (Deemed to be University) has been awarded the fellowship of the National Academy of Science India, under the Union Department of Science and Technology.

Dr. Pandit is a clinician and basic science researcher whose three decades of work on demyelinating disorders such as multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica, has remarkably improved the understanding, diagnosis and treatment of these severe diseases in India.

She through her pioneering work has shown the increasing prevalence of these diseases among Indians, determined the genetic and environmental factors related and developed and patented the first diagnostic assay for these conditions in India, a release from the university said.

At K.S. Hegde Hospital in Mangaluru, she runs one of the largest registries for these diseases in the Indian subcontinent visited by patients from different parts of India and abroad.

Dr. Pandit is one among 150 Indian women scientists and the first from Dakshina Kannada to have been bestowed this national honor.

Since its inception in 1930, NASI has selected nearly 2,000 fellows from various fields of science for their prominent research in science and technology and for furthering societal education in science, the release added.