Gagandeep Kang, the executive director of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, has become the first Indian woman scientist to be selected as a fellow of the prestigious Royal Society, London.

Kang —known for her interdisciplinary research, development and prevention of enteric infections and their sequelae in children in India — has built national rotavirus and typhoid surveillance networks, established laboratories to support vaccine trials and conducted phase 1-3 clinical trials of the vaccine, according to a report by The Times of India.

“She (Kang) is investigating the complex relationships between infection, gut function and physical and cognitive development, and seeking to build stronger human immunology research in India,” said a statement on her biography from the Royal Society.

Yusuf Hamied, scientist and chairman of Indian pharmaceutical major Cipla, has also been awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal Society.

Other Indians elected fellows in the 2019 intake are: Prof Gurdyal Besra, Bardrick Professor of Microbial Physiology and Chemistry, Institute of Microbiology and Infection, School of Biosciences, University of Birmingham; Prof Manjul Bhargava, R Brandon Fradd Professor of Mathematics, Department of Mathematics, Princeton University; Prof Anant Parekh, Professor of Physiology, Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford; and Prof Akashay Venkatesh, Professor, School of Mathematics, Institute for Advanced Study.

Kang and four other Indians join the honorary ranks of Sir Issac Newton (1672), Charles Darwin (1839), Michael Faraday (1824), Albert Einstein (1921) and Alan Turing (1951).