The Professor B. K. Aikat Oration Award was instituted by Dr Meera Aikat in 1984 in memory of her husband Prof. B.K. Aikat, a biomedical scientist. This award is conferred upon a scientist for the research work carried out in the field of Tropical Diseases. The Award for the year 2010 is being presented to Prof. Rashmi Kumar, Professor of Pediatrics, Department of Pediatrics, King Georges Medical University, Lucknow for her research work on 'Studies on tropical infections in children'. Dr Kumar has consistently focused on tropical infectious diseases of the nervous system, including Japanese encephalitis (JE), dengue and tuberculous meningitis. Her special aptitude lies in developing clinical prediction rules which help in differentiating similar illnesses without sophisticated laboratory tests - an approach especially suited to resource poor settings. Her work over the last five years included an in depth study documenting the clinical and epidemiological features of JE seen in children hospitalized during the 2005 epidemic. She also conducted the randomized controlled trial of the antiviral drug ribavirin in JE. Dr Kumar observed that dengue infection seen in this region often presents as febrile encephalopathy. Dengue was also shown to be a cause of acute hepatic failure. She highlighted the finding of non pitting oedema and abnormal liver enzymes in dengue. She also studied clinical features and outcome in BCG vaccinated and unvaccinated children with tuberculous meningitis, showing that vaccinated children had milder disease with better outcome. Dr Kumar was also recipient of the ICMR H.B. Dingley Award in the past. She is a Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences. She has 92 publications in international and national journals.

Dr M.N. Sen Oration Award was instituted in 1977 by Dr K.N. Sen, former Professor of Medicine, School of Tropical Medicine, Kolkata in memory of his brother Shri M.N. Sen. This award is given to a scientist for the sustained research work carried out in the field of Practice of Medicine (clinical, laboratory or therapeutic). The award for the year 2010 is being presented to Dr Chandrasekharan Kesavadas, Additional Professor, Department of Imaging Science & Interventional Radiology, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Thiruvananthapuram for his research work on '(i) Real time functional MR imaging (fMRI) for presurgical evaluation of prediatric epilepsy (ii) Glioma grading: sensitivity, specificity, positive and negative predictive values of diffusion and perfusion imaging, and (iii) Susceptibility weighted imaging in cerebral hypoperfusion-can we predict increased oxygen extraction fraction?'. The epilepsy imaging protocol developed by his team has helped in the management of several patients with intractable epilepsy. He along with computer scientists has developed newer computational software for detection of subtle cortical dysplasia. His team has applied advanced neuroimaging protocols such diffusion tensor imaging, perfusion imaging, magnetic resonance spectroscopy and susceptibility weighted imaging in patients with brain tumour to understand the type & grade of the tumour. The technique of susceptibility weighted imaging has been used to understand the neurophysiology of brain including oxygen extraction fraction in patients with stroke. Dr Kesavadas has to his credit more than 150 publications in national and international journals.

The Dr Y.S. Narayana Rao Oration Award was instituted by Smt. Kamala Narayana Rao in 1972, in memory of her husband, late Dr Y.S. Narayana Rao, former Director of King Institute of Preventive Medicine, Guindy, Chennai. It is given to a scientist for carrying out sustained research work in the field of Microbiology. The award for the year 2010 is being presented to Dr Praveen Rishi, Reader- Associate Professor, Department of Microbiology, Panjab University, Chandigarh for her research work on 'Salmonella-host interactions and possible biotherapeutic intervention'. In view of the differential expression of virulence traits under in vivo and in vitro conditions, her research interest has been directed towards the Salmonellamacrophage interactions in order to understand the survival strategies of the organism in response to different kinds of environmental stresses, which the microorganisms encounter inside the host. In this context, outermembrane proteins which get coordinately expressed under the conditions mimicking the in vivo situations have been identified. Work using probiotics and prebiotics indicated that these may act by different mechanisms involved in affording protection against Salmonella-induced liver damage. Additionally, in view of the emerging drug resistance in the pathogen, she evaluated the biotherapeutic potential of products from eukaryotic (Paneth cell cryptdin) origin. She documented that cryptdin-2, a cationic antimicrobial peptide, has the therapeutic potential against experimental Salmonellosis. Dr Rishi has published over 90 research papers in national and international journals.

The Dr P.N. Raju Oration Award was instituted in 1965 by Dr Narsimha Raju, a Medical Practitioner of Vishakhapatnam. This prize is awarded to a scientist for his-her work in any subject of national importance in the field of Medicine or Public Health. The award for the year 2010 is being presented to Dr Shyam Sundar, Professor of Medicine, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi for his research work on 'Treatment of visceral leishmaniasis in India'. Dr Shyam Sundar has made seminal contributions in the field of visceral leishmaniasis (VL). He pioneered the application of rK39 immunochromatographic rapid test in the diagnosis of VL. He introduced the oral drug miltefosine for the treatment of kala-azar which led to its approval in 2002 in India. He revolutionized the treatment of VL by introducing single dose treatment with liposomal amphotericin B, and more recently a highly successful short course multidrug treatment for VL. His innovations in diagnosis and treatment are recommended by the World Health Organization and employed in the national programmes. He established an unit of infectious disease at BHU with special emphasis on leishmaniasis. He developed a field unit in Bihar which imparts free diagnosis and treatment for VL. His facility is used to train people from all over the world. He has authored the chapter of Leishmaniasis in Harisson's Principal of Internal Medicine. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians of London, National Academy of Medical Sciences, New Delhi and also the Fellow of all the three science academies of India. Dr Shyam Sundar has published 440 papers in international and national journals.