The Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize was instituted in 1953 by late Major General Amir Chand for significant research contribution by young scientists in biomedical sciences. This prize is awarded for the best published research work on any subject in the field of biomedical science including clinical research. The award for the year 2014 is being presented to Dr. Nooruddin Khan, Lab of Immunology and Infectious Diseases, Department of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, School of Life Sciences, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad for the research work on 'Molecular mechanism of vaccine induced protective immunity'. The findings of Dr. Khan's Group reveal that yellow fever vaccine (YF17D) activates GCN2 to program dendritic cells to initiate autophagy and enhanced antigen-presentation to T cells. These findings have potential bearing for the design and development of novel vaccine formulation against emerging infectious diseases.

The JALMA Trust Fund Oration Award for Leprosy and Other Mycobacterial Diseases was instituted by National JALMA institute for Leprosy & Other Mycobacterial Diseases, Agra for scientists who have contributed significantly in the field of leprosy and other mycobacterial diseases. The prize for year 2014 is being presented to Dr. Beenu Joshi, ICMR-National JALMA Institute for Leprosy & Other Mycobacterial Diseases, Agra for the research work on 'Unravelling the mechanism of T cell unresponsiveness in leprosy and TB, search for new antigens for the diagnosis and vaccine candidate for TB'. Research work of Dr. Beenu Joshi revealed mechanism of T cell activation leading to unresponsiveness and role of calcium signalling and MAP kinase pathways in the survival of bacteria and disease pathogenesis in TB and leprosy. For TB diagnosis, Ag85c antigen was noted to have diagnostic potential for paediatric TB. Certain proteins in Mycobacterium tuberculosis isolates were shown with increased intensity which could prove important for TB diagnosis or as vaccine candidate(s).

The ICMR Prize for Biomedical Research for Scientists Belonging to Underprivileged Communities was instituted by ICMR in 1983 for scientists belonging to Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe/Backward Classes and who have contributed significantly to the field of biomedical sciences. This prize is offered to a research scientist for his/her outstanding and sustained contributions in any field of biomedical sciences. The Award for the year 2014 is being presented to Dr. Kumpati Premkumar, Department of Biomedical Science, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirappalli for the research work on 'Doxorubicin conjugated gold nanorods: A sustained drug delivery carrier for improved anticancer therapy'. His research focuses on understanding the genetic basis of cancer and developing nanobased strategies for combating cancer, overcoming the drawbacks of classical chemotherapy. Dr. Premkumar's group developed size tunable doxorubicin conjugated gold nanorods as nanotheranostics, with better cellular internalization, limited cardiotoxicity and complete cancer regression when subjected to laser mediated hyperthermia.

The ICMR Dr. H. B. Dingley Memorial Award was instituted in 1988 by Smt. Deepika Kumar in the memory of her father late Dr. H. B. Dingley. This prize is awarded to an Indian scientist for outstanding contribution in the field of Paediatrics. The award for the year 2014 is being presented to Dr. Jitendra Kumar Sahu, Department of Paediatrics, Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research, Chandigarh for the work on 'Paediatric neurology research'. Dr. Sahu's research work on effectiveness and safety of donepezil in boys with fragile X syndrome was published as a double-blind, randomized study. His research work on children with epilepsy receiving long-term valproate monotherapy demonstrated high prevalence of subclinical hypothyroidism and advocated the need of its monitoring.