Dr Varun Aggarwala Awarded Prestigious Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant

Dr Varun Aggarwala, Assistant Professor at Jio Institute and Principal Investigator of the Microbiome Therapeutics Lab, has been honoured with the inaugural 2025 Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant by the Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF). This esteemed grant will support his pioneering research on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) reservoirs across the Indian population, risk profiling, and microbiome engineering solutions for recovery and reset. ANRF will provide funding of up to ₹60 lakh, plus overheads, over a period of three years to advance this critical research.

The latest accolade for Dr Aggarwala and his team builds upon previous successful grants from the Department of Biotechnology (DBT). These include the prestigious 2024 DBT Ramalingaswami Research Fellowship, which allocates up to ₹89 lakh over three years to support research into defined Fecal Microbiota Transplants, as well as a 2024 DBT Research Fellowship, which provides ₹18 lakh over two years to identify novel personalised probiotic candidates.

Dr Aggarwala’s research is instrumental in addressing pressing questions about complex microbial communities across different body sites, including the gut, skin, and vaginal tract. His work is aimed at developing transformative therapeutic solutions for gut health, immune function, dermatological conditions, and neuropsychiatric disorders, ultimately improving public health outcomes. This includes efforts to reset AMR through microbiome-based interventions, with a particular focus on infant health.
Adding to the accolades, Anish Ganju, Dr Aggarwala’s research assistant, was awarded the Best Poster Prize for his research on AMR at an internationally prestigious conference held at IIT Madras.

Jio Institute congratulates Dr Aggarwala and his team and looks forward to their continued contributions to scientific advancement and public health.