CUH Logo

Mobile menu open

Two top awards for Professor Ravi Gupta

Addenbrooke's doctor and University of Cambridge professor Ravindra Gupta has won the prestigious Translational Microbiology Prize as well as being named as one of the world's most influential researchers of 2022.

The prize is awarded by the Microbiology Society and recognises his significant contribution to research. In the same month, Ravi has been named as one of the world’s most influential researchers in the 2022 list of Highly Cited Researchers (opens in a new tab).

The list is published by global insight provider Clarivate and is a major accolade in the field of research.

Professor Ravi Gupta
Professor Ravindra Gupta

Drawing on his extensive work on HIV drug resistance, Professor Gupta and his team have played a vital role in the fight against COVID-19. During the pandemic they introduced SAMBA II testing at Addenbrooke’s which enabled faster diagnosis in order to provide the safest possible care to patients.

The team has also worked to understand how new variants of the virus arise and how they are transmitted.

I am thrilled and honoured to receive the Translational Microbiology Prize. For me, it represents a recognition of the work of my team and our collaborators over the years in applying scientific knowledge to combat viruses such as HIV-1 and SARS-CoV-2. This award from an internationally reputed organisation in infectious diseases also provides impetus to continue our endeavours with ever greater passion and commitment.

Professor Ravindra Gupta
A member of staff operating the SAMBA testing machine.
SAMBA testing machines

In 2020 Ravi was named as one of the 100 Most influential people by TIME (opens in a new tab).

In addition to his roles at Addenbrooke’s, he is a professor at the University of Cambridge, Professor of Clinical Microbiology at the Cambridge Institute for Therapeutic Immunology, holds a faculty position at the Africa Health Research Institute (AHRI) and was elected to Fellowship of the Academy of Medical Sciences UK in 2021.

Prof Ravi Gupta explains his work at CUH

Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijHt483oBMQ&t=2s

Video transcripts

00:00:09:19 - 00:00:10:14

Hi, I'm Ravi,

00:00:10:14 - 00:00:11:00

I study

00:00:11:00 - 00:00:12:01

infectious diseases

00:00:12:01 - 00:00:13:06

Addenbrooke’s hospital

00:00:13:06 - 00:00:15:01

and the University of Cambridge.

00:00:15:01 - 00:00:16:00

I've always been interested

00:00:16:00 - 00:00:16:23

in pushing boundaries

00:00:16:23 - 00:00:17:22

and extending the reaches

00:00:17:22 - 00:00:18:18

of our knowledge.

00:00:18:18 - 00:00:20:05

In the hospital setting,

00:00:20:05 - 00:00:21:02

that's about discovering

00:00:21:02 - 00:00:22:15

new tests, treatments

00:00:22:15 - 00:00:24:17

and even cures for patients.

00:00:24:17 - 00:00:26:05

At the university, scientists

00:00:26:05 - 00:00:28:06

work alongside medics at Addenbrooke's

00:00:28:06 - 00:00:29:03

to bring research

00:00:29:03 - 00:00:29:19

from the bench

00:00:29:19 - 00:00:32:11

to bedside, thereby saving lives.

00:00:32:11 - 00:00:33:21

When Covid-19 hit,

00:00:33:21 - 00:00:34:07

all of us

00:00:34:07 - 00:00:34:24

working in life

00:00:34:24 - 00:00:36:07

sciences shifted overnight

00:00:36:07 - 00:00:38:04

to combat this new threat.

00:00:38:04 - 00:00:39:02

Everything I'd learned

00:00:39:02 - 00:00:40:02

in a decade of studying

00:00:40:02 - 00:00:43:02

HIV in sub-Saharan Africa and the UK

00:00:43:06 - 00:00:46:14

was now relevant to fighting Covid-19.

00:00:46:16 - 00:00:47:18

I'm very proud of the way

00:00:47:18 - 00:00:49:13

we've worked together across the hospital

00:00:49:13 - 00:00:50:16

and the university,

00:00:50:16 - 00:00:52:03

developing new Covid

00:00:52:03 - 00:00:53:12

lab tests and scaling them up

00:00:53:12 - 00:00:54:12

for use on the frontline

00:00:54:12 - 00:00:55:24

with patients and staff,

00:00:55:24 - 00:00:57:13

studying the genetics of the virus

00:00:57:13 - 00:01:00:03

to track how it moves between people

00:01:00:03 - 00:01:01:21

and understanding the basic biology

00:01:01:21 - 00:01:03:16

of severe Covid inflammation,

00:01:03:16 - 00:01:06:07

so we can develop treatments for this.

00:01:06:09 - 00:01:07:23

There's still so much more to do,

00:01:07:23 - 00:01:09:12

we need an array of effective

00:01:09:12 - 00:01:10:23

tests, vaccines

00:01:10:23 - 00:01:12:06

and treatments

00:01:12:06 - 00:01:13:02

which are accessible

00:01:13:02 - 00:01:14:19

to people across the world.

00:01:14:19 - 00:01:16:15

But I'm excited about the next few months

00:01:16:15 - 00:01:17:24

because I know that these solutions

00:01:17:24 - 00:01:18:21

are within our grasp.