Professor A B Pant is a seasoned toxicologist who started his research career over thirty-two years back at CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, India. He is an alumnus of IIT-Roorkee, Uttarakhand, currently serving as ‘Senior Principal Scientist at CSIR-Indian Institute of Toxicology Research (CSIR-IITR), Lucknow, India. He is also a “Professor” of the Academy of Scientific & Innovative Research (AcSIR), an Institution of National Importance set up by the Act of Parliament, Government of India. Professor Pant’s elegant research offers a much-sought framework for understanding neurodegenerative disorders, potential therapeutic interventions, and a strong base for interpreting human brain-specific neurotoxicity and developmental neurotoxicity using stem cells as models. His strategic international collaboration with the University of São Paulo, Brazil, has developed a strong roadmap for effective drug development and therapeutic interventions in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, a fatal neurodegenerative disorder. Being a nodal Scientist, Professor Pant coordinated the entire COVID-19-related activities, including Real-Time PCR-based testing, SARS-Co-V2 genome sequencing, sero-surveillance, and capacity building program at CSIR-IITR. Professor Pant was instrumental in establishing the “Africa Centre of Excellence in Materials, Product Development and Nanotechnology” at Makerere University, Uganda. He also dedicated himself to fostering contemporary science to Post-Graduate, PhD students, researchers, and university teachers. He is a lead GLP inspector for the Government of India and also serves as an expert for regulatory bodies, such as BIS, CDSCO, NABL, FSSAI, NGCMA, ICMR, DST, RCGM (DBT), Pharmacovigilance, etc. Professor Pant has won several awards and honors, including Vigyan Ratna Award-2010 (CST UP); Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize-2007 (ICMR); National Bioscience Award-2012 (DBT); Prof. KT Shetty Memorial Oration Award-2017 (Indian Academy of Neurosciences), Toxicology Promotion Award-2018 (National Academy of Sciences, Allahabad), DSc-h.c. (HNB Uttarakhand Medical Education University, Dehradun, Uttarakhand-2021), STOX/ASAW Gold Medal (STOX, India), etc. He has been elected Fellow of the Academy of Toxicological Sciences, USA, Society of Toxicology, India, Indian Academy of Neurosciences, Academy of Sciences for Animal Welfare, India, Academy of Environmental Biology India, etc. In view of his outstanding credibility in toxicology, Professor Pant has been included as a global toxicologist in the ‘European and United Kingdom Register of Toxicologists’. He currently serves as Chairman and Member of several National and International Committees/ Boards of Government Institutes and Bodies. He also serves as a member of the editorial board of several reputable journals.
