Princeton Foundation for Peace and Learning is pleased to welcome Prof M Vijjulatha as the Head of National Scholarship / Fellowship selection committee for a period of three years starting from the academic session 2025. Dr Vijjulatha is currently a Senior Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Osmania University with over two decades of experience pioneering structure-based drug design.
Previously, Prof Vijjulatha served as the Vice Chancellor at Telangana Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam (now renamed as Veeranari Chakali Ilamma Women’s University). In this role, Prof Vijjulatha championed initiatives expanding research opportunities for women in STEM. She started many skill enhancement courses like BBA, B.Sc. Public Health and Nutrition and B.Sc. Medical lab Technology which fetches placement to students. She also initiated M.Sc. Food Science and M.Sc. Data Science, that helps the girl students to attain their higher education in latest courses. As the Head of the institute, she initiated Mentor-Mente program for tutoring students for women empowerment.
Prof Vijjulatha’s research focuses on developing novel inhibitors targeting wide-ranging therapeutic pathways, with particular emphasis on cancer therapeutics and enzyme inhibition mechanisms. Her laboratory has successfully designed molecules inhibiting key targets including PARP, dihydrofolate reductase, MAP kinases, JAK-STAT pathway regulators, 5HT7 receptor tyrosine kinases (EGFR/VEGFR), and anti-proliferation agents like DNA intercalators and tubulin polymerase. This work has resulted in 126 peer-reviewed publications, 3 patent applications, and multiple grants from UGC, DST, CSIR, and DBT.
Prof Vijjulatha’s teaching philosophy centers on connecting theoretical concepts to practical applications, having mentored over 30 graduate students who have gone on to positions at leading research institutions and pharmaceutical companies. So far, she has supervised 15 PhD’s and is presently guiding 8 students for their doctoral degree.
“Prof Vijjulatha’s academic achievements, coupled with her inspiring life journey, makes her an ideal leader of our National Scholarship / Fellowship Selection Committee. We look forward to strengthening our women empowerment through higher education program under the able guidance of Prof Vijjulatha.” said Dr Raminder Pathak, Chairperson, Princeton Foundation for Peace and Learning.
