Jayanta Haldar is a Professor at the Antimicrobial Research Laboratory in the New Chemistry Unit (NCU) and School of Advanced Materials (SAMat), Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bengaluru, India. He joined New Chemistry Unit at JNCASR as an Assistant Professor in 2009, and subsequently became an Associate Professor in 2015.
He completed his undergraduate training at the Presidency College, University of Calcutta and he received his Master of Science and PhD from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore in 2005. He then pursued his Postdoctoral Research at the Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, USA till 2009. Jayanta is the Editor-in-Chief of ACS Infectious Diseases and has served as a member of editorial boards of various international journals in the field of infectious diseases and medicinal chemistry, such as RSC Medicinal Chemistry (till July 2023), ACS Infectious Diseases (till July 2023), Biomacromolecules, Microbial Pathogenesis, etc.
His laboratory works towards developing smart biomaterials which aid in preventing the spread of infectious diseases, as well as cure infection and enhance wound healing. Jayanta’s research integrates an interdisciplinary Medicinal Chemistry and Chemical Biology-based approach for understanding and countering Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), development of novel therapeutics and newer strategies for tackling infections caused by pathogenic bacteria, fungi and viruses. His multifaceted research has been published in high-impact international journals and has led to many national and international patents. His research has been highlighted in national science museums, and media such as BBC News, ACS Chemical Engineering News, Atlas of Science, Scientific American, The Telegraph, etc.
He has received several awards and honours such as the Ramanujan Fellowship (Govt. of India), Sheik Saqr Career Award Fellowship, 8th National Award for Technology Innovation from Ministry of Chemicals & Fertilizers (Govt. of India), CDRI Excellence in Drug Research Award in Chemistry, Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI) Bronze Medal, Material Research Society of India (MRSI) Medal etc.
Jayanta is an elected Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc) Bangalore, Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) UK, and Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) Delhi.