The Appointments Committee of the Cabinet (ACC) has approved the extension in tenure of Prof K VijayRaghavan, Secretary, Department of Biotechnology (DBT) till February 2, 2018, till he attains the age of 64 years.

Professor Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan assumed charge as the Secretary of the Department of Biotechnology in January 2013. He was instrumental in the establishment of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, and steered it as its Director between 1997 and 2013.

He is a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, the Indian Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences of India. A fellow of the Royal Society (London), and an Associate Member of the EMBO, he was conferred the Padma Shri on January 26, 2013 and in April 2014 he was elected a Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences.

An alumnus of the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, he continued his post-doctoral work in the California Institute of Technology. Professor VijayRaghavan’s research primarily focuses on how neural- and muscle- circuits are made.