Dr. Sharmila Bapat has assumed additional charge as Director, NCCS on 17 April 2024. She holds a Master’s degree in Microbiology and a PhD in Biochemistry, from the Pune University, and has been a faculty member at NCCS since January 2001.

Recognized as a pioneer in cancer stem cell biology, her research aims towards understanding the cellular and molecular pathways underlying ovarian cancer to generate new knowledge and opportunities in precision cancer therapy. Besides several research publications she also has been granted a US patent and two Indian patents to her credit.

Dr. Bapat is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India (Allahabad), the Indian Academy of Sciences (Bengaluru) and the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences. Her scientific achievements are recognized through several national and international awards and honors, most recent of which is the Shri RJ Kinarivala Cancer Research Award awarded by the Gujarat Cancer Society in 2023. She is also a recipient of a USIEF Fulbright Fellowship and Outreach Lecturing Fund (OLF) Award, TATA Innovation Fellowship Award from DBT, the R.M. Tiwari Research Oration Award, Prem Nath Wahi Award from ICMR, National Woman Bioscience Award from DBT, and a Group Award from The Cytometry Society, India.

Sharmila Bapat has served as a member of several academic and policy making committees including Council of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Bengaluru), AACR (American Association of Cancer Research) Advisory Sub-committee in India, Executive Committee of the Indian Association of Cancer Research (IACR), Governing Board of the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI University), Chair of the Technical Evaluation Committee for Cancer Biology (DBT) and member of other taskforces of ICMR and DBT.