Dr. Manu holds a doctorate in Cancer Biology and is a postgraduate in pharmaceutical sciences. He has close to 30 years of research experience in drug discovery and preclinical drug development. He did his Ph.D in 1994 from the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi and joined Dabur in the same year. He holds more than 100 patents and has published over 200 research articles besides writing on current issues in science as a key opinion leader. He has many active collaborations with academic, autonomous and other research organizations and has trained more than 500 biotechnology post-graduate and several Ph.D students. He holds memberships in several scientific committees.

He is the Co-Chair of the Screening Committee of DBT’s NER Twinning R&D Program and a member of Task Force Committee of ICMR besides being on the CII National Committee on Pharma. He is also a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of CSIR Institutes. He currently leads a team of over 100 scientists engaged in carrying out research in diverse areas such as cancer, chronic inflammation, cardiometabolic disease, skin ailments, cognitive health and diseases of liver and gut. With a sound understanding and experience of global regulatory requirements for IND submission, he has provided key inputs for developing regulatory strategies for preclinical studies to several discovery partners. During last five years, his team has demonstrated the benefits of complementary alternative therapies on strengthening of immunity, anti-aging, reduction of inflammation and improvement of cognitive health.

As Chief Scientific Mentor at Daivam, his current focus is on developing nutraceutical products for wellness and development of biomarkers that have both diagnostic and prognostic value.