Avadhesha Surolia (born 3 December 1947) is a glycobiologist at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore. He was born in Kishangarh, Rajasthan, India. Presently, he is an honorary professor at the Molecular Biophysics Unit, IISc and holds the Bhatnagar fellowship of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR). He is known for his work on lectin structure and interactions, orientation and dynamics of cell surface carbohydrate receptors and protein folding, diabetes, antimalarials and anti-cancer agents based on curcumin, flavonoids, etc. In addition, neuropathic pain, neurodegenerative disorders and the link between immunity and obsessive–compulsive disorder are areas of his current interest Education and career Surolia obtained his bachelor's degree in chemistry and biology from the University of Jodhpur in 1970. He earned his master's degree in biochemistry from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda in 1972. He completed his Ph.D. under the guidance of B. K. Bachhawat from Madras University in 1976. In 1978, he was awarded a Doctor of Science degree by Madras University. After his doctoral studies he joined Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (IICB), Calcutta, as a scientist in 1977 until 1981. He further held the position of assistant professor at IICB until 1986, after which he joined Molecular Biophysics Unit (MBU) at IISc as an associate professor (1986-1991). He was a professor at MBU, IISc from 1991 to 2013 and served as its chairman from 2000 to 2006. From 2006 to 2011 he held the directorship of India's prestigious research institute, National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi. During his tenure NII was recognized by Thomson Reuters Innovation Award in 2010 as the most innovative research institute nationally. He holds honorary professorship at Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. In recognition of his contributions to medicine and science, he was conferred an Honorary D.Sc. degree in 2013 by Queen's University, Belfast, UK. Scientific contributions Surolia has elucidated the role of glycosphingolipids as biological receptors through studies on lectin-glycolipid interactions using liposomes. He discovered novel blood group and tumor antigen specific lectins and made original contribution towards elucidation of the energetics and mechanism of protein-sugar recognition. He genetically re-engineered carbohydrate specificities of lectins imparting T-antigen tumor recognizing ability to peanut agglutinin. He delineated the molecular basis of carbohydrate recognition by legume lectins and demonstrated the novel C-H...O/N hydrogen bond in protein-sugar interactions. He studied thermal unfolding of lectins that led to the discovery of novel