Dr. Naveen Kumar is a distinguished virologist and Director of the ICMR–National Institute of Virology (NIV), Pune, India with extensive expertise spanning fundamental virology, virus–host interactions, emerging viral diseases, and translational vaccine research.
He earned his core veterinary qualification (DVM) from the College of Veterinary Sciences, Bikaner, India and completed his Ph.D. in 2006 at Veterinary College, Hisar, and the Friedrich Loeffler Institute, Germany, under the DAAD Sandwich Ph.D. program. He subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, USA (2006–2011), and was a Visiting Fellow at the University of Edinburgh, UK. He joined ICAR in 2011 and served there until assuming directorship at ICMR-NIV in 2024.
Dr. Kumar’s research has significantly advanced understanding of viral dependence on host cellular pathways and mechanisms of viral adaptation. His work has identified multiple cellular kinases, metabolic enzymes, and epigenetic modifiers—including MNK1, SERCA, FPPS, eIF4E, ALK5, p38, ROCK1, and methyltransferases—as potential targets for host-directed antiviral strategies. His pioneering studies demonstrated that prolonged selective pressure against the virus-supportive host kinase p38α can drive viral adaptation through a switch to the alternative host factor p38γ, providing crucial insights into mechanisms underlying resistance to host-directed antivirals. He has also shown how metabolic pressure can shape viral evolution, selecting variants with enhanced fitness and replication fidelity that enable survival under extreme cellular microenvironment. He also developed a poxvirus VP39 methyltransferase mutant with enhanced mRNA stability and translational efficiency, offering potential applications in next-generation mRNA vaccine platforms.
Dr. Kumar led the first isolation and characterization of lumpy skin disease virus (LSDV) in India and developed the world’s first DIVA marker vaccine against LSD. This vaccine was subsequently commercialized and is now deployed in the field for mass immunization campaigns to control the disease. He has also contributed to the development of ANCOVAX, a vaccine for COVID-19 in animals.
A technical advisor to WHO and WOAH, Dr. Kumar has authored over 125 research publications and filed numerous patents. He serves as Section Editor of Virulence and as a reviewer for leading international journals, with his work bridging fundamental virology, antiviral discovery, and translational vaccine development.
