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Kartik Sunagar

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Science · Evolution · Venom

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Associate Professor at IISc. Evolutionary venomics, snakebite therapy, molecular toxinology — where science meets urgency.

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The Detective

Scientist, naturalist, photographer

Kartik Sunagar
103Publications
6.5K+Citations
h-40h-index
21Awards

I am an Associate Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where I lead the Evolutionary Venomics Lab. My lab investigates how ecology and evolution shape animal venoms across 100+ lineages, from snakes and spiders to cnidarians and cephalopods.

My work translates venom biology into urgent therapeutic solutions for snakebite envenoming. I am a DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Fellow, and recipient of the Deccan Herald Changemaker Award, Professor Har Swarup Memorial Award, INSA Medal for Young Scientist, Merck Young Scientist Award, Ramanujan Fellowship, INSPIRE Faculty Award, Anthropic AI for Science Grant, and the Google Antigravity Science Programme. I have also held the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship and the Australian Research Council Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA). I have secured ₹66.78 crore in competitive research and translational funding across 28 grants.

I founded VISHAM, the Venom Institute for Snakebite Health and Advanced Medicine, and co-founded Venomics AI, an AI-accelerated biodiscovery platform. When I'm not in the lab, or on the cricket field, I'm in the remotest corners of the world with a camera.

2026
Venomics AI — Co-founder & Director
Co-founded Venomics AI, an AI-accelerated biodiscovery platform harnessing venom biology for next-generation drug discovery, backed by a ₹25.5 crore initiative alongside the Anthropic AI for Science Grant and Google Antigravity Science Programme.
2022
VISHAM — Venom Institute for Snakebite Health and Advanced Medicine
Founded VISHAM to bridge cutting-edge venom science with clinical snakebite solutions. Secured Government of Karnataka (₹10 crore) and ICMR (₹8 crore) grants totalling ₹18 crore for the Indian Venom Research Unit and recombinant antivenom discovery.
2020 – 2021
DBT/Wellcome India Alliance Fellow · INSA Young Scientist Medal
Awarded the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Intermediate Fellowship (₹3.60 crore) for translational snakebite research. Recognised with the INSA Medal for Young Scientist (2020) and Merck Young Scientist Award (2021).
2017 · IISc Bangalore
Evolutionary Venomics Lab — Founded
Established an independent research group at IISc's Centre for Ecological Sciences, studying venom evolution across 100+ animal lineages with a DST INSPIRE Faculty Award and IISc Startup Grant.
2014 – 2017 · Hebrew University & EU
Postdoctoral Fellow — Marie Skłodowska-Curie & ARC DECRA
Worked with Prof. Yehu Moran on venom systems. Awarded the European Commission Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship and the Australian Research Council DECRA.
2013 · University of Porto
PhD in Evolutionary Biology — Summa cum laude
Doctoral research in Portugal on the molecular evolution of animal venoms, awarded with distinction equivalent to Summa cum laude.
2006 – 2008 · Karnataka University
BSc & MSc in Genetics — 1st Rank
Completed a BSc in Genetics, Chemistry & Zoology and an MSc in Applied Genetics at Karnataka University, graduating 1st in class with distinction in both degrees.
Curriculum Vitae
PhD, Evolutionary Biology — Distinction (Summa cum laude)
University of Porto, Porto, Portugal
December 2013
MSc, Applied Genetics — 1st Rank with Distinction
Karnataka University, Dharwad
August 2008
BSc, Genetics, Chemistry & Zoology — 1st Rank in Genetics
Karnataka Science College, Karnataka University
August 2006
Associate Professor
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Aug 2023–Present
Co-founder & Director
Venomics AI, AI-Accelerated Biodiscovery from Venoms
2026–Present
Founder & Director
VISHAM: Venom Institute for Snakebite Health and Advanced Medicine
2022–Present
Adjunct Faculty
Institute of Bioinformatics and Applied Biotechnology (IBAB), Bangalore
Apr 2022–Present
Assistant Professor
Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Aug 2017–Aug 2023
Guest Scientist & Marie Curie Fellow
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
May 2015–Aug 2017
Postdoctoral Researcher (PBC & Lady Davis Fellow)
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
May 2014–May 2015
Postdoctoral Researcher
CIIMAR, University of Porto, Portugal
Dec 2013–Apr 2014
AI-Accelerated Biodiscovery from Venoms (Startup Incubation & Seed)
Venomics AI Pvt. Ltd., India · 2026–Present
₹25.50 cr
Anthropic AI for Science Grant (First in India)
Anthropic, USA · 2026–2028
₹25 lakh
35th General Assembly of the International Union of Biological Sciences (IUBS)
DBT-CTEP, Indian Institute of Science & ANRF (3 grants) · 2026
₹14 lakh
Discovery and Expression of Recombinant Camelid Antibodies against 'Big Four' Indian Snakes
Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) · 2025–2029
₹8.00 cr
REDB Research Grant
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore · 2025
₹5 lakh
Preclinical Analyses of Medically Important Snake Venoms from Northeast India & Phytosolutions
The Hamish Ogston Foundation, UK · 3 Years
₹1.20 cr
Detection of Biting Snake Species from Clinical Samples
The Hamish Ogston Foundation, UK · 2022–2023
₹78 lakh
Production of India's First Regional Antivenom
Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd., India · 2022–2025
₹25 lakh
Cross-Neutralisation Potential of PANF African 14 Antivenoms
Premium Serums & Vaccines Pvt. Ltd., India · 2021–2022
₹9.07 lakh
Venomics and Antivenomics of Medically Important African Snakes
VINS Bioproducts Ltd., India · 2021–2022
₹15.53 lakh
VISHAM: The Indian Venom Research Unit
Government of Karnataka, India · 2021–2026
₹10.00 cr
Monoclonal Camelid VHH Nanobodies to Treat Snake Venom-Induced Necrosis
Wellcome Trust, UK · 2021–2026
₹10.65 cr
SRPNTS Continuation Grant
Wellcome Trust, UK · 2021–2025
₹2.59 cr
Antibody Discovery and Development against Non-Immunogenic Snake Venom Toxins
Wellcome Trust, UK · 2021–2024
₹1.42 cr
Capacity Development Grant
Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office (FCDO), UK · 2021–2023
₹1.75 cr
Wellcome Trust / DBT India Alliance Intermediate Fellowship
DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance, UK–India · 2020–2025
₹3.60 cr
Fangs in the Ghats
The Hamish Ogston Foundation & Global Snakebite Initiative · 2020–2021
₹46.71 lakh
Establishing Quality Analyses Protocols for Indian and African Snake Venoms
VINS Bioproducts Ltd., India · 2020–2021
₹10 lakh
Formulation and Preclinical Evaluation of the Second-Generation Indian Antivenom
Serum Institute of India Pvt. Ltd. · 2019–2021
₹20 lakh
Biological Science Interdisciplinary Proposal
DBT–IISc Internal Funding, Indian Institute of Science · 2019
₹3 lakh
Neutralising Efficacies of Conventional Indian Antivenoms
Madras Crocodile Bank Trust / USV Private Ltd., India · 2018–2019
₹50 lakh
SRPNTS Program
Department for International Development (DFID), UK · 2018–2021
₹4.50 cr
Ramanujan Fellowship
Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), India · 2018
₹35 lakh
IISc Faculty Startup Grant
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore · 2017
₹1.00 cr
INSPIRE Faculty Award
Department of Science & Technology, Govt. of India · 2017–2021
₹35 lakh
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship
European Commission · 2015–2017
₹1.42 cr
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)
Australian Research Council · 2015–2018
₹1.93 cr
Total Research & Venture Funding
28 grants (₹41.28 Cr Academic + ₹25.50 Cr Venture) across DST, SERB, ICMR, DBT, ANRF, Wellcome Trust, DFID, FCDO, EU, ARC, Anthropic & Government of Karnataka
₹66.78 cr
Evolutionary Venomics Lab Visit ↗
Principal Investigator
Since 2017
VISHAM — Venom Institute for Snakebite Health and Advanced Medicine Visit ↗
Founder & Director — bridging venom science with clinical snakebite solutions
Since 2022
Venomics AI Visit ↗
Co-founder & Director — AI-accelerated biodiscovery platform for venom-based drug discovery
2026 – Present
Deccan Herald Changemaker Award
Deccan Herald, India
2026
Anthropic AI for Science Grant
Anthropic, USA
2026
Google Antigravity Science Programme
Google, USA
2026
Professor Har Swarup Memorial Award
Indian National Science Academy (INSA), India
2023
DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance Intermediate Fellowship
Wellcome Trust DBT India Alliance, UK–India
2021
Merck Young Scientist Award
Merck India
2021
INSA Medal for Young Scientist
Indian National Science Academy (INSA), India
2020
Ramanujan Fellowship
Science & Engineering Research Board (SERB), India
2018
Gyandeep Award for Excellence in Scientific Research
Department of Forest, Maharashtra State, India
2018
INSPIRE Faculty Award
Department of Science & Technology (DST), India
2017
Toxins Travel Award
MDPI, Switzerland
2016
Young Investigators Registration Reimbursement Award
Society for Molecular Biology and Evolution (SMBE)
2016
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowship
European Commission
2015
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA)
Australian Research Council (ARC)
2015
PBC Fellowship for Outstanding Postdoctoral Researchers from India
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
2014
Lady Davis Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
2014
Hebrew University Postdoctoral Fellowship
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
2014
BIOL External DECRA Travel Grant
University of Queensland, Australia
2014
FCT Postdoctoral Fellowship (PTDC/MAR/115199/2009)
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
2014
FCT Postdoctoral Fellowship (PTDC/AAC-AMB/121301/2010)
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia, Portugal
2014
Doctoral Fellowship
Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT), Portugal
2010

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Kartik Sunagar

Associate Professor · Evolutionary Venomics

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Centre for Ecological Sciences
Indian Institute of Science (IISc)
Bangalore 560012, India

13.0219° N · 77.5671° E
Direct Correspondence ksunagar [at] iisc [dot] ac [dot] in
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