London: Indian health experts involved during the trial of the anti-Covid vaccine in the list of honorees on the birthday of the Queen of Britain and helping the community. Includes names of professionals. The list was released on Friday evening. Kolkata-born Divya Chadha Manek has been awarded the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for her role in research, development, and subsequent clinical trials in the field of vaccines and services during the pandemic.
Manek is currently Director of Business Development and Marketing at the British Government’s National Institutes of Health Research (NIHR) Clinical Research Network. Manek came to Britain at a young age. “This honor recognizes not only me but everyone involved in vaccine research in the UK. I was 18 years old when I came to the UK from India. My father gave me a plane ticket and £500 and said: ‘Stay well, do good and do something extraordinary so that you can meet the Queen’. Last year I lost my father but this honor really makes it feel like I have done something really good on his behalf. Thank you so much for this honor.”
In addition to Manek, Professor Andrew Pollard, a pediatric infection specialist at the University of Oxford, was honored with a knighthood for his service to public health, especially during COVID-19, and for his role in the development of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine as director of the Oxford Vaccine Group.
A list of those honored on the Queen’s birthday is released every year. Jaswinder Singh Rai in the OBE category, Devina Banerjee in the Member of the British Empire (MBE) category, Anoop Jeevan Chauhan, Dr. Ananthakrishnan Raghuram are among more than 30 other Indian diasporas in the 2021 list of honorees.
