Dr Amitabha Mukhopadhyay has made outstanding contribution to our understanding of the molecular mechanisms of host-parasite interactions in respect of two microbial pathogens, Salmonella and Leishmania. He has delineated the processes by which the Salmonella bacterium avoids being killed in lysosomes of the host macrophage. He has also discovered a new receptor system that mediates hemoglobin endocytosis in Leishmania. His research investigations have given important leads for the identification of new targets for therapeutic interventions in human infectious diseases such as typhoid fever and kala azar.