Dinesh And Rajeshvari Patel Endow Graduate Fellowship At Rutgers

Photo: Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences

India-West News Desk

NEW BRUNSWICK, NJ – Biotech executive Dinesh Patel is supporting a new graduate fellowship at Rutgers University, marking a full circle moment for the scientist turned industry leader who began his own career in the school’s chemistry labs more than four decades ago.

Patel, together with his wife Rajeshvari Patel, has established the Dinesh and Rajeshvari Patel Endowed Graduate Fellowship to support students pursuing advanced studies in organic chemistry. The fellowship will provide financial assistance to graduate students in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology within the School of Arts and Sciences.

The fellowship is being launched at a time when federal funding for graduate research is under increasing strain.

Patel is the chief executive officer of Protagonist Therapeutics, a multibillion dollar biopharmaceutical company developing new treatments for conditions including inflammatory bowel disease, psoriasis and a rare blood cancer.

He earned his doctorate from Rutgers University in 1984, training in the laboratory of Professor Spencer Knapp, a mentor who continues to play a central role in the department.

The fellowship will be directed to Knapp’s laboratory, reflecting both Patel’s personal academic journey and the Patels’ desire to recognize the impact of long term mentorship in scientific training. Rutgers said the gift is designed to strengthen research in organic and medicinal chemistry while honoring Knapp’s decades of service to the university.

Knapp, now in his 48th year at Rutgers, is among the institution’s longest serving chemistry faculty members. Over his career, he has mentored more than 200 graduate students and contributed to research related to Alzheimer’s disease, malaria and inflammatory disorders.

“We can never forget the extent to which we benefited from the support we received at Rutgers,” Dinesh Patel told the Rutgers University School of Arts and Sciences, “It will be so satisfying to see future students benefit in the same way.”

Rajeshvari Patel, who earned her master’s degree from Rutgers in 1985, said the fellowship is intended to relieve financial pressures that often distract students from research and training during critical years of study.