Alappuzha: A Kerala-origin woman, Dr Jajini Varghese, has won the 'outstanding young person' award of the Junior Chamber International (JCI) for her valuable contributions to cancer research.
An oncoplastic surgeon in London, Dr Jajini's ancestral home is at Haripad in Kerala's Alappuzha district.
Dr Jajini is the eldest of the three children of George Varghese and Jolly Varghese from Haripad. She studied MBBS at the PSG Medical College in Coimbatore. She completed MPhil and PhD after securing a full scholarship of the Cambridge University.
Her research studies led to the discovery of a special gene, ZNF365, which is used to identify women with a genetic predisposition to breast cancer and provide treatment.
The award will be presented to her during a ceremony to be held at Yokohama in Japan in November.
She is currently working at the Royal Free Hospital and the University College London.