Dr. Joshi spent the early years of her life in Delhi and Udaipur. She then went to Paris to pursue higher education and eventually moved to Toronto with her husband, Dr. Ram Narayan Sukhwal. A component of her personality is manifested in her passion for poetry, singing, dancing, and painting. She still remembers participating in dance, drama, and drawing competitions at schools in Delhi and Udaipur.
A family tradition of academic excellence
Dr. Joshi is inspired by her paternal grandfather, the late Mahamahopadhyay Professor Ram Pratap Shastri, the Head of the Department of Sanskrit, Pali, and Prakrit at the University of Nagpur. Her maternal grandfather, the late Mr. Mangi Lal Sukhwal, instilled the value of hard work and education in her. “My parents reiterated this and taught me that learning continues for life,” she reflects with admiration.
Her father, the late Dr. Vraj Raj Joshi, was a law graduate, had a Ph.D. in economics, and worked as a statistical officer in Delhi. He was appointed to teach Hindi as a foreign language at the Institut National des Langues et Civilizations Orientales (INALCO, Paris, France) in 1965. He also taught Indian economics at INALCO and SciencesPo (formerly École Libre des Sciences Politiques), and retired as Maître de Conférences in 1993. Her mother, Dr. Saraswati Joshi, was also appointed at INALCO in 1969 to teach Hindi and Indian civilization. They published many articles and collaborated in the preparation of the famous Dictionnaire Générale Hindi-Français, edited by Dr. Nicole Balbir (published by l’Asiathèque). Her mother published Parlons Hindi in collaboration with Dr. Annie Montaut. She obtained her Ph.D. in Paris on Pratiques Religieuses des Femmes Hindoues du Rajasthan under the supervision of Dr. Jean-Luc Chambard. She retired as Maître de Conférences in 2003 and was awarded the title of Chevalier (Knight, dans l’Ordre des Palmes Académiques by the French government) in 2005.
Her brother, Dr. Rajiv L. Joshi, D.Sc. (Thèse d’État), is a Director of Research at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and does research in neuroscience at the Collège de France in Paris. Her sister-in-law, Mrs. Vandana Joshi, does cancer research at the Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale. They have two children, Anjali, an Advisor and Alliances Manager in an IT company in Paris, and Abhishek, a consultant in digital transformation in an IT firm in France.
Dr. Joshi got married in 1979 to Dr. Ram N. Sukhwal, who obtained an M.Eng. from India, a Docteur-Ingénieur from the University of Paris VI, and a P.Eng. from Canada. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2011. Their son, Raman Sukhwal, lives with her and is studying.
A trail-blazing academic career
“I was a highly motivated student, always eager to learn more,” says Dr. Joshi. In the grade 10 exam, she was first in her school and was on the state merit list. After completing higher secondary education while living with her maternal grandparents in Udaipur, she joined her parents in Paris in 1972. She learned French, graduated in science, and did an M.Sc. with mention très bien from the University of Paris VII. She obtained her Ph.D. and D.Sc. (Thèse d’État in 1983) in molecular virology with mention très honorable avec félicitations du jury from the Institut Jacques Monod, University of Paris VII, in Dr. Anne Lise Haenni’s group, in Dr. François Chapeville’s laboratory. “I owe my entire research career to Dr. Haenni. She was not just a supervisor, but a second mother to me,” says Dr. Joshi with immense admiration and respect. As a part of her D.Sc., she was a post-doctoral fellow for two years at the University of Leiden, The Netherlands. Her research focused on plant RNA viruses’ structure, function, and life cycle. She received several fellowships: Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale Française, European Molecular Biology Organization Long-term Post-doctoral fellowship, International Cell Research Organization, UNESCO, and Délégation Générale à la Recherche Scientifique et Technique.
Career as a molecular virologist
Allelix Inc., a biotechnology company in Mississauga, Ontario, sponsored her to come to Canada as a Research Scientist in 1983. She was later promoted to Senior Research Scientist and Principal Investigator. She coordinated the expression of soluble/secreted CD4 protein (receptor of HIV, human immunodeficiency virus) for clinical trials and designing anti-HIV drugs. In parallel, she was the first to conceive the idea and begin research on HIV gene therapy. “A special committee was set up by Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) to evaluate my grant proposal entitled ‘Viral Inhibition Therapy against AIDS’,” she recalls.
Dr. Joshi joined the Department of Microbiology (later merged with the Department of Molecular Genetics) at the University of Toronto in 1988 as an Associate Professor and Director of the HIV Research Laboratory, and was tenured in 1991. She has been cross-appointed in the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology and is a full member of the School of Graduate Studies at the University of Toronto.
She continued her research on HIV gene therapy at the University of Toronto and developed the following strategies to inhibit virus replication: sense and decoy RNAs, antisense RNAs, ribozymes, mobile group II introns, trans-dominant negative mutants, targeted RNases, single chain antibodies, and secreted antiviral proteins. With over three million dollars funding from CIHR, Canadian Foundation for AIDS Research, and National Health and Research Development Program, her research led to several patents and numerous publications in excellent peer-reviewed journals. Her main collaborators at the University of Toronto were Dr. Alan Bernstein, Dr. Stanley E. Read, and Dr. Juan-Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker. Many of her M.D. and Ph.D. students hold important research positions. “I am humbled and fortunate to have worked for the University of Toronto and thankful for being Professor Emerita. I am extremely grateful to all my colleagues, collaborators, graduate students, and technicians for their help and support,” she says.
Dr. Joshi retired from full-time service in July 2020. Since then, she is a Professor Emerita and a fellow of the Senior College at the University of Toronto. She took charge as a Chief Scientific Officer of the Division of Biologics at a well-known biotechnology company, Biolyse Pharma, in 2020.
The pride
Dr. Joshi received the Professional Female of the Year 2013 Award from the Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce (ICCC) in Toronto; the Bharat Gaurav (Pride of India) Award in 2013 in New Delhi; the Achievement and Recognition Award from the Indian Canadian Organization in Toronto in 2018; and the Lifetime/ Outstanding Achievement Award from ICCC in Toronto in 2018.
Using her superpowers to create a better world!
Dr. Joshi believes that giving back to society and remaining faithful to the countries of origin and residence are important and could be done in many ways: teaching and educating, offering help, supporting (monetary or otherwise), and promoting language, culture, and traditional values. She continues to serve as a role model and mentor. She is recognized for her dedication and efforts in promoting Indian culture and literature and her contributions to the Indo-Canadian community. She writes poems and articles related to Indian culture in Hindi and English. She likes to dance occasionally and is often seen indulging in or appreciating different art forms. She was the Editor-in-Chief of the book Incredible Indo-Canadians published by the National Alliance of Indo-Canadians in honor of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi’s visit to Toronto in 2015. She also served as Editor-in-Chief of annual magazines published by the Rajasthan Association of North America Canada from 2013 to 2019. She is the Vice President of Vishva Hindi Sansthan Canada since 2013 and President of the World Brahman Federation Canada since 2018. She prays and recites shlokas daily. She also taught her son the values she grew up with and is glad he holds them close.
She helped the community during the pandemic and continues to educate people about the coronavirus and its mutations, preventive measures, vaccines, and treatment options. She is also interested in producing COVID-19 vaccines at Biolyse Pharma.