Professor Madhav Bhatia heads the Inflammation Research Group in the Department of Pathology and Biomedical Science at the University of Otago, Christchurch. He leads an active research programme on the molecular pharmacology and molecular pathology of inflammation. Research in his laboratory has shown hydrogen sulfide and substance P as novel mediators of inflammation and potential therapeutic targets for inflammatory diseases such as acute pancreatitis, sepsis, burn injuries, and joint inflammation.

He has made significant contributions to show the mechanism by which hydrogen sulfide and substance P act as inflammatory mediators. In recent years, Professor Bhatia has also been working on novel markers for diagnosis and prognosis of inflammatory and infectious diseases. Professor Bhatia has authored more than 190 publications, which have been cited more than 14000 times, his “h” index is 60 (Web of Science), and he has been recognised as one of the top 2 % scientists in the world in Immunology. Professor Bhatia plays a major role in research supervision and leadership, and has supervised more than 50 doctoral students, post-doctoral fellows, and research scientists.