Dr. V. Dhanda has received Ph.D. degree in Zoology from the University of Lucknow in 1963, and Diploma in Applied Parasitology and Entomology from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom in 1966. Some of his major achievements during his tenure at the ICMR - NIV, Pune [1966 – 1990] included the discovery of a new species of lice belonging to the genera Aegypoecus and Polyborus; the natural occurrence of transovarian transmission of Japanese encephalitis (JE), the development of a rapid diagnostic test for Q fever employing immunofluorescence and mosquito inoculation techniques, isolation of the Chandipura virus from sandflies, experimental infection of certain mosquitoes and ticks with the Ganjam virus. He was a recipient of Dr. M.O.T. Iyengar Award by ICMR in 1984 for outstanding contributions in his field of research.
Dr. Dhanda was appointed Director of the VCRC in November 1990 and continued to work in VCRC till he passed away on 20 August 1996. He was a member of the Governing Body of the ICMR. He had 143 scientific publications to his credit including a number of chapters in several books. The VCRC, under his leadership recorded a tremendous growth in research activities particularly in lymphatic filariasis. WHO sponsored Field trials for the use of Ivermectin, a new antifilarial drug, rapid assessment procedure for the estimation of filarial prevalence, the socio-economic impact of filariasis and the use of DNA probes for the early diagnosis of filariasis were some of the major projects initiated by him.