Mr. Arjun B S
Mr. Arjun B S has been selected for the Sun Pharma Science Foundation Science Scholar Award - 2022 for Young Scientists in the field of Biological Sciences. He was awarded for his research, “Towards an Indigenous Intraoperative Probe Integrated with MEMS-based Sensors for Brain Tumour Delineation”. His research focuses on the electrical and mechanical characterization of brain tissues using microfabricated sensors and electronic systems to understand the differences between tumours and normal tissues. He found that simultaneous electromechanical characterization of brain tumours and normal brain tissues can serve as an effective biomarker for tumour delineation, grading, and studying the heterogeneity between the brain regions. The observations suggest the potential use of the technology in a clinical setting to achieve gross total resection and improve treatment outcomes by helping surgeons perform real-time risk evaluation during surgery. Arjun is a Prime Minister’s Research Scholarship (PMRF), currently pursuing his Ph.D. from the Department of Electronic Systems Engineering, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore under the guidance of Prof. Hardik J. Pandya. His research interest is in the integration of microfabricated sensors and robotics for biomedical applications.
Mr. Atish Roy Chowdhury
Mr. Atish Roy Chowdhury has been selected for the Sun Pharma Science Foundation Science Scholar Award - 2022 for Young Scientists in the domain of Biomedical Sciences. His award-winning work is in the field of host-pathogen interaction and infection biology. His research entitled “Deciphering the role of outer membrane porins in Salmonella pathogenesis” was focused on characterizing the role of outer membrane protein A (OmpA), one of the most abundant outer membrane-bound β-barrel proteins of bacteria in the pathogenesis of Salmonella Typhimurium, the causative agent of gastroenteritis in humans. His study showed that deleting OmpA compromised the stability of the outer membrane of Salmonella and reduced the ability of the pathogen to fight against the nitrosative stress of macrophages (one of the essential innate immune arsenals of the host). His work expanded our understanding of the role of outer membrane porins in bacterial pathogenesis and identified OmpA as one of the crucial virulence factors of Salmonella.
Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahel
Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahel has been selected for the Sun Pharma Science Foundation Science Scholar Award - 2022 for Young Scientists in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences. His award-winning work entitled “Design and development of non-viral lipopolymeric nanocarrier for the delivery of CRISPR/Cas9 ribonucleoprotein for the treatment of retinal dystrophic conditions”. His research was focused on the synthesis and characterization of cationic amphiphilic lipopolymer, followed by the development of CRISPR/Cas9 RNPs containing nanoformulation. The nanoformulation showed particle size of <200 nm with >90% complexation efficiency and exhibited good transfection efficiency, gene editing (%) efficiency, and in vivo stability. Further, to improve the in vivo efficiency, cRGD-targeted lipopolymeric formulations were developed, which showed good vitreous penetrability and were found to transfect retinal cells in vivo after 48h of intravitreal injection in rats. Additionally, as per the toxicity studies, the lipopolymeric nanocarrier was found safe and didn’t cause any visible toxicity at the therapeutic dose. Collectively, his research provided a detailed exploration of the role of non-viral lipopolymeric nanocarrier in delivering CRISPR/Cas9 components to the back of the eye to treat retinal diseases.
Ms. Rachana Rao Battaje
Ms. Rachana Rao Battaje has been selected for The Sun Pharma Science Foundation Science Scholar Award 2022 for young scientists in the field of Pharmaceutical Sciences. Her award-winning work was titled “Exploring the bacterial cell division protein, FtsZ from the respiratory pathogen, Streptococcus pneumoniae as a target for anti-pneumococcal therapy.” Her work utilized the intrinsic fluorescence properties of Streptococcus pneumoniae FtsZ to discover a conformational switch during its polymerization, a phenomenon important for initiation of cell division in bacteria. Her work also led to identification of three FtsZ-targeting agents that show anti-proliferative activity against pathogenic Streptococcus pneumoniae, including the biomolecule, Vitamin K3. Rising anti-microbial resistance calls for the urgent development of new anti-bacterial agents and her work presents targeting FtsZ and inhibition of cell division as an attractive alternative strategy for anti-pneumococcal therapy.