Former Lab Members


Postdoctoral Fellows

Dr. Badgujar was in our group during October-2014 to December-2017. He performed structural studies to understand the molecular basis of pore formation by toxins. Dilip has determined crystal structure of an important toxin and performed detailed biophysical studies to unravel the mechanism of pore formation. He delivered a talk on his work in the 24th Congress & General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography 2017. Curently Dilip is a senior scientist in Uppsala University, Sweden. Contact: dilip.bad@gmail.com

Dr. Dilip Badgujar

Dr. Kesari was in our group during April-2019 to March-2022. She primarily worked on structural studies of P. falciparum plasmepsin X (PMX). Research work by Pooja provided the first molecular isights into the inactivation mechanism of PMX zymogen. She has studied the molecular basis of substrate and inhibitor binding to PMX active site. She also performed bioinformatics and molecular dynamics (MD) simulation studies on several other proteins in my group. Pooja was involved in teaching Bioinformatics and MD siluation to the students. Pooja is currently working as a Rsearch Associate at Molecuar Biophysics Unit (MBU), IISc, Bangalore. Contact: pkesari88@gmail.com

Dr. Pooja Kesari

Dr. Pathan was in our group during April-2022 to November-2022. He performed molecular biology and biochemical studies on glutamate dehydrogenases (GDHs). He was actively involved in mentoring M.Sc. and Ph.D. students of our group. Curently Dr. Pathan is an Assistant Professor at Symbiosis International University, Pune. His group is studying morphogenesis in fungi to understand various biochemical/ molecular processes, and their possible applications. Contact: ejaj2185@gmail.com

Dr. Ejaj K. Pathan

Ph.D. Students

Suman joined our group in July-2012. Her Ph.D. research porject was on understanding the structural basis of glucose transport mechanism in sugar transporters from Pseudomonas putida CSV86. She solved several high resolution structures of a glucose binding protein (ppGBP). She also purified and crystallized a membrane protein. Suman deciphered the mechanism of glucose transport through the membrane transporter. She received IUCr Travel Award. She defended her Ph.D. thesis in February-2018. Curently Dr. Pandey is a senior scientist at Mynvax Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore. Contact: sumanpandey0801@gmail.com

Dr. Suman Pandey

Prem was an intergrated M.Sc.-Ph.D. student. He joined our group in July-2012. His Ph.D. research porject was focused on understanding the catalytic mechanism and cofactor specificity of glutamate dehydrogenase (GDH). Prem determined svereal high resolution crystals structures of A. niger GDH (AnGDH). He managed to solve the structure of AnGDH complexed with its reaction intermediates in the active site. Prem's paper published in J. Biol. Chem. was featured on the cover page of the journal. Prem successfully defended his Ph.D. thesis in October-2018. Curently Dr. Prakash is a psotdoctoral fellow at Meharry Medical College, USA. Contact: prem.prakash.iitb@gmail.com

Dr. Prem Prakash

Vandana primarily worked on structure based antimalarial drug development targeting vacuolar plasmepsins (PMs) from plasmodium parasites during her Ph.D. in our group. Vandana solved several high resolution crystal structures of P. falciparum PMII complexed with different KNI-inhibitors. She also determined crystal structures of PMII complexed with HIV-1 protease inhibitors which are FDA approved anti-HIV drugs. Dr. Mishra studied structural properties of non-vacuolar PMV as well. She delivered a talk on her work in the 24th Congress & General Assembly of the International Union of Crystallography 2017. Vandan defended her Ph.D. thesis in February-2020. Curently Dr. Mishra is a psotdoctoral fellow at National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH, USA. Contact: vandana.mishra021290@gmail.com

Dr. Vandana Mishra

As a Ph.D. student in our group, Ishan worked on understanding the activation mechanism of vacuolar plasmepsins (PMs). Ishan performed extensive crystallographic, biochemical and biophysial studies to decipher a novel activation mechanism of vacuolar plasmepsins (PMs). His studies have unraveled various new aspectes in understanding the catalytic mechanism of pepsin-like aspartic proteases and histo-aspartic protease (HAP). Dr. Rathore also solved multiple crystal structures of proteins other than plasmepsins. Ishan defended his Ph.D. theis in February-2021. Curently Dr. Rathore is a psotdoctoral fellow at National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH, USA. Contact: ishanrathore21@gmail.com

Dr. Ishan Rathore

Amrita worked on hydroxyatrazene degrading enzyme AtzB from P. putida. She performed extensive molecular dynamics (MD) simulation, mutagenesis and biochemical studies to understand the molecular basis of Zn-coordination, substrate recognition and catalytic mechanism of AtzB. Amrita has sucessfully defended her Ph.D. thesis in June-2022. Curently Dr. Sharma is a Research Scientist at Advanced Enzymes, Mumbai. Contact: amusharma213@gmail.com

Dr. Amrita Sharma

M.Sc./M.Tech. Students
Mr. Abhishek Rauniyar Mr. Prasoon Kumar Mishra

Abhishek joined our group for his M. Tech. project. He was in our group during July 2022-June 2023. He worked on the developement of efficient cellulases for biofuel production. Currently he is working in a private company. Contact: abhishekrauniyar.iitb@gmail.com

Prasoon did his M.Sc. project in our group during 2022-2023. He graduated in May 2023. He performed structural and biochemical studies on glutamate dehydrogenase. Currently he is working at TATA Elxsi, Pune. Contact: prasoonkumardd@gmail.com

Md. Shabab Anwar Mr. Rajiv Kumar

Shabab did his M.Sc. project in our group during 2022-2023. He graduated in May 2023. He worked on antiparasitic drug development targeting pepsin-like asprtic proteases from apicomplexan parasites. Currently he is working in a private company (Education sector). Contact: shabab.jnv@gmail.com

Rajiv joined our group for his M. Tech. project. He was in our group during July 2021-June 2022. He studied the structural dynamics of perforin like proteins from apicomplexan parasites. Currently he is working at CCTech. Contact: rajivkumar2505@gmail.com

Mr. Raghunath Singh Ms. Pritha Dasgupta

Raghunath did his M.Sc. project in our group during 2021-2022. He graduated in May 2022. He worked on the structural studies on plasmepsin. Currently he is working at Bio Bharati Life Science, Kolkata. Contact: raghunath.singh1999@gmail.com

Pritha did her M.Sc. project in our group during 2020-2021. She graduated in May 2021. She worked on the structure based engineering of cellulases. Currently she is pursuing Ph.D. in MRC-PPU at University of Dundee. Contact: prithadasgupta74@gmail.com

Mr. Gajendra M. Singh Mr. Nafizul Kazi

Gajendra joined our group for his M. Tech. project. He was in our group during July 2018-June 2019. He worked on the structural studies on pepsin-like aspartic proteases from T. Gondii. Currently he is working in a private company. Contact: gajendra.8454@gmail.com

Kazi did his M.Sc. project in our group during 2019-2020. He graduated in May 2020. He worked on the structural studies on plasmepsin. Currently he is pursuing Ph.D. in Max Planck Research School, Germany. Contact: nafizulhaquekazi@gmail.com

Mr. Nikhil Pahelkar Ms. Tanya Joshi

Nikhil was in our group during July 2018 - May 2019 for his M.Sc. dissertation project. He worked on the structural studies on P. falciparum plasmepsins. Currently he is a PhD student at IISc Bangalore. Contact: pahelkar8@gmail.com

Tanya joined our group in October 2018. She graduated in May 2019. She worked on the structural studies on E. coli galactokinase. Currently she is pursuing Ph.D. in Heidelberg Bioscience International Graduate School, Germany. Contact: tanyajoshi7695@gmail.com

Mr. Deepak Mr. Abhishek Balaji Suryawanshi

Deepak was in our group during July 2017 - May 2018. He worked on the structural studies on P. falciparum dihydropteroate synthase (DHPS). Currently he is a Ph.D. student at Institute of Biotechnology, Prague, the Czech Republic. Contact: deepmalik828@gmail.com

Abhishek joined our group in May 2017. He graduated in May 2018. He worked on the structural studies on P. falciparum Plasmepsin. Currently he is a Ph.D. student at the Dept. of Biosciences and Bioengineering at IIT Bombay. Contact: astikbalaji@gmail.com

Ms. Chandamita Saikia Ms. Deepanwita Saha

Chhandamita worked on structural studies on plasmepsins from P. falciparum. She was in our group during May-2016 to July-2017. Currently she is a Ph.D. student at Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Contact: chandamitasaikia15@gmail.com

Deepanwita joined our group for her M.Sc. dissertation project during July-2016 to May-2017. She worked on a novel ATPase from S. pneumoniae. She is currently working in a pharmaceutical comapny as a scientist. Contact: deepanwita17@gmail.com

Mr. Pushpendu Mondal Ms. Manisha Yadav

Puschpendu was in our group during July-2014 to May-2015. His M.Sc. dissertation project was focused on bioinformatic analysis of bacterial two component signal transduction systems. Currently he is an instructor in a teaching institution. Contact: pmon.0007@gmail.com

Manisha joined our group for her M.Sc. dissertation project during July-2014 to May-2015. She worked on a Histidine kinase (ComD) from S. pneumoniae. She is currently a Ph.D. student at Nanyang Technological University (NTU), Singapore. Contact: xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxxx

Ms. Aditi Jain Ms. Avantika Singh

Aditi worked on galactokinase. She was in our group during July-2014 to May-2015. Currently she is a Ph.D. student at Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. Contact: aditi2812jain@gmail.com

Avantika was in our group during July-2013 to May-2014. She worked on structural studies of Histo-aspartic Protease (HAP). She is currently a Ph.D. stuent at Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTech), Chandigarh. Contact: avantika_9876@yahoo.co.in

Ms. Pratibha Kumari Ms. Anurag Kalia

Pratibha worked on structural studies on galactokinase. She was in our group during July-2013 to May-2014. Currently she is a Ph.D. student at IIT Indore. Contact: pratibhak1991@gmail.com

Anurag was in our group during July-2013 to May-2014. She worked on a structure guided modification of signal transducer for converting to a kinase. She is currently a Ph.D. student at National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi. Contact:xxxxxxxx@xxx.xxxx

Mr. Md. Saif Ms. Sneha Soni

Saif worked on expression, purification and crystallization of Histo-aspartic protease (HAP) from P. falciparum. He was in our group during June-2012 to May-2013. Currently he is a Ph.D. student at Max-Delbrück-Centrum für Molekulare Medizin (MDC), Berlin, Germany. Contact: saif.biotech29@gmail.com

Sneha joined our group for her M.Sc. dissertation project during May-2012 to May-2013. She worked towards the conversion of a signal transducer into a catabolic enzyme. She is currently doing Ph.D. at IIT Varanasi. Contact: sneha.soni171@gmail.com


Project Staffs

Sweta joined our group in January-2013 and was here till July-2013. She worked on the expression and purification of (PMI) from P. falciparum. She also optimized expression conditions of other vacuolar plasmepsins. Contact: swetajhaveri@rocketmail.com

Ms. Sweta Jhaveri

Rajiv joined our group in October-2013 and was here till July-2017. Initially he worked on the modeling of plasmepsin V (PMV) from P. falciparum. He also performed virtual screening to find potential inhibitor of PMV for the development of antimalarial drugs. After the completion of his work on PMV, he performed extensive crystallographic studies on a beta-glucosidase. He determined several atomic resolution crystal structures of beta-glucosidase. Currently he is a postdoctoral-fellow at University of Zurich, Switzerland. Contact: rajivpsn@gmail.com

Mr. Rajiv K. Bedi

Tushar joined our group in June-2015 and was here till November-2016. He started working on refolding and purification of a membrane protein. He analyzied SAXS data to understand the oligomeric starte of a suger transporter. He also initiated the molecular dynamics simulation of the sugar transporter embedded in the membrane. He performed cloning, expression, purification and crystallization of a periplasmic sugar binding protein. Recently, he completed his Ph.D. from Centre for Free electron Laser Science (CFEL), Deutsches Elektronen-Synchrotron (DESY), Hamburg, Germany. Currently Tushar is a postdoctoral fellow at University of California, San Francisco. Contact: rtushar61@gmail.com

Mr. Tushar Rashkar

Anagha was a reserch project intern in our group during Jan-July, 2016. She joined our laboratory as a JRF in November-2016 and was here till October-2016. She has primarily worked on developing the assay to measure antimalarial activities of plasmepsin inhibitors. She is currently working as a scientist in a pharmaceutical company. Contact: anagha977@gmail.com

Ms. Anagha Arekar

Amrita joined our group in January-2017 and was here till July-2017. She has primarily worked on structure based improvement of cellulases. She is currently working as a scientist in a pharmaceutical company. Contact: amritaramesh0394@gmail.com

Ms. Amrita Ramesh

Meera joined our group in July-2017 and was here till July-2018. She has primarily worked on structure based improvement of cellulases. She is currently a Ph.D. student at IIT Bombay. Contact: meerapawar1994@gmail.com

Ms. Meera Pawar

Vaishnavi joined our group in July-2017 and was here till July-2018. She has primarily worked on structure based improvement of cellulases. She is currently a Ph.D. student at Boston College, USA. Contact: warriervaishnavi1@gmail.com

Ms. Vaishnavi Warrier

Aswathy joined our group in January-2018 and was here till July-2018. She has primarily worked on structure based antimalarial drug development project. She is currently working as a Research Associate at Jubilant Biosys Limited. Contact: aswathyp651@gmail.com

Ms. Aswathy Pillai

Jyoti joined our group in January-2019 and was here till July-2019. She has primarily worked on protein crystallographic studies and structure based antimalarial drug development project. She is currently working as a research scientist at BARC, Tarapur. Contact: simishrm1996@gmail.com

Ms. Jyoti K. Sharma

Shruti joined our group in January-2020. She has primarily worked on structure based antimalarial drug development project. Due to COVID-19 lockdown she worked from home from March-2020 and she completed her project by June-2020. Contact: shruti1752@gmail.com

Ms. Shruti Agrawal

Aishwarya joined our group in October-2021 and was here till May-2022. She has primarily worked on protein expression, purification and characterizations. She is currently working as a Jr. Executive (Regulatory Affairs) at Aarti Pharmalabs Ltd, Mumbai. Contact: aishwarya.sd03@gmail.com

Ms. Aishwarya Deshmukh

Short-term interns
Ms. Manami Bhadra Mr. Souvik Saha

Manami was in our group during summer 2015. She worked on bacterial two component system. Contact: bhadra.manami2493@gmail.com

Souvik joined our group for summer training during May-July, 2014. He worked on the structural studies on P. falciparum Plasmepsin. Contact: souvik.biospace@gmail.com

Ms. Christina Mathai Ms. Sherin Ann Eapen

Christina was in our group during winter 2015. She worked on virtual screening of drug molecules. Currently she is doing her MS in Bioinformatics at Northeastern University, Boston, USA. Contact: chrisbijimathai@gmail.com

Sherin joined our group for a short term training projet during winter 2015. She worked on the structural bioinformatics. Currently she is pursuing M.Tech. in Bioinformatics from International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad. Contact: sherin1695@gmail.com

Ms. Anushka Chakraborty

Anushka was a medical student R.G. Kar Medical College, Kolkata. During her 3rd year of MBBS, she did a short term project in our group because of her interest in basic science. She worked on the structural studies on plasmepsins during her stay in our group during October 2018 - December 2018. Contact: anushkachakraborty1006@gmail.com