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Principle Investigator
Rakesh K. Pathak, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemical Sciences
IISER Berhampur Odisha India
Email: rkpathak@iiserbpr.ac.in
Office # 405
Telephone: (+91)-680-2227-759 (office), 746 (Lab)
Dr. Pathak received his undergraduate degree (B.Sc.) in Chemistry and Biology from the University of Rajasthan and a master's degree (M.Sc.) in Chemistry from the Jiwaji University Gwalior. In the year 2006, he enrolled for a Ph.D. degree in the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay under the supervision of Prof. C. P. Rao. During his Ph.D. tenure from 2006 to 2011, he worked on the synthesis and bio-interaction aspects of protein/enzyme mimic supramolecular system, such as calix[4]arene in a pathological context. He then moved to the United States and joined Nanotherapeutic Lab at the University of Georgia as a postdoctoral fellow. There he worked on the design, synthesis, and therapeutic aspects of platinum-based prodrugs, polymeric NPs, and mitochondria-targeted formulations against various cancers. In continuation of his interest and to gain further expertise in the aspects of translational therapeutics, he joined the Ohio State University in 2015 and was awarded the prestigious Pelotonia Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Comprehensive Cancer Center for transitioning from a postdoc Fellow to an independent researcher. In the year 2017, Dr. Pathak joined the Department of Chemical Sciences at IISER Berhampur as Assistant Professor and he is currently establishing a Laboratory of Biological Chemistry and Nanomedicine in this new and evolving Institute. In 2018, Dr. Pathak was awarded the prestigious Ramanujan Fellowship award by SERB-DST.
Dr. Pathak’s current research interests align with the interfaces of synthetic inorganic & organic chemistry, biology, and nanotechnology. His research objectives are the design, synthesis, and characterization of medicinally important chemical compounds and their nanoformulations for targeted delivery in cancer.
Postdoctoral Fellow
Graduate/Ph.D. Students
Arka Banerjee
Ph.D. Student
Department of Chemical Sciences
IISER Berhampur Odisha India
Email: arkab@iiserbpr.ac.in
Office # 208
Telephone: +91 680-2227-746 (Lab)
Arka is from Purulia, West Bengal. He earned a B.Sc. (Honours) in Chemistry from the University of Calcutta, West Bengal, in 2015. Later he moved to Uttar Pradesh for further studies and received his M.Sc. degree in Applied Chemistry from Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar (Central) University, Lucknow, in 2017. Arka joined in IISER Berhampur in July 2019 and currently working for his Ph.D. thesis. His current research interests include the synthesis of supramolecular systems and their nanoparticle formulation for cancer treatment.
Megha Biswas
Ph.D. Student
Department of Chemical Sciences
IISER Berhampur Odisha India
Email: meghab@iiserbpr.ac.in
Office # 402
Telephone: +91 680-2227-746 (Lab)
Megha is from Kolkata, West Bengal. She earned her B.Sc. degree in chemistry from Calcutta University in 2016 and an M.Sc. degree in Chemistry (specialization inorganic) from Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, West Bengal in 2018. Megha joined IISER Berhampur in July 2019 and is currently working for her Ph.D. thesis. Her current research interests include studying the use of combination therapeutic prodrugs and nanoparticles against cancer.
Kajol
Ph.D. Student
Department of Biological Sciences
IISER Berhampur Odisha India
Email: kajol@iiserbpr.ac.in
Office # 101
Telephone: +91 680-2227-746 (Lab)
Kajol, originally from Bihar and now residing in Jharkhand, holds a B.Sc. from Vinoba Bhave University and an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Devi Ahilya University. She joined lab in August 2021 through the Ph.D. program of Biological Sciences at IISER Berhampur. Given cancer's adaptability and impact on healthy cells, a multi-targeting approach is necessary. Chemists' expertise in the molecular basis of drug design is vital for developing therapeutics that selectively target cancer cells, inducing their death. Thus, I aim to learn, design, and investigate a therapeutic molecules and nanoformulations with specific cancer-targeting properties.
Prakash Shukla
Ph.D. Student
Department of Chemical Sciences
IISER Berhampur Odisha India
Email: prakashs22@iiserbpr.ac.in
Office # 302
Telephone: +91 680-2227-746 (Lab)
Prakash Shukla is from Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh. He graduated from the University of Allahabad with 82% marks in chemistry & third rank holder in the chemistry subject. After Graduation he qualified IIT-JAM exam. For his good performance in studies, he also got an appreciation letter from Mrs. Smriti Zubin Irani (Education Minister, Government of India). He completed his Masters in Chemistry in 2022 from Feroze Gandhi Degree College, Raebareli, with 71% marks. Prakash Shukla is also a motivational speaker, he goes to different colleges and schools to motivate students with his speech. He is permanent motivational speaker in "Kailash Satyarthi Children Foundation". He also published a paper on the topic "Study Physico-Chemical Parameters of Water in Sai River, Raebareli (Shaheed Smarak), Uttar Pradesh". He also nominated for Young Researcher Award 2023 by Institute of Scholar, International Publisher. Before joining IISER Berhampur as a PhD scholar in January 2023, Prakash qualified CSIR-NET examination. He just completed his PhD course work."
Krishna Kanta Choudhury
Ph.D. Student
Department of Chemical Sciences
IISER Berhampur Odisha India
Email: krishnak23@iiserbpr.ac.in
Office # 402
Telephone: +91 680-2227-746 (Lab)
Krishna Kanta completed a B.Sc. (Honours) in Chemistry with a score of 92%, securing the 3rd rank at Berhampur University. He qualified for the IIT-JAM exam and then pursued an MSc with a specialization in Organic Chemistry from Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla, Sambalpur. He secured the 1st rank in the university and was awarded the Gold Medal for Best Postgraduate in Chemistry. In August 2023, he joined IISER Berhampur as a Ph.D. student under the supervision of Dr. Rakesh K. Pathak through an INSPIRE Fellowship awarded by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. Krishna Kanta is working on hypoxia-activatable prodrugs and Pillar[n]arene-based supramolecular systems for drug delivery.
BSMS Dual Degree 5th Year Project Students
Kanishka Chaudhary
BS-MS Chemistry Major Student (2019 Batch)
Department of Chemical Sciences
IISER Berhampur Odisha India
Email: kanishka19@iiserbpr.ac.in
Office # 402
Telephone: +91 680-2227-746 (Lab)
Kanishka is from Dhampur, Uttar Pradesh. She joined IISER Berhampur in 2019 and is currently carrying out her master’s project in the Department of Chemical Sciences. Through her previous internship, she gained some research exposure in the field of the synthesis of metal-based prodrugs and is well equipped in spectroscopic techniques (IR, UV, fluorescence, HPLC, etc.). Apart from research, she likes to watch series, travel, and is a former member of the main committee of Chemshala.
Russel A S
BS-MS Chemistry Major Student
Department of Chemical Sciences
IISER Berhampur Odisha India
Email: russel19@iiserbpr.ac.in
Office # 402
Telephone: +91 680-2227-746 (Lab)
Russel is from Thrissur, Kerala. He joined IISER Berhampur in 2019 and is currently pursuing a BS MS degree master project.
Alumni
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Dr. Anup Kumar Pramanik
Current Position:
Senior Research Scientist
Alembic Pharmaceuticals Limited
Hyderabad, Telangana, India
Dr. V. V. Sreenivasu Mummidivarapu
Current Position:
Assistant Professor
Department of Chemistry, VIT-AP University, G-30, Inavolu, Beside AP Secretariat Amaravati, Andhra Pradesh 522237, India
BSMS-Dual Degree 5th Year Project Students
Avinash Choudhury
BS-MS Chemistry Major Student (2016 Batch)
Current Position:
Ph.D. student at Texas A and M University, College Station
Email: achoudhury72@gmail.com
Telephone: (+1)-979-344-8308
Soumya Dafadar
BS-MS Chemistry Major Student (2017 Batch)
Current Position:
Ph.D. Student at Vienna University of Technology (TU Wien)
Marie-Curie Fellowship within MSCA COFUND ENROL Doctoral Program at TU Wien.
Email: Soumya.dafadar@tuwien.ac.at
Telephone: +91 8637592065
Subhrata Behera
BS-MS Chemistry Major Student (2018 Batch)
Current Position:
Vinay Kumar Kalsi
BS-MS Chemistry Major Student
Current Position:
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