BITS Pilani

  • Page last updated on Thursday, July 06, 2023

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Our Faculty

The Department currently has 18 faculty with varied research interests in the modern areas of Biological Sciences/Biotechnology such as Genomics and Human Diseases, Environmental/Industrial Biotechnology/Computational Biology/Structural Bioinformatics/Structural Biology/Cancer Biology/Plant Biotechnology etc 
  Name: Prof. Vidya Rajesh
Position: Professor & Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs Division
Ph.D: BITS-Pilani
Area of Research: Malaria vaccine candidates, Analysis of candidate genes, pathways and interactomes for Autism Spectrum Disorder, Environmental bioremediation of heavy metals using micobe-biopolymer composite materials.
Email/Phone: vidya@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303505/848
  Name: Prof. Nishith Gupta 
Position: Professor & Head of the Department
Ph.D: University of Leipzig, Germany
Area of Research: Parasite-Host Interactions, Metabolism & Signaling, Optogenetics, Mechanobiology, Integrated Multi-Omics
Email/Phone: gupta.nishith@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303769
  Name: Prof. Kumar Pranav Narayan
Position: Professor
Ph.D: Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi
Area of Research: Liposomal Gene delivery system for targeted therapeutics and diagnostics of cancer, Use of Phyto-compound for the formulation of anti-cancer drugs, biofertilizer and biopesticide. Biodiversity of agriculturally important microorganisms.
Email/Phone: pranav@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303568
  Name: Prof. P. Sankar Ganesh
Position: Professor, Associate Dean
Ph.D: Pondicherry (Central) University
Area of Research: Environment and energy, Anaerobic digestion, Nano(eco)toxicology, Composting, Vermicomposting, Termigradation, Solid waste management, Technology for Pedagogy.
Email/Phone: sangan@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303547
 Name: Prof. Jayati Ray Dutta
Position: Professor
Ph.D: Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur
Area of Research: Microbial Enzymology and its applications in biofuel production, polymer degradation for bio implantation and biosensing; Nanobiotechnology.
Email/Phone: jayati@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303542
  Name: Prof. Naga Mohan Kommu
Position: Associate Professor
Ph.D: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Area of Research: Human Molecular Genetics, Epigenetic mechanisms of development, Genetics of psychiatric disorders and Genetic diagnostics.
Email/Phone: MohanKN@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303608
  Name: Prof. Sridev Mohapatra
Position: Associate Professor
Ph.D: University of New Hampshire, U.S.A
Area of Research: Plant-microbial interaction, plant signaling, stress tolerance and induced stress resistance in plants.
Email/Phone: sridev.mohapatra@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303563
  Name: Prof. Debashree Bandyopadhyay
Position: Associate Professor
Ph.D: Calcutta University, India
Area of Research: Structure function relationship in macromolecular assemblies including DNA, proteins and ligands both under normal and diseased condition.
Email/Phone: banerjee.debi@hyderabad.bits-pliani.ac.in / 040-66303595
 Name: Prof. Amartya Sanyal
Position: Associate Professor
Ph.D: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India
Area of Research: Genome function, Genomics.
Email/Phone: amartya.sanyal@hyderabad.bits-pliani.ac.in / 040-66303667
  Name: Prof. Vivek Sharma
Position: Associate Professor
Ph.D: National Brain Research Centre, Manesar, India
Area of Research: Role of Non-coding RNAs in regulation of gene expression in cancer and neuroinflammation.
Email/Phone: viveksharma@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303627
  Name: Prof. Trinath Jamma
Position: Associate Professor
Ph.D: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Area of Research: Inflammatory Cell Signaling and Immune Cell Metabolism.
Email/Phone: trinath@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303658
  Name: Prof. Gireesha T Mohannath
Position: Associate Professor
Ph.D: Departments of Molecular Genetics and Plant Cellular and Molecular Biology, The Ohio State University, USA
Area of Research: Epigenetics of Ribosomal RNA (rRNA) gene regulation and genomic instability, antiviral defence.
Email/Phone: gireesha@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303697
  Name: Dr. Ruchi Jain Dey
Position: Assistant Professor
Ph.D: Dept of Biochemistry, University of Delhi South Campus
Area of Research: Mucosal Associated Invariant T cells (MAITs), dysbiosis in various medical conditions, Development of point of care diagnostic tool to diagnose dysbiosis in clinical conditions such as pre-term birth, infertility, Genito-urinary TB, HIV and gut tuberculosis and Crohn’s disease.
Email/Phone: ruchij80@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303550
  Name: Dr. Piyush Khandelia
Position: Assistant Professor
Ph.D: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Area of Research: Role of RNA epigenetics and regulatory RNAs in regulation of skeletal myogenesis and oral cancer.
Email/Phone: piyush.khandelia@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303553
  Name: Dr. Pragya Komal
Position: Assistant Professor
Ph.D: University of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada
Area of Research: Ion-Channels and neuropsychiatric disorders, Nicotine addiction and Vitamin D deficiency, Neuro-nano sciences.
Email/Phone: pragya@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303688
  Name: Dr. Shuvadeep Maity
Position: Assistant Professor
Ph.D: CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology
Area of Research: ER stress, motor neuron disease, Organellar cross talk, Localized translation and Post-translational control during ER stress, aging
Email/Phone: shuvadeep@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303752
  Name: Dr. Kirtimaan Syal
Position: Assistant Professor
Ph.D: Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore
Area of Research: Host-Pathogen interaction, RNA biology, Second messengers and Cell-Signalling
Email/Phone: ksyal@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303753
 
Position: Assistant Professor
Ph.D: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur
Area of Research: Algal Biorefineries, Halophilic Biorefineries for Bioplastics (PHA) production, Pulsed Electric Fields (PEFs) for extraction of value added products, Technology development for biofuel production (Biohydrogen, Biodiesel, Biobutanol), Hydrothermal Carbonisation/Liquefaction, Microplastic pollution.
Email/Phone: supratim.ghosh@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303728 
 Name: Prof. Kavi Devraj
Position: Visiting Associate Professor
Ph.D: Pennsylvania State University, Hershey, USA
Area of Research: Transport across blood-brain barrier (BBB), Regulation of BBB function, Role of neurovascular unit (NVU) in BBB dysfunction in CNS diseases (stroke, AD, neuroinfections, brain cancers), Therapeutic targeting of BBB in CNS diseases, Interdisciplinary approaches in drug delivery to the CNS.
Email/Phone: kavi.devraj@hyderabad.bits-pilani.ac.in / 040-66303727

NOTICE

Ph.D. Admissions (II Semester 2021-22)
 
Click here for more details
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Current JRF/SRF & Other Openings

Student Awards / Achievements

* Neha Priyadarshini (Dr. Gireesha laboratory) was awarded the fifth prize with cash of Rs. 1000/- for oral presentation in life sciences category during "3rd National Biomedical Research Competition 2021" held virtually (December 2021).

* Aveepsha Bera (Dr. Gireesha laboratory) received Young Scientist Award with a citation, cash prize of Rs. 5000 and 250 Euro Gift Vouchers under the category- Genome Editing, Translational Genomics and Plant Breeding, for oral presentation as part of CURRENT TRENDS AND CHALLENGES IN PLANT BIOCHEMISTRY AND BIOTECHNOLOGY (CTCPBB) online conference (2020).

* Bakhya Shree (Dr. Vivek Sharma laboratory). GB secured best poster presentation award in 34th Annual conference of Society for Neurochemistry, India, December 2020.

* Bakhya Shree.(Dr. Vivek Sharma laboratory) GB secured ICMR-Senior Research Fellowship (SRF), 2021.

* Bakhya Shree.(Dr. Vivek Sharma laboratory) GB participated and presented poster in Keystone Symposia eSymposia meeting Non-Coding RNAs: Biology and Applications, and Received global scholarship for attending the conference, May 2021.

* Bakhya Shree. GB and Shraddha Tripathi (Dr. Vivek Sharma laboratory) presented poster in 90th Annual meeting of Society of Biological Chemists organized by Amity Institute of Biotechnology & Amity Institute of Integrative Sciences and Health, Gurugram, India, December 2021.

* Bakhya Shree. GB and Shraddha Tripathi (Dr. Vivek Sharma laboratory) secured Second prize for oral presentation in 3rd National Biomedical Research Competition NBRCOM 2021, Society of Young Biomedical Scientists, India, December 2021.

* Shraddha Tripathi (Dr. Vivek Sharma laboratory) received 1st prize in poster presentation in 35th Annual Meeting of Society of Neurochemistry, India (SNCI) 2021 and the International Conference on “Neurodegeneration and Cognition: Recent Advances in Neurological Diseases”.

* Shraddha Tripathi (Dr. Vivek Sharma laboratory) received the best oral presentation award (Consolation) in the 3rd National Biomedical Research Competition NBRCOM 2021, Society of Young Biomedical Scientists, India, December 2021.

* Rohit Nautiyal, 1st Year M.E student, shortlisted for short term- training program at CDRI-Lucknow and will be working under the principal scientist, Dr. Kalyan Mitra.

* Akanksha Rai, 1st year M.E. student won a cash prize of INR 18,875 and selected among the top 5 best international finalists for her graphical abstract tilted: "From Garbage To Gold: Recycling E-Waste To Obtain Gold Using Plants", under Plant, Animal & Environmental Sciences category.

* Rhythm Negi won 1000/- in National Housing Bank Elocution competition

* S K Venkata Manjari and P G Sathwik poster was selected as best poster in XXXVII Annual Meeting of Indian Academy of Neurosciences (IAN), with a cash prize of Rs. 2500 in AIIMS, New Delhi, 2019.

* Gargi Prasad S Oral presentation in a two day National conference on "Current status and future prospects of Biotechnology" organized by Department of Biotechnology at Nizam college,Osmania university, Hyderabad secured Second prize of Rs 2000/- cash, 2019.

* Naresh Patnaik secured ICMR-Senior Research Fellowship (SRF), 2019.

* Syeda Lubna received Travel Bursary to deliver oral presentation in MM2019, Bintan, Indonesia, 5th to 8th December, 2019.

* Kotwal Shifa Bushra received best Poster presentation award (third place) at National Conference on Present and Future Prospects of Biotechnology, Nizam College (Osmania Univerisity), Hyderabad, 2019.

* The student team of RightBiotic, under the guidance of Prof. Suman Kapur, has bagged the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award (GYTI 2015) under the category BIRAC-SHRISHTI (http://gyti.techpedia.in/project-detail/RIGHTBIOTIC-The-Fastest-Antibiotic-Finder/3048).The award ceremony was held at the Rashtrapati Bhavan and the award carries a cash prize of Rs 15 lakhs for the team to take their idea further for reaching the goal of a successful market product."

* BITS Hyderabad RightBiotic team bagged the First Prize of Rs 5lacs at the ABLE (Association of Biotechnology Led Enterprises) an initiative of DBT, GOI. The contest is called BEST INDIA 2014, BEST standing for Biotechnology Entrepreneurship Student Teams under the mentorship of Prof. Suman Kapur.

Faculty Achievements

*. Prof. Suman Kapur produced a new product Antibacterial, antifungal and antiviral herbal mouthwash, coverage in Pioneer and New Indian Express news paper, on 25th May, 2021 and 30th May, 2021.

*. Prof. Suman Kapur received DMA-All India Women Entrepreneurs Award 2021 in the category of Super achiever for the year 2021, awarded by Delhi Management Association, on 22nd April 2021.

*. Prof, Suman Kapur received Aegis Graham Bell Award in the Health Tech Category bestowed on 27th Feb’20.

*. Prof, Suman Kapur received Amity Excellence Award as the Best Women Innovator bestowed on 19th Feb’20 https://public.app/video/sp_32fdg77jn5d4a

*. Dr. Gireesha T.M. received Extra Mural Research Grant (CRG) from SERB, Govt. of India with a budget of ~Rs 43 lakhs for a period of 3 years (2021-2024).

*. DBT has approved a multi-institutional project proposal led by Dr. Gireesha T.M. with a budget of ~Rs 90 lakhs for a period of 3 years.

*. A research paper co-authored by Dr. Gireesha T.M., published in FEBS journal (Impact Factor: 5.542) (Bruns et al., 2019) has been highlighted as the Editor’s Choice and was also highlighted in a commentary article by other authors (Miller and Dinesh Kumar, 2019, FEBS journal) as “A new mechanism of translational control in plants”.

*. A collaborative team comprising authors from multiple national and international institutes led by Dr. Gireesha T.M., published a comprehensive review paper in Biology journal (Impact Factor: 5.01) (Gargi Prasad et al., 2021) on improving salt tolerance in plants. This was selected by the journal as one of the excellent publications published during December 2021.

*. Prof. Nishith Gupta received an Extramural Core Research Grant (CRG) from DST-SERB, Government of India with a budget of ~Rs 60 Lakhs for a period of 3 years (2022-2025).

*. Prof. Nishith Gupta has initiated and facilitated an MoU signed between BITS-Pilani and University of Tromso (UiT, Norway) broadly enabling on the following. 1. Development of collaborative research project 2. Organizing joint scientific and academic events 3. Contribution to the development of University Curricula 4. Exchange of students at first degree, higher degree, Ph.D. and postdoctoral level 5. Exchange of publication and other materials of common interests.

*. Prof. Nishith Gupta is appointed to the Editorial Board of the journal Communications Biology (Nature Publishing Group) in April 2021.

*. Prof. Jayati Ray Dutta’s research work on gold nanoparticle based kit has been covered by The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/new-gold-nanoparticle-based-kit-can-detect-dominant-hepatitis-genotypes/article35565675.ece. (Featured in Hindu Newspaper on 27.07.2021).

*. Prof. Jayati Ray Dutta’s laboratory has developed a kit to detect Hepatitis C virus and it has been covered by The Hindu. https://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Hyderabad/bits-pilani-hyderabad-develops-cheap-kit-to-detect-hepatitis-c-virus/article34055910.ece (Featured in Hindu Newspaper on 13.03.2021).

*. Prof. Jayati Ray Dutta's kit to detect Hepatitis C virus has been covered by The Times of India. https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/hyderabad/city-scientists-develop-kit-to-diagnose-hep-ccovid/articleshow/81657724.cms (Featured in Times of India Newspaper on 24.03.2021).

*. Prof. Jayati Ray Dutta's work on detection of Hepatitis C virus has been covered by Eenadu Telugu newspaper.

*. Dr. Suman Kapur received the Trophy Aegis Graham Bell Award on 27th February 2020 from the Honourable Minister for MSME Sh. Sarangi ji.

*. Dr. Suman Kapur was honoured by Amity University with the “Amity Excellence Award for Best Women Innovator” on 19th February 2020 during the 20th International Business Horizon Summit INBUSH ERA 2020 being held from February 18th to 20th, 2020, with the Theme, “The Challenge of Change: Strategies for Managing Business in Technology Driven Societies”. Amity Academic Excellence Awards are given to selected academicians and administrators of extraordinary eminence, who are driving the notable academic Institutions of the world to greater heights through their expert guidance, keen involvement and strategic approach.

*. Dr. Debashree Bandyopadhyay on 6/11/2019 attended Albany Conversation, 2019, Albany, New York and achieved DST International Travel Grant, 2019.

*. Dr. Suman Kapur was facilitated with “Lifetime achievement award in Biochemistry “by Viva International Women and Prof. Indira Parikh 50 women in Education Leaders award, 2019.

*. Dr. Kumar Pranav Narayan received the title of “Best Professor in Biological Sciences” by Dewang Mehta National Education Award (Regional Round), 2019.

*. Dr. Trinath Jamma received Extra Mural Research Grant from CSIR of Rs 19,50,000 and also achieved INSA-Young Scientist Award-2019.

*. Dr. Pragya Komal received World Congress Travel grant award, (International Brain Research Organization) in IBRO meeting South Korea, 2019.

*. Dr. Debashree Bandyopadhyay received DST International Travel grant, by department of science and technology, India, 2019.

*. Dr.Vivek Sharma received Extra Mural Research Grant from DBT of Rs 68,76,800 for 3 years in 2019.

*. Dr. Piyush Khandelia received Extra Mural Research Grant from DST of Rs 55,58,360 for period of 3 years in 2019.

*. Dr. Jayati Ray Dutta serves as editorial board member for "Journal for Advanced Research in Applied Sciences" since November 2014. She is also a life member of European Federation of Biotechnology.

*. Prof. Suman Kapur is appointed as Shri B K Birla & Smt. Sarala Birla Chair Professor.

*. From October 2013, Dr. P. Sankar Ganesh become an Associate Member of the Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, Florida, USA.

*. From March 2012, Dr. P. Sankar Ganesh has become Lifetime Member of the Society of Toxicology (STOX), India.

*. Departmental DST-FIST Grant award received in 2012.

*. Dr. Debashree Bandyopadhyay serves as a life-member of Indian Biophysical Society. She is also member of American Chemical Society, USA, since 2012.

*. On December 2011, Dr. P. Sankar Ganesh has been appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of the Editorial Board of the GSTF Journal on Bioinformatics and Biotechnology (JBio).

*. On May 2011, Dr. P. Sankar Ganesh received the Individual Developing Country Membership of International Solid Waste Association (ISWA), Vienna, Austria.

*. From July 2010, Dr. P. Sankar Ganesh, Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, has become the Technical Committee Member of the Collaborative Working Group on Solid Waste Management in Low- and Middle-income Countries, St. Gallen, Switzerland.

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