Nanotechnology (Cancer drug delivery)
Academic Qualification
- Ph. D. in Science: Chemistry. Awarded in 1999, University of Delhi, India.
Title of Ph.D. Dissertation – Studies of nanometer size hydrogel particles as drug delivery systems.Bachelor of Science
- Master of Science (M.Sc.): Chemistry, Awarded in 1994, University of Delhi, India.
B.Sc.: Honours in Chemistry, Awarded in 1990, Utkal University, India.
Academic positions
- Scientist D: 2010 to till date in Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India.
- Scientist C: July 2007 to 2010 in Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India.
- Scientist B: July 2005 to July 2007 in Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India.
- Research Associate: July 2004 to June 2005 in Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences,University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
- Postdoctoral Research Associate: September 2001 to June 2004 in Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nebraska Medical Center. Omaha, NE, USA.
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow: August 1999 to August 2001 in Japan Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) Postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Hiroshi Maeda at Department of Microbiology, Kumamoto University School of Medicine, Kumamoto, Japan.
- Scientist: March 1999 to August 1999 in Dabur Research Foundation. Dabur India Ltd., India.
- Research Fellow: January 1998 to March 1998 in Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, U. K.
Awards and Recognition
- Awarded International Fellowship for Young Biomedical Scientists in 2008 from ICMR for four months in 2008 to work at Creighton University, Omaha, Nebraska, USA.
- Awarded travel grant from the School of Pharmacy in 1998 from University of London to attend the 3rd International symposium on Polymer Therapeutics from Laboratory to Clinical Practice, School of Pharmacy, University of London, UK.
- Awarded Postdoctoral fellowship from the American Heart Association (AHA), United States of America (2002-2004).
- Awarded Japanese Society for Promotion of Science (JSPS) postdoctoral fellowship from the Government of Japan (1999-2001).
- Senior Research Fellowship (SRF, 1998-1999), University Grant Commission, Government of India.
- All India Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) in 1996
- Junior Research Fellowship (JRF, 1996-98), University Grant Commission, Government of India.
Membership of Professional Associations / Societies
- Member, Editorial Board, International Journal of Green Nanotechnology
- Member, Editorial Board, World Journal of Radiology
- Member, Editorial Board, World Journal of Clinical Oncology
- Member, Editorial Board, Journal of Nanoscience Letters
- Member, Editorial Board, Recent Patents on Nanomedicine
- Member, Editorial Board, Clinical & Experimental Pharmacology
- Member, Editorial Board, Scientific Reports, Nature Publishing Group
Reviewer of Scientific Journals:
Nanotechnology (Cancer drug delivery)
Magnetic nanoparticles as a theranostic tool in cancer therapy
Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) are a class of nanoparticles (i.e., engineered particulate materials of 100 nm) that can be manipulated under the influence of an external magnetic field. MNPs are most commonly employed for biomedical applications due to their biocompatibility and stability. Presently, MNPs are being exploited for their theranostic applications. The principles of magnetic guidance of MNP-conjugated drugs have been applied experimentally, and have reached clinical trials as a cancer therapy. Apart from that, currently significant attention has been laid down for the multifunctional characteristics and complementary role of MNPs as a contrast agent for the magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), which can be easily assimilated in the human body. MRI is currently a very popular noninvasive imaging technique that differentiates pathological and normal tissues based on the relaxation properties of hydrogen atoms in water. The imaging property of MNPs helps to track the systemic distribution of drug-carrier complexes prior to and after drug release to ensure therapy success.
Polymer therapeutics in cancer .
Polymer therapeutics, a technological podium in the field of nanomedicine, has emerged as one of the most promising platform for the efficient delivery of anticancer agents for the chemotherapy of cancer. Conjugation to polymers saves the fate of these promising drugs since a specific water soluble polymer, is linked by a biodegradable polymer-drug linker to these agents to increase their hydrodynamic size for prevention of rapid renal clearance. In this system, PEGylation has emerged as a trailblazer innovation. The chemical coupling of polyethylene glycol (PEG) chains to the drug molecules increases their apparent molecular weight (Mw) and thus extends their circulating half-lives. PEG is an outstanding drug delivery vehicle given that it is water-soluble, biocompatible, nontoxic, and non-immunogenic material; accepted by FDA for human intravenous, oral, and dermal applications. The drugs upon PEGylation adapt the strategy of passive tumor targeting by taking the advantage of Enhanced Permeability and Retention (EPR) effect in tumor vasculature. PEGylation has already been an effective strategy for enhancing the therapeutic index of various protein and non-protein drugs. In this regard, several pegylated peptides & proteins have been successfully launched in the market as a therapeutic agent, coupled with the transfer of few PEGylated drugs entering into clinical trials for several solid tumors. This has provided a firm groundwork for more sophisticated PEGylated drug constructs that deliver the anticancer agents (e.g. modulators of cell cycle, signal transduction inhibitors and antiangiogenic drugs) for the cancer therapy.
Dual drug loaded nanocarrier as therapeutic strategy for cancer treatment.
Due to the high frequency of cancer, the use of chemotherapy to evoke cure or prolongation of survival has become critically important. Research in cancer drug development achieved an experimental breakthrough in the simultaneous use of two or more chemotherapeutic agents for treating cancer, known as combination therapy. Ideally, the combination of two or more agents should be more effective than each agent separately due to synergistic effect, although additive and even antagonistic combinations may result in a higher therapeutic efficacy in the clinic. Currently, nearly all successful cancer chemotherapy regimens use multiple drugs in combination as a cocktail having antimetabolites for treatment of a broad spectrum of tumors. Synergistic combinations of two or more agents can overcome toxicity and other side effects associated with high doses of single drugs by countering biological compensation, allowing reduced dosage of each compound or accessing context-specific multitarget mechanisms. Much interest is currently focused on the development of combination therapies to prevent relapse of cancer. Moreover, activation of multiple biochemical cascades after dual drug treatment supports the evolving concept that such dual drug loaded strategy can be used for cancer therapy in near future. Presently, our laboratory has been involved in preparation of such type of dual combination nanoparticles and its therapeutic efficacy has been exploited for the treatment of leukemia and other malignancies.
