Principal Investigator
My research interests are applying Microbiology, Computational Biology, Evolutionary methods, and Next Generation Sequencing methods to solve challenges related to:
Probiotics, Immune mechanisms, Disease Biomarkers, Autoimmunity
Environmental Pollutants, Waste treatment, Novel microbes.
Current Members
Research Scholar (2021 - present)
Pratyusha is a DST-Inspire fellow. Her research interest lies in Human genome analysis, Autoimmunity, and human health. Previously, she has worked on human ChIP-Seq datasets and natural fungal pigment extraction for dyeing applications. In the Systems Biology lab, she is interested in learning about the underlying mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disorders using multi-OMICS, Bioinformatics, Systems Biology, and Immunoinformatics approaches . Besides research, Pratyusha enjoys Cooking, Music, Painting, Poem writing, and spending time with the natural scenic beauty in her free time.
Research Scholar (2022 - present)
Sandhya has done her graduation and post-graduation in Microbiology from the University of Mumbai. Her previous work involved total lipids isolation from algae cells for biodiesel conversion as a cure for algal bloom due to eutrophication. She is currently working on a microbial approach for pollutant degradation as a process of bioremediation.
Ph.D. Scholar (2023-Present)
Harshita did her post graduation from JUIT, Waknaghat and graduation from University of Delhi. Her previous work involved biochemical characterization and application of phytase enzyme. Later, she worked on the testing of dairy products at the National Referral Centre for Milk Quality and Safety (NRCMQS). She is currently working on fermented food products.
Ph.D. Scholar (2023-Present)
Rija completed her Masters in Biotechnology from North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong. She has previously worked on mice model to study inflammatory diseases. Her research interest revolves around health and diseases and is currently working on the underlying genetic determinants associated with autoimmune diseases. Apart from research, she also loves painting, dancing, cooking, exploring new places, and reading novels.
Ph.D. Scholar (2023-Present)
Shweta completed her MTech in Biotechnology from IIT Guwahati where she worked on the production of bioethanol using wheat straw by co-culturing fungi and yeasts. Thereafter, she worked as a JRF at BITS, Pilani. Currently, she is working on degradation of lignocellulosic waste.
PhD Scholar (2024-Present)
Athar is pursuing an integrated M.Tech-PhD program, having earned a Bachelor's in Biosciences from Jamia Millia Islamia University and a Master's in Microbiology from Aligarh Muslim University. He is passionate for understanding viral dynamics within microbial ecosystems. His research aims to explore the intricate interactions between viruses and microbiomes, using advanced computational methods to decode their complexities. Ultimately, he seeks a deeper understanding of viral ecology and its broader implications on microbial communities.
PhD (Dual degree) (2023-Present)
Vanshika is enrolled in a dual M.Tech-PhD program. She completed her Bachelors in Biotechnology from Dr. Y. S. Parmar University of Horticulture and Forestry, Nauni, Solan. She has previously worked on Plant Tissue Culture . Presently, she is working on Autoimmune diseases.
Research Scholar (2019 - 2025)
Thesis Title: Development of Top-Down Enriched Microbial Consortia for Waste Treatment and Study of Microbial Community Dynamics during Anaerobic Digestion.
Current affiliation: Project engineer, HSFC @ISRO, Bangalore
Rashmi was an HTRA scholar in Systems Biology Lab, with a research focuse on designing of microbial consortia for wastewater treatment, biogas production using 16S metagenomics approach.
Dr. Arjun OK (PhD scholar 2019-2024)
Thesis Title: A Genomic Approach Towards Unraveling Probiotc Enigmas; From Genomic Signatures to Identification and Evaluation of Potential Probiotic Organisms.
Current affiliation: Bioinformatics Data Scientist at SETOLABO Inc.
Arjun has been interested in utilizing comparative genomics to identify taxa-specific signature sequences for Probiotic genomes. Before joining the lab, he was working on understanding how genetic divergence can contribute to reproductive isolation resulting in the speciation and adaptation of Drosophila species.
Dr. Aditi Jangid (Ph.D. scholar 2016 - 2022)
Thesis Title: Role of gut microbiota composition and functions: Impact of host genes, dietary factors & bacterial taxa on intestinal immunity.
Current affiliation: Motivational speaker
Aditi was a CSIR Fellow in the TPS Lab. She previously worked as a Project assistant at IISER Bhopal. Her research interest includes ultilization of different OMICs techniques such as metagenomics, transcriptomics and metatranscriptomics to decipher the role of microbiome and their subsequent functions in mammalian gut and cross-talk between two. Different applications includes study of disease models, probiotic and prebiotics models etc. Later, she worked as a Postdoctoral fellow at the Broad Institute and Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York.
Dr. Fauzul Mobeen (PhD scholar 2014 - 2021)
Thesis Title:
Current affiliation: ..........
Fauzul defended his thesis in June 2021. His research interests include multi-OMICS and Systems Biology. His programming skills includes R, Python, Bash, and Matlab. He works on microbiome analysis. His interest lies in the application of computational methods in Systems Biology to underpin the hidden biological messages contributing to human health.
Dr. Vikas Sharma (PhD scholar 2013 - 2019)
Thesis Title:
Current affiliation: ...........
He holds a PhD in Microbial Comparative Genomics with research experience in Bioinformatics, Computational Genomics, Microbiology, and Next-generation Sequencing, and Data Analysis. He later moved to PGIMER, Chandigarh for his Postdoctoral research.
Inchara (M.Tech Biotech, 2023-25)
Devansh Pundhir (M.Tech Biotech, 2023-25)
Lalit Narayan Mudgal (Integrated B.Tech-M.Tech in Biotech, 2024)
Adil (2019-2024) (Integrated B.Tech-M.Tech in Biotech, 2024)
Kshitij (Integrated B.Tech-M.Tech in Biotech, 2024)
Shivam (B.Tech student)
Shubham (B.Tech student)
Dr. Sonali Soni Senior Project Scientist for NGS (July-Dec 2024).
Dr. S. Gurunathan Senior Project Scientist for NGS (2022- 2024).
Prithvi S Prabhu (M.tech Biotech Aug 2023 - Aug 2024) Thesis Title: ............. Prithvi has joined as a Project staff at IIT Mandras.
Ananya Gautam (M.tech Biotech Aug 2023 - Aug 2024) Thesis Title: .........
Mr. Rahul (Intern May - July 2023): Rahul was a summer intern in the lab and his project work involved the in silico analysis of Metagenomic dataset to study the probiotic roles of gut microbial species.
Mr. Sachin: (Project Staff 2023): Sachin joined the lab as Field Assistant for the SERB-supported COVID-19 surveillance project.
Ms. Saumya Shukla (M.tech Biotech Aug 2022-Aug 2023): Thesis project - Systems Biology application in environment pollutant degradation and conversion to valuables. Saumya is currently pursuing her PhD research at IIT Kanpur.
Mr. Jitesh Adwani (M.tech Biotech Aug 2022-Aug 2023). Thesis Title: ............... Jitesh is currently working as Scientist-I at Strand Life Sciences, Bangalore.
Ms Snehlata Rao (M.tech Biotechnology Aug 2021 - Aug 2022, Thesis Title: Study of Natural Polymer and Products of Synthetic Polymer Degrading Ability of Bacteria through In silico and In vivo Approach). Currently, Snehalata is working as a Ph.D. scholar at IIT Kanpur.
Dr. Priti Pandita (Apr 2021 - Mar 2022) Dr. Priti worked as a Field Applicant Scientist (for NGS) in the lab. She is presently working as a Molecular Biologist at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH-NIH).
Mr Prashant Pandey (Research Scholar Feb 2022 - June 2022). His interest lies in RNAseq analysis. Currently, he is working as Senior Scientist at Biocon limited.
Ms Mira Koul (M.Tech. Biotechnology Aug 2020 - June 2021, IIT Mandi, Thesis Title: Investigating Host-pathogen interactions in Atopic Dermatitis). Mira's work involved integrating metagenomics and transcriptomics approaches. Her interest also lies in epigenomics, disease biology and learning different Next Generation Sequencing technologies. Currently, she is pursuing PhD at IIT Roorkee in Medical Informatics.
Ms Jeevita Konari (M.Tech. Biotechnology, Aug 2020 - June 2021, Thesis Title: Integration of comparative genomics and transcriptomics to study genus Acetivibrio for hydrogen production with the conversion of biomass.) She has been interested in constructing the genome scale metabolic models, Next generation sequencing techniques, and environmental biotechnology. Currently, she is pursuing PhD at IIT Chennai in Systems Biology.
Dr. Shrawan Kumar (Aug 2017 - Sept 2020) worked as a Field Application Scientist for NGS Facility in the lab. Presently, he is working at QIAGEN.
Ms Mayuri Mathur May 2019 - Nov 2019 worked as an intern. She studied M. Tech. Biotechnology from Center for Converging Technologies, University of Rajasthan, Internship Project Title: Biodegradation of Latex Rich Lab Waste Using Gram-negative Bacterial Strains.
Ms Priya Singh (M.Tech. Biotechnology, Aug 2018 - June 2019, Thesis Title: A comparative metagenomic study of human gut microbiome of different aspects of inflammatory bowel disease). Currently, she is working as a research student at CCMB, Hyderabad.
Ms. Rupinder Kaur (Project Student, Biomarkers for Oral Cancer, May 2018 - Dec 2019)
Ms. Shatabisha Bhattacharjee (Project Student Waste water treatment, 2017 - 2019)
Mr. Somdutt (M.Tech. Biotechnology, Aug 2017 - June 2018). Somdutt is pursuing his PhD at IIT Delhi.
Ms Arisha Arora (B.Tech in Biotechnology, 2014-2018, Heritage Institute of Technology', Kolkata, Summer Internship, Thesis Title: Comparative Genome Analysis of Klebsiella sp. KAY2026 and Klebsiella pneumoniae subsp. rhinoscleromatis ATCC 13884, May - June 2017). Currently, she is pursuing M.Tech in Biotechnology from MANIIT, Allahabad (M.Tech in Biotechnology, 2019-2021).
Mr. Gaurav Chetal (M.S. by Research Feb 2013 - 2016)