Dr Saikat Haldar

"Without you there would be no me. I am everything reflected in your eyes. I am everything approved by your smile. I am everything born of your guidance. I am me only because of you"                                                                                                                                                                             -Richelle E. Goodrich

Research Experience

•Principal Scientist, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST), Jorhat, Assam, India. (September 2025-Till date)

 Senior Scientist, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST), Jorhat, Assam, India. (September 2021-September 2025)

 Scientist, CSIR-North East Institute of Science and Technology (CSIR-NEIST), Jorhat, Assam, India.  (September 2017-September 2021)

  Research Interest: Phytochemical analysis, whole cell biocatalysis, flavour and fragrance

•National Post-Doctoral Fellow, Interactions Lab, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore, India (February 2017-August 2017)

Research Supervisor: Dr. Radhika Venkatesan

Research Topic: Targeted Metabolomics and Biotransformation of Toxic Terpene Glycosides from Common Indian Ferns

•Post-Doctoral Researcher, Natural Products Discovery Group, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Oklahoma, Norman, USA (November 2015-December 2016)

Research Supervisor: Dr. Robert H. Cichewicz

Research Topic: Isolation and Characterization of Bioactive Fungal Metabolites

•Research Fellow, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Division of Organic Chemistry, Pune, India (July 2008-July 2015)

Research Supervisor: Dr. Thulasiram H. V.

Ph.D. Thesis Title: Chemical Finger-printing, Metabolic Profiling, and Biotransformation of Neem (Azadirachta indica) Limonoids

Research Expertise

•Phytochemical Analysis

Qualitative and quantitative analysis of the phytochemicals, quality control of the plant materials and end-products

•Isolation and Structural Characterization of Secondary Metabolites

Isolation and spectroscopic/spectrometric (1D and 2D NMR, HRMS) characterization of secondary metabolites from natural (plant/microbial) sources

•Scale-up Isolation of Secondary Metabolites

MPLC and HPLC based scaling up of isolation process of targeted natural products

•Biocatalysis (Whole cell/Enzymatic)

Microbial or enzymatic (isolated) transformation of organic compounds to generate synthetically challenging novel metabolites, enzymatic resolution

•High Resolution Mass Spectrometry (HRMS) based Targeted Metabolomics

Quantitative finger-printing of targeted secondary metabolites using UPLC-ESI-quadrupole/orbitrap-MS spectrometry

•Tandem Mass Spectrometry (MS/MS) based Characterization

ESI-quadrupole/orbitrap-MS/MS based structural characterization of organic molecules and their in-mixture accurate and sensitive identification

Educational Accomplishments

1.  Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) (2010-2013)

Awarded by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India, in the field of Chemical Sciences

2.  Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) (2008-2010)

Awarded by Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India, in the field of Chemical Sciences

3.  National Eligibility Test (NET) (2008)

Qualified CSIR-NET (Chemical Sciences)

4.  Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) (2008)

Secured All India Rank 74/ Percentile score 98.80 (Chemistry)

5.  Joint Admission Test for Masters (IIT-JAM) (2006)

     Secured All India Rank 73 (Chemistry)