Dr. Archana Rath, current Associate Professor at the Department of Biotechnology, University of Mumbai, is a doctorate in Reproductive Immunology and Molecular Biology from the prestigious National Institute of Immunology (Jawahar Lal Nehru University), New Delhi. She has experience of working in diverse reputed research organization like Quest Institute of Life Sciences, Nicholas Piramal Ltd and Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC). After joining the University, she was instrumental in establishing the Antimicrobial Research (AMR) Laboratory in the Department, and is the Principal Investigator of the AMR lab. Her lab is generously funded by several Major Research Project Grants from various government agencies like DST-SERB & DAE-BRNS. Dr. Rath holds Patent (Patent Number 45887), awarded by the Patent Office, Govt. of India for the process synthesis of Novel Silver Nanoparticles, synthesized by green technology, and showing promising antimicrobial activity. She also has a Copyright to her credit for the creation of one-of-its-kind database called FEAMR@ database, for surveillance of antimicrobial resistance in food and the environment. Another recent achievement is the publication of a video article in the prestigious international journal of repute called the Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE), which is the first of its kind video article under the University of Mumbai banner.
Dr. Rath has several international & national publications in reputed journals in AMR. She has also written popular scientific articles for the general public. Her research findings have been televised under the Science Monitor series of Vigyan Prasar, Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of India. Her work has also been highlighted by various National Newspapers, e-portals etc.
Currently, she is working on analysing antimicrobial resistance associated with food and environment using conventional techniques as well as metagenomics, and ways to counteract the resistance using nanotechnology. Development of AMR based diagnostic kits is another area of research focus.
In the last few years, more than 50 post-graduate and Ph.D. students have successfully taken up this challenging area of research as their dissertation and PhD thesis topics. As part of their Social Outreach Activities, the AMR lab also organizes regular lab visits and events for the benefit of UG, PG & school students.
Former Head of the Department of Biotechnology, University of Mumbai (January 2017-January 2020).
Former Chairperson, Ad-hoc Board of Studies in Biotechnology, University of Mumbai.
Acted as Hon’ble Vice Chancellor’s Nominee in the Academic Council, Thakur Educational Trust’s Thakur College of Science and Commerce (affiliated to University of Mumbai).
Hon’ble Vice Chancellor’s Nominee in the Purchase Committee, University of Mumbai.
Doctoral Committee Member for Ph.D. in Life Sciences at BARC, HBNI, Mumbai.
University appointed Chairperson for Ph.D. Viva.
External Expert for IBSC of Indian Council of Agricultural Research-CIFE
Ph.D. Thesis/ Dissertation Examiner/ Evaluator/ Moderator for IIT-Mumbai, ICAR-CIFE, MGM Institute of Health Sciences, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, etc.
Invited Judge & Resource Person for Avishkar Research Conventions.
Invited Judge at the Consortium 2025- PG Research Poster Competition at St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai.
Chairperson, Syllabus Committee for Ph.D. Entrance Test (PET) (2019-2021) in Biotechnology, University of Mumbai.
Chairperson, Syllabus Committee for Ph.D. Coursework (2020-21) in Biotechnology, University of Mumbai.
Chairperson for revision of Syllabus of PG and UG in Biotechnology (2021-22), University of Mumbai.
University of Mumbai Nominee, Board of Studies in Biotechnology, Thakur College of Science & Commerce, Mumbai.
Member of the Syllabus Committee for development of semester and credit-based Syllabus of PG & UG programme of Life Sciences.
Internal and External Evaluator for various PG Examinations, University of Mumbai.
Convenor, Orientation workshop for PG teachers for the M.Sc. Biotechnology revised syllabus 2021-22
Convenor, Orientation workshop for UG teachers for the B.Sc. Biotechnology first year revised syllabus 2022-23
Life Member of Indian Science Congress Association (ISCA), Indian Society of Cell Biology (ISCB) and Indian Women Scientist Association (IWSA).
Mishra, M., Ballal, A., Rath, D. and Rath, A., 2024. Novel Silver Nanoparticle-Antibiotic Combinations as Promising Antibacterial and Anti-biofilm Candidates against Multiple-Antibiotic Resistant ESKAPE Microorganisms. Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces, p.113826. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.colsurfb.2024.113826
Ghadigaonkar, D. and Rath, A., 2023. Isolation and Identification of Waterborne Antibiotic-Resistant Bacteria and Molecular Characterization of their Antibiotic Resistance Genes. JoVE (Journal of Visualized Experiments), (193), p.e63934. https://www.jove.com/t/63934/isolation-identification-waterborne-antibiotic-resistant-bacteria
Mishra, M., Kadam, P., Doshi, B., Saravya, J. and Rath, A., 2022. FEAMR: A Database for Surveillance of Food and Environment-Associated Antimicrobial Resistance. Interdisciplinary Sciences: Computational Life Sciences, 14(4), pp.833-840. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s12539-022-00534-y
Dhawale, Amruta, Gargi Bindal, Devashish Rath, and Archana Rath. DNA repair pathways important for the survival of Escherichia coli to hydrogen peroxide mediated killing. Gene. 2021 768 (2021): 145297. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0378111920309665
Onkar A. Naik & Ravindranath Shashidhar, Devashish Rath, Jayant R. Bandekar & Archana Rath. Characterization of multiple antibiotic resistance of culturable microorganisms and metagenomic analysis of total microbial diversity of marine fish sold in retail shops in Mumbai, India. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 2018 Mar 1;25(7):6228-39. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-0945-7
Onkar A. Naik, Ravindranath Shashidhar, Devashish Rath, Jayant R. Bandekar and Archana Rath. Metagenomic analysis of total microbial diversity and antibiotic resistance of culturable microorganisms in raw chicken meat and mung sprouts (Phaseolus aureus) sold in retail markets of Mumbai, India. Current Science, 113(1), 10 July 2017: 71-79. https://doi.org/10.18520/cs/v113/i01/71-79
Rath D, Amlinger L, Rath A, Lundgren M. The CRISPR-Cas immune system: biology, mechanisms and applications.Biochimie. 2015 Oct; 117:119-28. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biochi.2015.03.025
Rath A., Choudhury S., Batra D., Kapre SV, Rupprecht CE and Gupta S. K. DNA vaccine for rabies: relevance of the trans-membrane domain of the glycoprotein in generating an antibody response. Virus Res. 2005 Nov;113 (2):143-52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.virusres.2005.05.002
Rath A., Batra D., Kaur R., Vrati S. and Gupta S. K. Characterization of immune response in mice to plasmid DNA encoding dog zona pellucida glycoprotein-3. Vaccine. 2003 May 16;21 (17-18):1913-23.
Rath A., Choudhury S., Hasegawa A., Koyama K. and Gupta S. K. Antibodies generated in response to plasmid DNA encoding zona pellucida glycoprotein-B inhibit human sperm-egg binding. Mol. Reprod. Dev., 2002, Aug 62 (4): 525-533. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0264-410X(02)00824-1
Gupta SK., Srivastava N., Choudhury S., Rath A., Sivapurapu N, Gahlay GK and Batra D. Update on zona pellucida glycoproteins based contraceptive vaccine. J Reprod Immunol. 2004 Jun;62(1-2):79-89. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jri.2003.08.004
Pradnya Deshpande, Archana Rath and S. Khedkar. Production of cellulase from lignocellulosic weed Eichornia species (water hyacinth) Proceedings of 46th Annual Conference of Association of Microbiologists of India, Dec 8-10, 2005, held at Dept of Microbiology, Osmania University, Hyderabad.
Choudhury S, Srivastava N.,Narwal PS., Rath A., Jaiswal S. and Gupta S. K. Feasibility and challenges in the development of immunocontraceptive vaccine based on zona pellucida glycoproteins. Soc Reprod Fertil Suppl. 2007;63:479-93.
Upadhyay A., Sivapurapu N., Rath A. and Gupta S. K. (2002). Rationale of Synthetic Peptides as Immunogens for Vaccine Development. Proceedings of Indian National Science Academy (PINSA), B 68, No.1 pp 97-114.
Srivastava N., Upadhyay A., Rath A., Chaudhury S. and Gupta S. K. (2001). Prospects of contraceptive vaccines for females. In: Current status in fertility regulation: Indigenous and modern approaches (Eds: Chowdhury SR, Gupta CM and Kamboj VP), Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow, 239-253.
1. Registered Copyright: Literary work entitled “FEAMR: Food and Environment associated Antimicrobial Resistance Database” (Registration Number: L-96624/2020)
2. Patent award entitled “Biological Synthesis Process of Silver Nanoparticles and Application as Antimicrobial Agent against Multiple Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria” (Patent Number 458867)
Invited talk “Anti-microbial Resistance (AMR) and One Health Perspective” on 10th December 2024, as part of World Antimicrobial Awareness Week celebration at St. Xaviers College, Mumbai.
'Tackling Anti-microbial Resistance (AMR) from One Health Perspective' delivered on 4th-5th March 2024, during the Two day International Conclave on Antimicrobial Resistance, organised by the DBT-CTEP, sponsored and organized by the Centre of Excellence in Life Sciences, PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore, India.
'Seafood Safety from One Health Perspective' Lecture during ICAR-CIFE organized and DST-SERB sponsored two-day National Seminar "Seafood Safety and Public Health" on 4th & 5th January, 2024.
Understanding AMR through Metagenomic Approaches - ICAR Sponsored Winter School (9-29th January 2023) on Antimicrobial resistance in food fish: Challenges and Mitigation, conducted by CIFE, Mumbai – 25th January 2023
Antimicrobial efficacy of green synthesized Silver Nanoparticles against Multiple Antibiotic Resistant Acinetobacter baumannii – 3rd World Congress on Infectious Diseases and Antibiotics 2022 (online) – 30th January, 2022
FEAMR Database© for surveillance of Antimicrobial Resistance in food and environment – The World Environment Summit (online) – 2nd October, 2021
Received First prize for Oral presentation at National Conference on Climate Change (NCCC) organized by Utkal University, Bhubaneshwar, on March 2020.
Metagenomics in Clinical Microbiology - PG Assembly (Western Region) of IAMM at Seth G.S. Medical College & K.E.M. Hospital, Mumbai – 29th July 2019.
A study on antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli isolated from retail food in Mumbai, India – World Congress on Infectious Diseases and Antibiotics, Bangalore – 28th November 2018.
Food Associated Antibiotic Resistance and Its Implications to Human Health - International Conference (IAETS- 2018), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj University, Panvel, Mumbai (India) – 17th November 2018.
Title: DNA Repair Pathways: Elucidating the Role of Genes Involved in Oxidative Stress
In: Indian Society of Cell Biology Newsletter (2023)
Author's Name: Amruta Dhawale, Archana Rath
Details: ISSN 2349-8307, Pgs. 46-48
Year of Publication: 2023
Title: जलप्रदूषण आणि जंतूंच्या रोधनक्षमतेचा विकास
Author's Name: Dr. Archana Rath
Publisher: Vanarai Magazine, विशेषांक आरोग्य आणि पर्यावरण
Details: ISSN 2250-1215, Pg. no. 100
Year of Publication: 2020
Title: Prospects of contraceptive vaccines for females.
In: Current status infertility regulation: Indigenous and modern approaches
Author's Name: Srivastava N., Upadhyay A., Rath A., Chaudhury S. and Gupta S.K. (Eds: Chowdhury S R, Gupta C M and Kamboj V P)
Publisher: Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow
Year of Publication: 2001