Bio

I am a fourth-year Ph.D. student at NTU Institute of Health Technologies, Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, Nanyang Technological University co-supervised by Prof. Sierin Lim from SCBE and Prof. Terry W. J. Steele from MSE. Before joining NTU, I worked with Prof. Brahmeshwar Mishra for my Masters in Pharmaceutics at the Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi (IIT(BHU)).

My research focuses on development of adhesive platforms for wet tissue adhesion aimed at improving therapeutic efficiency and patient compatibility. Specifically, my research focuses on development and characterization of adhesive composites for applications to diseases in the oral cavity. I have developed three adhesive platforms comprising of Bacterial Cellulose and photoactive carbene based bioadhesives. The composites were then evaluated for drug loading and release ability. The platforms allow tunability based on the required application. The main idea is to utilize self-regulating swelling ability of Bacterial Cellulose in combination with covalent bonding mechanism of carbene bioadhesives. The combination addresses two major limitations exhibited by current mucoadhesives i.e. overhydration/over-swelling leading to weak material properties and weak adhesion strengths due to hydrogen bonding mechanism. I am interested to further expand my research acumen in field of bioadhesives, biomaterials and drug delivery.

News

Topical treatments for oral wounds exhibit weak adhesion to wet surfaces resulting in short retention duration (6–8 hours) and patient incompatibility. An aqueous composites made of fibrillated bacterial cellulose and photoactive bioadhesives are designed to address these limitations. The composites crosslink upon photocuring within a minute and exhibit a transition from viscous to elastic adhesive hydrogels. The light-cured composites have shear moduli mimicking oral mucosa while exhibiting tunable adhesion (3 to 35 kPa) on wet tissue-mimicking surfaces.

Article Published: Carbohydrate Polymers

A mucoadhesive drug delivery platform with extended soft tissue adhesion capability of up to 7 days is proposed for on-site management of oral wound. Bacterial cellulose and photoactivated carbene-based bioadhesives combination yields flexible film platform for interfacing soft tissues in dynamic, wet environments. The bioadhesive composite exhibit tunable adhesion strength (7 to 17 kPa) while other mucoadhesives based on hydrophilic macromolecules exhibit adhesion strength of 0.5–5 kPa and last only a few hours. The work highlights the first evaluation of BC composites for mucoadhesive treatments in the buccal cavity.