Profile

I would like to highlight a few volunteering activities I have contributed and have been doing in the past few years as following-

• 1. As a graduate student representative in SMS-JEDI committee (https://sms.asu.edu/community/JEDI) I am promoting DEI goals within our department in collaboration with other team members.
• 2. I am the founding member and the elected Director of Communications for SMS Graduate Student Council (https://asu.campuslabs.com/engage/organization/smsgsc) at School of Molecular Sciences in ASU. With this role, I advocated for graduate student interests to our school and Arizona State University leadership. I was also responsible for maintaining our social media groups (like Facebook, LinkedIn, Slack) by engaging graduate students with professional development opportunities, recreational events/activities and communicating with other external organizations like GPSA, SoLS within our ASU community.
• 3. I had contributed as a Science Fair Judge for selecting the best research project in Chemistry among high school participants at INTEL International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) grand final event and also contributed as a Science Fair Judge for selecting the research project for ISEF among high school / middle school participants at Arizona Science and Engineering Fair (AZSEF).
• 4. As a professional mentor at the Freedom Employability Academy (FEA), I am mentoring students from India, in school and college from the age group of 15 to 30 to choose their desired career options and helping them with professional development.
• 5. I had mentored 8th grade high school students at Fees College Preparatory Middle School during after-hours Science Club session as a part of GPSE (https://gpse.asu.edu/mentors/).
• 6. I joined the official Sci-ROI (Science and Research Opportunities in India, a U.S. based volunteer-driven not-for-profit organization) leadership team (https://sciroi.net/organizing-committee-sci-roi-2021/), to steer the social media activities of Sci-ROI, to bring more attention into this organization. Additionally I am also developing an industrial database (as a part of outreach) which will be helpful to PhDs/Postdocs for transitioning into the R&D sector of Indian industries.

Graduate Research Assistant, Arizona State University, USA

• 1. Developed a novel cost-effective, biocompatible, hydrogel-based Colorimetric nanosensor for detecting radiation doses, used in clinical radiotherapy for cancer treatment and closely worked in collaboration with medical professionals at Banner M.D. Anderson Cancer Center & Arizona Veterinary Oncology in Gilbert, AZ. Our research on radiation dosimetry has been highlighted and featured in EurekAlert.
• 2. Designed and optimized a library of aminoglycoside-derived lipopolymer nanoparticles (LPN)
  • Characterized LPN formulations for purity, long-term storage stability, using hydrodynamic diameter, zeta potential, and studied drug encapsulation/ release using analytical methods.
  • Screened LPN library for nucleic acid-delivery, drug-delivery using in vitro cell-based assays.
  • Initiated collaboration with Massachusetts General Hospital for testing LPN hepatotoxicity.

• 3. Formulated biomaterial-based liquid ink for clinical applications in endoscopic imaging
  • Characterized ink formulations by hydrodynamic diameter, PDI, zeta potential and tested its ex-vivo efficacy of injectability, contrast, spot-size using porcine intestinal tissue.
  • Utilized in vitro macrophage-based assay and in vivo mice model to evaluate inflammation & potential toxicity of synthesized sterile ink-formulations.
  • Initiated collaboration with Mayo Clinic for in vivo pre-clinical trials of endoscopic imaging in pig.
  • This research has been selected for a press release during the upcoming ACS Spring-2022 meeting.

• 4. Synthesized library of amino acid, lipid and small molecule drug-conjugated microbead for preferential binding of methylated and unmethylated DNA with the applications into bioprocessing & disease detection and collaborated for computational QSAR study with Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.
• 5. Synthesized biomaterial-based polymers and hydrogel-based adhesives (e.g., silk, chitosan, gelatin-based), tested by collaborators for ex vivo and in vivo evaluation of diverse tissue sealing and wound healing applications.

Also I do have a few undergraduate students who works with me in different projects in the lab. Additionally I sometime have to drive to our neighboring medical facilities like Banner MD Anderson Cancer Center and Mayo Clinic, Arizona to perform some of my experiments in collaboration with medical personnels. During lunch I usually go for a walk into our campus food court (known as ‘Memorial Union’), and get some food.

I believe we need to encourage curious young minds especially who do not find enough encouragements around them from the family/friends to continue their higher education in STEM for various socio-economic reasons. I would like to build a network of underrepresented scientists and mentors in STEM around the world. In that way the school students can get a constant support, help and guidance throughout their career after school and do not feel alone in the journey. From my own experience being a 1st generation student; I certainly feel that going to college/university for graduate education is the toughest decision I have made in my career and also sometimes very much intimidating and difficult to keep up with if we do not have proper support system in place. Over the last few years I have been involved in several initiatives through American Chemical Society (ACS), our department’s JEDI committee and also through various research/education initiatives by Arizona State University to serve this noble cause to our society and would love to continue my efforts along these lines.