VIROLOGY | CANCER BIOLOGY | CHROMATIN REMODELLING
Dr. Ashok Kumar Patel
Research Interests:
Virology (Chikungunya, Dengue, SARS-CoV-2), Cancer (Breast Cancer), Chromatin Remodelling, Structural Biology
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Associate Professor
Kusuma School of Biological Sciences,
Indian Institute of Technology Delhi
Hauz Khas, New Delhi – 110016, India
Professional recognition, awards, fellowships received
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Ramalingaswami Fellowship, Department of Biotechnology, India, (2014-2019).
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Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) Germany; 2009: Travel grants fellowship; to perform training under Prof Petri Kursula, (01 March-30 May 2009), University of Oulu, Finland.
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Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) Germany; 2008: Travel grants fellowship; worked with Prof B.W.Dijkstra (29 March-28 June 2008), University of Groningen, The Netherlands.
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Boehringer Ingelheim Fonds (BIF) Germany; 2007: Travel grants fellowship; worked with Prof David W.Rice, during 15 January to 14 April 2007, University of Sheffield, UK.
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Senior Research Fellowship from CSIR, India (Oct 2006- Dec 2009).
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Junior Research Fellowship from CSIR, India (Oct 2004 – Oct 2006).
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“National Eligibility Test” (NET) - 2004 for Junior research fellowship (JRF) Physical Sciences from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), India (Qualified for Shyama Prasad Mukherjee fellowship test).
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Qualified “Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE)-2004” in Physical Sciences with 99.14 percentile and secured an overall India rank of 24th.
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Qualified in “Joint Entrance Screening Test (JEST) 2004” in Physical Sciences with 92 percentile.
Education & Research Experiences
Postdoctoral Researcher
2009-2013
Mentor: Prof. Gregory Bowman
Department of Biophysics, Johns Hopkins University, USA
PhD
2005-2009
Mentor: Prof J. V. Medicherla
Molecular Biology Unit, Institute of Medical Sciences, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
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Research Trainings through BIF Germany:
University of Oulu, Finland- Prof Petri Kursula (2009)
University of Groningen, Netherlands- Prof B.W.Dijkstra (2008)
University of Sheffield, UK- Prof David W.Rice (2007)
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MSc
2002-2004
Department of Physics, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India
Post-Docs
Dr. Shipra Gupta
Shipra Gupta completed her M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla. She received her PhD degree in Biochemistry jointly from IGNOU and Jamia Hamdard University under the supervision of Prof. Pratima Ray where she studied the genetic characterization of Group A rotaviruses and other enteric viruses in children with acute gastroenteritis. Currently, she works in understanding the mechanism of Dengue virus pathogenesis and host responses.
Dr. Chinmayee Sethy
Dr. Chinmayee Sethy has earned her Master of Science in Biotechnology from Ravenshaw University, Odisha in 2013. She then pursued her doctoral research in KIIT-DU, Odisha under the supervision of Prof. Chanakya Nath Kundu. Her Doctoral research focused on studying the role of Nectin-4 in cancer metastasis and angiogenesis in breast cancer patients using ex vivo and in vivo model systems. Her current research mainly aims to investigate the role of players in cancer pain aggression and progression.
Dr. Satish Tiwari
Dr. Satish Tiwari received his Ph.D. degree in Structural Biology from the National Institute of Immunology, where his thesis work focused on “Identification of new anti-tubercular compounds against Mtb IGPD using a target-based approach”. He also holds an M.Sc. in Marine Biotechnology from Goa University and a B.Sc. (H) in Biomedical Science from Delhi University. He visited University of Virginia, USA as a Postdoctoral Research Associate for a short span of time.
PhD Students
SUNNY GUPTA
Sunny completed his B.Tech & M. Tech in Biotechnology from Kurukshetra University and Maulana Abul Kalam Azad University of Technology, respectively. His current research interest includes breast cancer diagnosis and
therapeutics. He has qualified ICAR-NET & GATE.
ISHU GUPTA
Ishu completed his B.Tech in Biotechnology from Amity University, Noida. He has qualified CSIR-JRF, DBT & GATE. His current research interest includes dynamics of chromatin remodelling.
MOHIT BHARDWAJ
Mohit Bhardwaj completed his Bachelor's (B.Tech) and Master's (M.Tech) from KIIT School of Biotechnology, KIIT University. During his Ph.D., he is working on Understanding the role of the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2.
SEETHARAMI REDDY E
Seetharami completed his M.Sc. Biotechnology from Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) in Tamil Nadu. Currently, he is working on the study and evaluation of dengue specific human B cell antibody responses at single cell level from primary and secondary dengue individuals. He has qualified GATE 2015.
SHREYA GUPTA
Shreya has completed her B.Sc.(H) Medical Biotechnology from Amity University, Noida and M.Sc. Biomedical Sciences from ACBR, University of Delhi. Currently, she is working in deciphering the role of various structural and non-structural proteins of SARS-CoV2. She has qualified CSIR-NET 2019 and GATE-XL 2021.
SALONI VARSHNEY
Saloni has completed her Master's in Biotechnology from Interdisciplinary Biotechnology Unit, Aligarh Muslim University in 2023. She has qualified Joint CSIR UGC NET-JRF (AIR 51), DBT-JRF and JGEEBILS 2023.
ADYA UPMANYU
Adya completed her Bachelor of Science and Master of Science in Biotechnology from Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology, Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan. She has qualified GATE-BT 2023, GATE-XL 2023, CSIR-NET 2023 and JGEEBILS 2023.
GHUNCHA EISAR
Ghuncha earned her Master's degree (M.Sc.) in Life Sciences from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and a Bachelor's degree (B.Sc.) in Biotechnology from Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI). She has qualified examinations such as Joint CSIR-UGC JRF (NET), DBT JRF and GATE in 2023 and 2021.
VAISHALI YADAV
Vaishali has done her B. Sc. (H) Biotechnology from GLA University, Mathura in 2020 and M. Sc. Microbiology from Central University of Haryana in 2022. She has qualified CSIR NET JRF (Life Sciences) 2023.
![IMG_20250417_190810[1]_edited.jpg](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bddf88_4993182568684e788a7ae9c4cf0f9a66~mv2.jpg/v1/crop/x_125,y_0,w_2002,h_2488/fill/w_225,h_280,al_c,q_80,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/IMG_20250417_190810%5B1%5D_edited.jpg)
KAMNA KUNWAR
Kamna has done her Bachelors and Masters in Zoology from University of North Bengal. She has qualified GATE-XL 2023 and 2024 (AIR 49) as well as Joint CSIR-UGC NET JRF December 2023 (AIR 111).
SWAGAT DASH MOHAPATRA
Swagat holds Bachelor's in Science and Master's in Science (B.S.-M.S.) Dual Degree in Biological Sciences from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Berhampur. He has qualified GATE XL 2023 and JGEEBILS 2024.
DISHITA MISHRA
Dishita has completed her B.Sc(H) Botany from Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of Delhi and M. Sc. in Biotechnology from Banaras Hindu University. She has qualified GATE-BT 2024 (AIR 81), ICMR BRET JRF 2024 (AIR 82), CSIR NET LS June 2024 (AIR 21) and JGEEBILS 2024.
Joint PhD Students
ADITI KESHAV
Aditi is a joint Ph.D. student at the School of Interdisciplinary Research (SIRe), IIT Delhi, under the supervision of Prof. Preeti Srivastava (DBEB, IIT Delhi) and Dr. Neel Sarovar Bhavesh (ICGEB, New Delhi) as Co-PI. She completed her B.E. in Biotechnology from NSIT (now NSUT, New Delhi) followed by an MS(R) in Biochemical Engineering and Biotechnology from IIT Delhi. Aditi is a recipient of the Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF) and has successfully qualified for GATE-BT (2018, 2019) and DBT-BET JRF (2018, 2020).
HILYATUZ ZAHROH
Hilya is a joint PhD student with Dr. Ishaan Gupta at DBEB, IIT Delhi as Co-PI. She received her Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from IPB University, Indonesia, and Master of Science in Biochemistry from
Universitas Indonesia. She is the recipient of International PhD Fellowship Program at IITD.
SHURUTI SOOD
Shuruti is a joint PhD student with Prof. Parul Mehrotra at KSBS, IIT Delhi as Co-PI. She completed her Masters in Genetics from University of Delhi. She has qualified Gate XL (2023) and DBT JRF (2023). Her tesearch focuses on understanding the protein networks and immunometabolic dynamics of cell death and clearance.
DEEPAK KUMAR
Deepak is a joint PhD student with Prof. Aditya Mittal at KSBS, IIT Delhi as Co-PI. He completed his B.Sc.(H) Botany from Bhaskaracharya College of Applied Sciences, University of Delhi and M. Sc. Biotechnology from Delhi Technological University (formerly DCE). He has qualified DBT BET JRF 2024, GATE XL 2025 and CSIR NET 2025. His research interest is in computational biology.
Alumni
Kirtika Verma
Ph.D., IIT Delhi
(July 2014-Sept 2019)
Current Position:
Senior Scientific Officer, Sanofi
Praveen Kumar Tripathi
Ph.D., IIT Delhi
(Jan 2015-Oct 2020)
Current Position:
Scientist B at ICMR-NIMR;
Assistant Professor (AcSIR)
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Nikita Gaurav
PhD. , IIT Delhi
(Jan 2015-July 2021)
Current Position:
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
University of Colorado, Anschutz Medical Campus, Colorado, USA
PhD Alumni
Md. Naushad Khan
Supervisor Prof Pratima Ray
Jamia Hamdard University
Co-supervisor (2015-2020)
Current Position:
Postdoctoral Associate
The Scripps Research
Institute- La Jolla, California
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Shikha Srivastava
Ph.D., IIT Delhi
(July 2016-Oct 2022)
Current Position:
Post Doctoral Scientist, Center for Integrative Infectious Disease Research, University of Heidelberg
Nidhi Chaudhary
Ph.D., IIT Delhi
(Jan 2017-Dec 2022)
Current Position:
Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Neurology, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA
MSR Alumni
Anurag Prabhu
MSR student IIT Delhi (2015-2017)
Current Position:
Ph.D.- Biomedical Sciences
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel
Ananya Jain
MSR student IIT Delhi (2022-2024)
Current Position:
Ph.D.-
University of Warwick, United Kingdom
Post-Doc Alumni
Sunil Kumar
DST-Young scientist (2015-2018)
Current Position:
Senior postdoctoral fellow, Department of Drug Sciences, University of Pavia, Italy
Siva Raghavendhar B
SERB-NPDF 2017-2020,
Research Scientist (2020-2021)
Current Position:
Post Doctoral Research Scholar
University of Utah
Salt Lake City, U.S.A
Padmanava Behera
SERB-NPDF (2016-2018)
Current Position:
Research Associate-I,
Rutgers New Jersey Medical School,
Newark, New Jersey, United States
Monica Tyagi
Postdoc (2016-2017)
Current Position:
Department of Medicine, Stanford University , USA
Ravi Arya
SERB-NPDF 2017-2020,
Current Position:
Assistant Professor,
Department of Biotechnology, Assam University
Research Fellow Alumni
Snehil Budhwar
Junior Research Fellow, IIT Delhi 2014-2015
Current Position:
MIIC International Postdoctoral Fellow,
Department of Biomedical and Clinical Sciences
Linköping University SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden
Nasir
Junior Research Fellow, IIT Delhi 2015-2017
Current Position:
Postdoctoral Researcher
The Julius Maximilians University of Würzburg,
Würzburg, Bavaria, Germany