Nationality: Indian
Background: I completed my B.Sc. in Chemistry from the University of Calcutta and M.Sc. in chemical sciences from IISER Kolkata in 2025. During my master’s thesis, I worked in the field of peptide-based drug delivery, which introduced me to advanced concepts in the biomedical applications of chemistry. After that, I worked as an ICMR-funded Project Fellow in the area of cancer immunotherapy, where I developed a deeper interest in the research at the interface of chemistry and healthcare.
My research interests: Peptide-based supramolecular chemistry, polymer chemistry, nano-material chemistry and their application in biomedical research.
My PhD goals: To advance the development of selective and sensitive nanoMIPs for cancer biomarker recognition through interdisciplinary research in molecular modelling, synthetic chemistry, and analytical characterization. I am also interested in exploring peptide-based imprinting systems to design efficient MIPs with improved specificity and diagnostic potential.
My hobbies: Love capturing moments and nature through photography, and exploring new places, foods, cultures, and historical sites.
My project in MIPrecise: Protein specific nanoMIPs for single cell biomarker enrichment and labelling
Master thesis: A Short Ru (2,2’-bpy)32+ Conjugate as an Anticancer Therapeutic Agent
Conventional cancer treatments often damage healthy cells along with affected cells, which can cause severe side effects. Therefore, the development of targeted therapeutic strategies that selectively eliminate cancer cells while minimizing harm to normal tissues is important. Targeted therapy is a specific combination of molecular features that ensures specificity, selectivity, and efficacy within the intracellular environment.
In my MSc project, we designed a peptide-Ruthenium (II) conjugate, which combines organelle-specific delivery, enzyme- triggered activation, and light-activated cytotoxicity into a single construct. The peptide moiety facilitates selective accumulation of the conjugate within cancer cells, particularly in the Golgi apparatus. The Golgi apparatus was selected as the target because it plays an important role in protein processing and transport into the cells, and disruption of its function can lead to cell death.
The Ruthenium polypyridyl complexes are well known photodynamic therapy (PDT) agents because of their excellent photophysical properties, low dark toxicity, and ability to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) under visible light irradiation. Following cellular uptake and selective localization at the target site, irradiation with visible light (approximately 450 nm) activates the ruthenium complex, resulting in ROS generation. The elevated oxidative stress subsequently damages cellular components and induces cancer cell death.
Together, these effects result in highly selective cytotoxicity toward cancer cells with minimal off-target damage to healthy cells.