Human Health Therapeutics

• Apr 2021 - Present

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

• May 2019 - Apr 2021

• Designing and performing in vivo and in vitro experiments to investigate the new strategies for providing broad protection against acute respiratory viral pathogens such as influenza virus in mouse model • Conducting experiments to understand the mechanism of action of memory alveolar macrophages and other cell types in lung in prior adenovirus infected mouse model following influenza infection involving flow cytometry, plaque assay, glycolysis stress test, cytokine multiplex assays on Luminex, co-culture assay, apoptosis assay, purification and culturing of alveolar macrophages • Contributed to write a review article in journal of leukocyte biology about innate immune memory of tissue resident macrophages • Trained a visiting scholar and graduate students to perform bronchoalveolar lavage, nasal administration of substances and blood collection from abdominal artery in mouse model and to culture mammalian cells in sterile condition • Regularly participating and presenting research findings and peer-reviewed papers in immunology journal club and lab meetings Show less

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

• May 2018 - May 2019

• Performed experiments to investigate the role of chicken microbiota in induction of immunity against Marek’s disease virus (MDV) infection in chickens by administering the antibiotic cocktail, evaluating the changes in several bacterial population in cecal content by extracting the bacterial DNA, determining the host immune responses and assessing the disease outcome• Performed an experiment to investigate the role of chicken microbiota and probiotics in induction of immunity by MD vaccines against MDV infection by administering a cocktail of Lactobacillus species in ovo and orally to chickens and evaluating the changes in the cellular profile and immune related genes and assessing the disease outcome• Optimized and conducted in vivo experiments which involved flow cytometry to examine the changes in the cellular profile and real-time PCR techniques to investigate and characterize the presence of regulatory microenvironments during MDV infection in chickens• Contributed to others’ projects by collecting and processing samples and performing flow cytometry Show less

PhD Candidate

• Sep 2013 - Apr 2018

• To characterize innate responses induced in chicken embryos, encapsulated Toll-like receptor (TLR) 4 and 21 ligands were administered and induction of innate responses was demonstrated by RNA extraction from various tissues at different time points followed by real-time PCR • Various TLR ligands (TLR-Ls) were tested for their ability to inhibit MDV infection in vitro and Poly(IC) was identified as potent immunomodulatory agent which significantly reduced MDV infection • To induce immunity against MD by TLR-Ls as standalone prophylactic agents, TLR-Ls encapsulated PLGA nanoparticles were administered to chicken embryos and post-hatch chickens and significant reduction in tumor development was demonstrated • To enhance the immune responses induced by MD vaccine, the effect of in ovo administration of CpG encapsulated PLGA nanoparticles as adjuvant with MD vaccine followed by MDV infection at hatch was investigated and reduction in tumor development was observed• Trained three summer students to perform laboratory techniques including sample collection, RNA extraction, plasmid extraction, cDNA synthesis and real-time PCR• Contributed to others’ projects by helping in administering substances to animal models, sample collection and performing laboratory assays Show less

Associate in research

• Aug 2011 - Sep 2013

• To investigate a preventive strategy for transmission of Mannheimia haemolytica from domestic sheep to bighorn sheep, colony PCR was performed following culture of bacteria from nasal and oropharyngeal swabs collected from the experiment which involved antibiotic depletion of respiratory commensal microorganism in domestic sheep, nasal administration of Bibersteinia trehalosi to prevent the colonization of Mannheimia haemolytica and comingling domestic sheep with bighorn sheep• To investigate the correlation between hemolysis and cytotoxicity of Mannheimia haemolytica leukotoxin, clinical isolates of Mannheimia haemolytica was confirmed for the leukotoxin gene by colony PCR followed by leukotoxin production from each isolates, ELISA for the detection of leukotoxin, cytotoxicity assay for measurement of toxin-induced cytotoxicity and examination of hemolysis of each isolates on blood agar plates • To maintain the continued supply of laboratory stuffs including reagents, media and appliances, regularly managed inventories and ordered them as needed• Supervised several research assistants and mentored three summer students to perform laboratory techniques including bacterial culture, plating of samples, PCR and gel-electrophoresis• Contributed to others’ projects in handling experimental animals, necropsy, sample collection, sample processing, data collection and reviewing manuscripts• Routinely managed daily activities of the laboratory Show less

Graduate Research Assistant

• Aug 2008 - Jul 2011

• For the identification and characterization of inhibition of growth of Mannheimia haemolytica by Pasteurella multocida, in vitro experiments were performed which involved bacterial culture, colony-forming unit assay, bactericidal assay, proximity-dependent inhibition of bacterial growth assay and MTT dye-reduction cytotoxicity assay • To investigate the ability of inhibition of Mannheimia haemolytica by Bibersteinia trehalosi in the nasopharynx of domestic sheep, Mannheimia haemolytica positive animals were colonized with Bibersteinia trehalosi by nasal administration and nasal and oropharyngeal swabs were examined by plating on agar plates and performing colony PCR for the detection of pathogenic Mannheimia haemolytica • To investigate the horizontal gene transfer of leukotoxin gene from Mannheimia haemolytica to Bibersteinia trehalosi, as a pilot experiment, co-cultured bacteria were screened by colony PCR for the transferred gene following plasmid extraction, cloning of DNA in plasmid vector, primer designing, extraction and analysis of nucleic acids, DNA sequencing and electroporation Show less

Veterinarian

• Aug 2005 - Jul 2008

Diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control of small animal disease Spaying and neutering Educated clients about small animal health care and management Diagnosis, treatment, prevention and control of small animal disease Spaying and neutering Educated clients about small animal health care and management