Dr. Asish Pal (Professor)
I was born in a quintessential town, Jaipaiguri surrounded by forest, tea-estate and mighty Teesta River of North Bengal in the Himalayan foothills. However, I grew up in the Mango City of Malda, where I did my early schooling till the 12th standard. I did my BSc (Hons) in Ramakrishna Mission Residential College, Narendrapur under the University of Calcutta. The college was an excellent platform to help me to pursue my career as an Integrated Ph.D. in Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. I did my Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Santanu Bhattacharya, Organic Chemistry, IISc with specialization on self-assembled gels and soft nanocomposites. I moved to the Netherlands to work with Prof. Rint P. Sijbesma at Molecular Science & Technology, Eindhoven University of Technology (2009-2012). I worked on designing biomimentic materials based on bisurea amphiphiles for self-sorting, hydrogels for tissue engineering applications. Further, I worked with Prof. Sijbren Otto, Stratingh Institute of Chemistry University of Groningen, The Netherlands (2012-2015) investigating self-replication of amyloid-like peptide materials and hierarchical hydrogels.
I started my independent research career in 2015 in the chemical biology unit of the Institute of Nano Science and Technology.
I have always been intrigued by nature and its underlying governing principles to design materials with precision engineering. Thus, my research interest has always been understanding the supramolecular interactions and self-assembling system akin to natural systems. We have experience in investigating the self-assembly and hierarchical materials e.g hydrogels using a variety of synthetic and bioinspired building blocks. Under the broad umbrella of biomimetic materials, my current research interest includes supramolecular biomaterials, stimuli-responsive hydrogel materials, dynamic combinatorial chemistry, and multivalent recognition for tissue engineering, controlled drug delivery across the blood-brain barrier, self-healing coating, and agricultural applications.
Apart from science, I am an avid traveler, yoga enthusiast, marathon runner, and would like to spend time in innovative traditional cooking. Trekking in Himalaya is a once a year activity.
The strength of the team is each individual member.
The strength of each member is the team.
-Phil Jackson
Ph.D. Students
Post Doc Fellows
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Dr. Divya Dheer
I am a Pharmacy graduate. I have completed my Ph.D. from the Academy of Scientific and
Innovative Research (AcSIR) under the supervision of Dr. Ravi Shankar at CSIR-Indian
Institute of Integrative Medicine-Jammu, India with thesis entitled ‘Design and synthesis of
polymer based targeted drug delivery systems and studies towards the synthesis and anti-
cancer potential of triazoles’. During PhD, I visited Institute Galien Paris-Sud, France and
worked with Dr. Julien Nicolas (CNRS Research Director) investigating design and synthesis
of multifunctional assembly containing dual-targeting ligands for anticancer activity. My
accolades include several international and national awards including Raman Charpak
Fellowship award from the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research
(IFCPAR/CEFIPRA), Best Research Paper award from CSIR-IIIM, Jammu, Best Oral
Presentation award from SELECTBIO, CSIR- Senior Research Fellowship and CSIR-Junior
Research Fellowship among others.
At Dr. Pal’s lab, I am working as a TARE-Research Fellow (SERB-DST) and exploring the
prodrug effects in the presence of photochemical sequestration and on-demand activation
towards responsive drug delivery. Outside research, I like listening music, travelling and
baking.
Research Interests: Targeted Drug Delivery, Bioconjugate Chemistry and development of
new synthetic methods for active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs).
Dr. Priyanshi Agnihothri
​I belong to Jaipur famous for pink. I did my B.Sc. and M.Sc. degrees in chemistry from Rajasthan University. I pursued my Ph.D. from the chemistry department of Panjab University under the supervision of Dr. Abhijit Dan. My thesis was focused on the fabrication and characterization of functional microgels and their applications.
Apart from research, I like listening to songs and traveling.
Research Interest: Functional microgel, colloid, and interface science, soft matter, polymers
Ph.D Students
Ms. Nimisha Mavlankar
Ms. Antarlina Maulik
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I am a foodie and a Bangali by origin, and I come from Kolkata. I did my Bachelors from Kolkata and my M.S in Medicinal Chemistry from NIPER Mohali. I am interested in synthetic organic and supramolecular chemistry and am trying to synthesise some chiral and light sensitive organic polymers with some interesting applications. I am a great fan of Bengali and English Literature, History, detective stories, mystery thriller and read Classics in my free time. I love sketching and exploring places having some historical significance.
Research area: Small molecule and polymer synthesis, supramolecular chemistry
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Email ID : antarlina.ph20202@inst.ac.in
Mr. Debasish Nath
I come from the busy suburbs of Mumbai, Maharashtra. I did my bachelor's in pharmacy from Dr. L. H. Hiranandani College of Pharmacy, the University of Mumbai where I developed a keen interest in the chemistry of medicines and novel drug delivery tactics. I qualified for the GPAT and NIPER entrance tests and pursued my master's in Medicinal Chemistry at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali, Punjab where I worked on novel compounds. The clean, vibrant, and highly motivated environment of knowledge city, Mohali inspired me to pursue Ph.D. I joined the Institute of Nano Science and Technology in Aug 2019.
Including science I love most of the things that involve colors, be it painting, lettering quotes, cooking or eating decorated colorful food or gardening, my newly found interest with the greens.
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Research Interests: Stimuli-Responsive Peptide Materials, Peptide Therapeutics, Novel Drug Delivery Systems.
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Email ID : nimisha.ph19215@inst.ac.in
I am from the City of Joy, Kolkata. I did my early education from Taki House (govt. spons.) for boys, Kolkata. I completed my Graduation in Microbiology(H) from Gurudas College, University of Calcutta and Masters in Biotechnology from University of Calcutta. I started my early research career in Nanotechnology from School of Biotechnology, Jawaharlal Nehru University. I joined the Institute of Nanoscience and Technology as a PhD student in January, 2021.
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Apart from the education, I did my 5th year Diploma in Painting from Surabharati Sangeet Parishad, West Bengal and represented my district in Mock Parliament Drama competition in 2007. I love to communicate with new people and explore their cultures.
Research Interest: Development of multi-stimuli response in peptide-polymer conjugated hydrogel material for tissue engineering, development of a low cost electrochemical biosensor.
Email ID : debasish.ph20259@inst.ac.in
Ms. Jahanvi Ralhan
I, belong to the textile city of the nation, that is Panipat. I have completed my graduation from Post Graduate Government College for Girls, Chandigarh. From there, I shifted to Panjab University campus to pursue my Masters in Chemistry with specialization in Peptide Chemistry.
Apart from research, my major interest areas include painting and cricket.
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Research Interests : Peptide Chemistry, Peptide - Organic Conjugate Chemistry
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Email ID: jahanvi.ph21207@inst.ac.in
Mr. Vysakh C C
I belong to Kerala, God's own country, specifically to Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala. I completed my graduation in pharmacy from the Prime College of Pharmacy, Palakkad, and moved to the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Govt. Medical College, Thiruvananthapuram, and completed my master's in pharmacy in Pharmaceutical Chemistry.
Apart from my research interest, I have always been fascinated by nature, new places, culture, and food. I also love to play badminton and football.
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Research Interest: Stimuli-responsive polymer materials.
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Email ID: vysakh.ph21238@inst.ac.in
Ms. Gunjan Hooda
Hi, my name is Gunjan Hooda. I come from Panchkula while my roots are in Rohtak, Haryana. My alma mater was Little Flower Convent School in Panchkula. For higher secondary I went to GMSSS-16, Chandigarh. Then having completed my graduation and post graduation (Zoology) from PGGCG-11 Panjab University, Chandigarh, I joined INST as a PhD student in January 2023.
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Research Interest: Peptide based therapeutics
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