Team:IIT Madras/Team advis

Dr. Guhan Jayaraman
guhanj@iitm.ac.in
Associate Professor
Dept of Biotechnology
IIT Madras

Education
Ph.D, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
M.Tech, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi

Research Interests

• Recombinant Protein production:

  Current work involves the investigation of different host-vector systems; studying the kinetic and thermodynamic limitations of gene over-expression; and evolving optimal bioreactor strategies for high-yield production of recombinant proteins.

• Design of novel bioseparation processes for large-scale protein purification:

  Non-linear liquid chromatographic processes; development of affinity-based aqueous two-phase extraction processes for protein purification; protein re-folding.

• Design of Microfluidic Devices for Biomolecular Analysis:

  This project has been recently initiated, mainly focused on development of silicon-based microfabricated devices for DNA analysis. Development of high throughput devices will have a significant impact on genome sequencing technologies.

Dr. Madhulika Dixit
mdixit@iitm.ac.in
Assistant Professor
Dept of Biotechnology
IIT Madras

Education
Ph.D, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay
M.Sc, University of Mumbai

Research Interests

The primary objective of my research team is to elucidate molecular and cellular mechanisms of normal and aberrant function of blood vessels under physiological and patho-physiological conditions respectively. The key areas we focus on are endothelial dysfunction, atherosclerosis and edema. In order to obtain a holistic picture on these issues we would subscribe to the following approaches:

• High through put screening for identification of changes in gene expression from clinical samples.

• In vitro tissue culture experiments to identify signaling intermediates altered under pathological settings. For this we would employ primary cultures of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), and human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs).

• Validation of in vitro data through in vivo animal experiments.
• Use of viral vector based gene delivery systems to rectify the faulty functioning of the signaling intermediates.