Lab


PRESENT MEMBERS  
Principal Investigator  
Raghu Padinjat I trained initially in clinical medicine before switching to a career in basic research. My Ph.D work involved studying intracellular calcium signalling in the lab of Gaiti Hasan. As a post-doc I worked with Roger Hardie where I became interested in lipid signalling.  My non-academic interests include cricket, history and Disney-Pixar movies. 

 Ph.D students  
 Aniruddha Panda   I am a chemist by training. I have done my B. Sc. (Chemistry Hons) from Saldiha College, Saldiha and M. Sc. in Chemistry from National Institute of Technology, Rourkela. I am currently engaged in "Biochemical analysis of lipid homeostasis in Drosophila" using Mass Spectrometry as a major analytical tool.  Beside science, I am mad about football. I have represented my school, college, NCBS and the local club in my native place in football.
 Urbashi Basu   I have done my Bachelors in Microbiology from Surendranath college in Barrackpore and Masters in Biotechnology form University of Calcutta, department of biotechnology.  Presently I am trying to understand how venation patterning is established in the wings of Drosophila melanogaster.
 Sanjeev Sharma   I have done my Bachelors and Masters in Life Sciences from Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher learning. I study the role of phospholipid kinases in growth and development.
 Sudipta Ashe I did my Masters in Biochemistry from Hyderabad Central University. Currently I am studying the role of Protein Kinase D in Drosophila. I love travelling and trekking and playing games on my playstation.
 Swarna Mathre    I did my bachelors from Maharani’s college, Mysore in Botany, Biochemistry and Zoology. I did my masters from University of Mysore specializing in Genetics. I am currently studying the role of phosphoinositide kinases  in growth using genetic and imaging techniques. I am very fond of multiple sports among which tennis takes the top slot. I have represented my college and my university in national level tournaments while in college.
Sankhanil Saha   I have done Integrated M.Sc. In Biotechnology from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. At present, I am looking into the effect of Lithium in Phosphatidyl inositol signalling pathway. Besides work, I have a wide array of interests and hobbies- a few of them are playing football, cheering for Barcelona FC and reading storybooks.
Int. Ph.D students  
 Sruthi Balakrishnan   I’ve done my BSc Microbiology from Jain College, Bangalore. My broad interests in the lab lie in the distribution, function and regulation of PI4P in cells. Outside of the lab, I enjoy reading and music.
 Avishek Ghosh   I have done a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. I’m interested to know the role of cell membrane phospholipids in cell growth and development. My hobbies are listening to music, playing football,cricket.
Bishal Basak   I am a graduate in Microbiology from St. Xavier’s College, Kolkata. Currently in the lab I am trying to find out the functional significance of inter-organelle contact sites using Drosophila photoreceptors as a model system. I like to listen to music, play video games and watch movies in my free time.
Aastha Kumari   I graduated in Life Sciences from Central University of Jharkhand.  Currently in the lab I am trying to understand how pools of PI(4,5)P2 are maintained on the apical membrane of Drosophila photoreceptors. I love travelling and listening to music.
Amruta Naik   I have done my Bachelors in Biotechnology from Jai Hind college, Mumbai University. Currently I am trying to understand the regulation of Phospholipase D enzyme using Drosophila photorecptors as a model system.
Post Doctoral Fellows  
 Vishnu Janardhan   During my PhD @ Indian Institute of Science, I characterized a novel metallophosphoesterase using both Drosophila and mammalian systems. Currently, as a postdoctoral fellow, I am identifying new members of the phosphoinositide signalling cascade that regulate growth. Part of this work is being carried out in the lab of Phill Hawkins at Babraham Institute, Cambridge.
 Shirish Mishra   I completed my PhD at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland (2010- 2015) where I was involved in the understanding of the relationship of lipid droplets (LDs) with endoplasmic reticulum (ER) in budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Currently, as a postdoctoral fellow at Raghu’s lab I am trying to understand the role of lipid transfer proteins and their novel interactors in the photo-transduction machinery in fly Drosophila melanogaster.
 Harini K   I have done B.Sc in Zoology and M.Sc in Biotechnology, both from University of Madras. I worked on deciphering the structure and function of olfactory receptors and to understand their interaction with countless odor molecules for the Ph.D project in Prof.R.Sowdhamini's lab at NCBS. In the last two years I have been working on structural analysis of proteins such as epoxide hydrolase and haemagglutinin and on evolution of PIPK protein. My hobbies are to read science fiction and murder mystery novels and to listen to music.
 Ramya V   I have done my BSc in Biochemistry from St.Joseph's college, Cuddalore and MSc in Biochemistry from Bharathidasan University, Tiruchirapalli, Tamil Nadu. I have identified a novel phospholipase and explored its transcriptional regulation using Saccharomyces cerevisiae as a model system during my doctoral study with Prof. Ram Rajasekharan in CFTRI, Mysore. Currently, I am interested in biochemical characterization of enzymes involved in PI signaling pathway.
 Annu Joseph   My doctoral research from Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Kerala was centered on identifying molecular players involved in pancreatic maintenance and degeneration with focus on the transcription factor STAT5B. My current work includes the identification of the role of PIP4K enzymes of the phosphatidylinositol pathway in neural stem cells and differentiated neural lineages.
 Ruchi Jhonsa   I completed my doctoral studies from Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. My work involved understanding the role of calcium binding proteins in muscle development and function using Drosophila IFM as the model. Currently, as a joint postdoctoral fellow between Max Planck and NCBS, I am trying to look into the role of lipid signalling in apical domain maintenance using Drosophila photoreceptors as the model system.
 Rajan Thakur   I have done Bachelors in Microbiology from Modern College, Pune. I am trying to understand the role of Phospholipase-D (dPLD) using Drosophila phototransduction as a model system. Apart from reading books, I like playing table-tennis and cricket.



Lab Alumni

Post doctoral fellows:

  • Amit Nair  (2006-2009) Oakland Consulting, Cambridge U.K
  • Hanneke Okkenhaug (2004-2010) Staff Scientist, Babraham Institute, Cambridge, U.K
  • Elise Coessens (2005-2007) Scientist IBDML, Marseille, France
  • Plamen Georgiev (2007-2010) Post-doc Max-Planck Institut, Freiburg, Germany
  • Amit Gupta (2011-2013) Post doc, Heriott Wyatt University, Edinburgh, U.K

Ph.D students:

  • Isaac Garcia Murillas (University of Cambridge, 2005); Post-doc, CRUK, London
  • Deepti Trivedi (University of Cambridge, 2006); Technologist, NCBS, Bangalore
  • Plamen Georgiev (University of Cambridge, 2007); Post-doc, Max-Planck Institut, Freiburg
  • Sarah Toscano (University of Cambridge, 2011); Post-doc,Max-Planck Institut, Freiburg;
  • Sourav Kolay;(Manipal University, 2017); Post-doc,UT Southwestern, Dallas, Texas;
  • Shweta Yadav;(TIFR, 2017); Post-doc,Baylor College of Medicine, Texas;
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