Postdoctoral Researcher

Research AssociateDepartment of BSBE Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, India Nov 2025 – Present

• Performed molecular cloning, membrane protein expression and purification of ion channel proteins using heterologous systems (Baculovirus expression system), followed by detergent solubilization and chromatographic purification.
• Conducted whole-cell patch clamp of TRP channels (TRPV3 and TRPM3), Ionotropic receptors (IRs) and Human Aquaporin1 in cultured cells (HEK 293T)Senior Research Fellow Department of Biophysics, AIIMS, New Delhi, India Jun 2022 – Oct 2025
• Structural and functional analysis of Camelus dromedarius Peptidoglycan Recognition Protein-Short (PGRP-S) to elucidate its role in innate immunity
• Purified recombinant protein using affinity and size-exclusion chromatography; crystallized the protein and solved its 3D structure by X-ray crystallography, including data collection at synchrotron facilities (ESRF, France)
• Coordinated and managed the laboratory personnel and resources to ensure the successful completion of research projects.
• Contributed to writing and publishing scientific articles in a reputed journal.Research Assistant Department of Biophysics, AIIMS, New Delhi, India Dec 2020 – May 2022
• Conducted structural and functional studies of enzymatically cleaved lactoferrin (LF) to characterize biologically active fragments and their polysaccharide-binding properties
• Performed limited proteolysis (pepsin/trypsin), purified and crystallized the 40 kDa monoferric C-lobe of LF, and solved its structure at 2.28 Å resolution, revealing a fully functional C-terminal domain
• Demonstrated a conserved proteolytic cleavage site (Arg341–Tyr342) across pepsin, trypsin, and proteinase K, highlighting a structurally favorable and biologically significant inter-lobe cleavage mechanismTECHNICAL SKILLSMolecular biology and protein chemistry: Molecular cloning, membrane protein purification and recombinant protein expression (bacterial systems) and purification using chromatography techniques (affinity, ion-exchange, size-exclusion; FSEC-HPLC and AKTA).Electrophysiology: Electrophysiological studies of TRP, AQP1, IRs and Cav1.4 channels using whole-cell patch-clamp recording (HEK293T)Structural Biology: Proficiency in protein crystallization, data collection, structure refinement, molecular modeling, structure validation, and analysis (CCP4, Phenix, PyMOL, Chimera, COOT, etc).Biophysical Techniques: Enzyme kinetics, binding assays, and functional characterization of proteins.Cell Culture: Culture of suspension as well as adherent cell lines (HEK293T, HEK293F, Sf9, and TZM-bl)