Abhishek was born in West Bengal, India. He received M.Sc. in organic chemistry in 2014 with a distinguished silver medal from the University of North Bengal, India. He earned PhD in 2020 from the Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati (IIT-G), India, under Prof. Debasis Manna (Biological Chemistry Laboratory). In the same year, Abhishek joined as a postdoctoral researcher at Prof. Ashraf Brik’s Chemical Biology Laboratory, Schulich Faculty of Chemistry, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel; where his research was focused on modulating the activities of biologically relevant proteins and enzymes for developing new drug molecules for cancer and other diseases, chemical protein synthesis, developing new cell-penetrating peptides  and several other chemical & physical delivery system for the live cell delivery of synthetic proteins. In April 2024, Abhishek started his independent research carrier; working as an Assistant Professor at the Department of Chemistry, Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, Hyderabad campus.

Research Experiences:

• Assistant Professor, BITS Pilani Hyderabad Campus, April 2024–Present
• Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Chemical biology lab, Supervisor: Prof. Ashraf Brik, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa (Israel), August 2020–March 2024
• Doctoral Fellow, Biological chemistry lab, Supervisor: Prof. Debasis Manna, Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (India), December 2014–October 2020.
• M.Sc. Project Fellow, Organic chemistry lab, under the supervision of Prof. Basudeb Basu, University of North Bengal, Siliguri (India), February 2014–June 2014
• Project Fellow, Organic chemistry lab, under the supervision of Prof. Sajal Das, University of North Bengal, Siliguri (India), January 2013–April 2013

Fellowship/awards/grants:

• Best Poster Prize in ChemConvene, IIT Guwahati, Assam, India (2017)
• RSC Best Poster Prize in 19th Chemical Research Society of India (CRSI)-National Symposium in Chemistry, University of North Bengal, India (2016)

• Senior Research Fellowship (SRF) from Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, India (2016–2019)
• Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) from Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India, India (2014–2016)
• Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE) in Chemistry (2014)
• Excellence and Silver Medal for First Class Second in M.Sc. (Chemistry), University of North Bengal, India (2014)
• Prof. Mihir Chowdhury Memorial Award for distinguish academic remark, Achariya Brajendra Nath Seal College, West Bengal, India (2012)
• Merit-cum-Means Scholarship, West Bengal State Government, graduation and post-graduation), India (2009–2014)  

Selected Publications:

• Saha, A.; Suga, H.; Brik, A.* “Combining Chemical Protein Synthesis and Random Non-standard Peptides Integrated Discovery for Modulating Biological Processes”: Accounts of Chemical Research, 56, 2023, 1953–1965. (IF 24.466)
• Saha, A.⁺ ; Vamisetti, G. B.⁺ ; Huang, Y. J.; Vanjari, R.; Mann, G.; Gutbrod, J.; Ayoub, N.; Suga, H.*; and “Selective Macrocyclic Peptide Modulators of Lys63-linked Ubiquitin Chains Disrupt DNA Damage Repair” Nature communications, 13, 2022, 1-12. (IF 17.69)
• Saha, A.; Mandal, S.; Arafiles, J. V. V.; Gómez‐González, J.; Hackenberger, C. P.*; & Brik, A.* “Structure–Uptake Relationship Study of DABCYL Derivatives Linked to Cyclic Cell‐Penetrating Peptides for Live‐Cell Delivery of Synthetic Proteins” Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 61, 2022, e202207551. (IF 16.6)
• Saha, A.⁺; Akhtar, N.⁺; Kumar, V.; Kumar, S.; Srivastava, K. H; Kumar, S.; Manna. D.* “pH-Regulated anion transport activities of bis(iminourea) derivatives across the cell and vesicle membrane”: Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 17, 2019, 5779-5788.
• Saha, A.⁺ ; Pradhan, N.⁺ ; Chatterjee, S.; Singh, K. R.; Trivedi, V.; Bhattacharyya, A.; Manna. D.* “Fatty-Amine-Conjugated Cationic Bovine Serum Albumin Nanoparticles for Target-Specific Hydrophobic Drug Delivery”: ACS Applied Nano Materials, 26, 2019, 3671-3683.
• Saha, A.⁺ ; Akhtar, N.⁺ ; Kumar, V.⁺ ; Pradhan, N.; Panda, S.; Morla, S.; Kumar, S.; Manna. D.* “Diphenylethylenediamine-Based Potent Anionophores: Transmembrane Chloride Ion Transport and Apoptosis Inducing Activities”: ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 10, 2018, 33803-33813. 
• Saha, A.⁺ ; Panda, S.⁺ ; Pradhan, N.; Kalita, K.; Vishal, T.; Manna. D.* “Azidophosphonate chemistry as route for a novel class of vesicle forming phosphonolipids”: Chemistry-A European Journal, 24, 2018, 1121-1127. 
• Saha, A.⁺ ; Panda, S.⁺ ; Paul, S.⁺ ; Manna, D.* “Phosphate bioisostere containing amphiphiles: a novel class of squaramide-based lipids”: Chemical Communications, 52, 2016, 9438-9441. 

Invited Lectures:

• Title: "The Art of Intracellular Chemical Delivery"; Date of Presentation: 2024–04–30 organised by the Department of Chemical Sciences, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai; event: “FUTURE OF CHEMISTRY" 15th Symposium in SYMPOSIUM SERISE.
• Title: “Recent Developments in Nanoparticle–Based Therapeutic Approaches for COVID–19”; Category of Event: International (within country) Date of Presentation: 2021-08-05 Alipurduar University, West Bengal, India on "INTERNATIONAL WEB-BASED CONFERENCE -COVID-19 CONSEQUENCES AND CHALLENGES"
• Title: “Applications of Nanoparticles in Anticancer Drug Delivery”; Category of Event: International (within country) Date of Presentation: 2021–06–24 Acharya B. N. Seal College, Cooch Behar, affiliated to North Bengal University, International web-based conference on “INTRODUCTION TO NANO CHEMISTRY: APPLICATIONS AND CHALLENGES”

Article Reviewed:

• Review activity for Nature chemical biology; IF: 14.8 (2023)
• Review activity for Nature communications; IF: 17.7 (2023)

Teaching:

• CHEM F111: General Chemistry @BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad campus, 2024
• CHEM F110: Chemistry Laboratory @BITS-Pilani, Hyderabad campus, 2024
• Teaching Assistant @Indian Institute of Technology-Guwahati (2016–2019)

Membership:

• Israel Chemical Society
• American Chemical Society

Research Overview:

Our lab is focused on exploring and understanding THE ART OF INTRACELLULAR CHEMICAL DELIVERY

For intracellular delivery of chemical and biological substances (ions, small molecules, supramolecules, peptides, proteins, antibodies, nucleic acids, bioconjugates, bifunctional molecules, and others), we work on designing and developing various ORGANIC CARRIERS, which are tailored for assisting molecules to cross the biological membrane and unveil therapeutic applications. In addition to contributing to the advancement of targeted and effective therapeutic interventions, we aim to reveal the complex chemistry and biology underlying these processes. Also, by asking fundamental biological questions, our work seeks to bridge gaps in knowledge and foster innovative solutions in the realm of intracellular chemical delivery to further rigorous exploration, thereby making significant contributions in the fields of chemistry, biology, and medicine.

Current Research Interests

• Synthesis of novel lipid, protein, & peptide-based drug carriers
• Synthesis of novel anionophores for Ion Therapy
• Synthesis of unique cell-penetrating peptides
• Unique strategies for bioactive cyclic peptides delivery
• Intracellular delivery of PROTACs and other bifunctional molecules 
• Artificial intelligence in chemical delivery
• Artificial cell construction
• Biomaterials and drug delivery
• Bioelectronics and drug delivery

Set/setting up the facilities for

• Synthetic chemistry and solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS): synthesis of small organic molecules, supramolecules, peptides, cyclic peptides, proteins and  others.
• HPLC, HRMS/LCMS/MALDI-TOF, NMR, FT-IR, UV-Vis, and others.
• Preparation of micelles, liposomes (SUVs, LUVs, and GUVs), various type of aggregates and self-assemble organic carriers. 
• Imaging techniques: fluorescence microscopes (optical/digital), electron microscopes (TEM, SEM, and FESEM), force microscope (AFM), and confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM).
• Biophysical and analytical techniques: TRPL, zetasizer, DSC, lyophilization, centrifugation, pH-meter, ion-selective electrode, dialysis, size exclusion chromatography, extrusion, circular dichroism, and others.
• Bacterial cell culture, protein extraction, affinity chromatography, SDS-PAGE, agarose gel electrophoresis, RT-PCR cloning, etc.
• Mammalian cell culture, immunofluorescence, western blotting, co-immunoprecipitation, flow cytometry, and fusion imaging.
• Isothermal titration calorimeter (ITC) and surface plasmon resonance (SPR).
• Mass-proteomics.

News

• 2024/04/05 Institute provided us a research laboratory space at A/001, A-block, Department of chemistry, BITS-Pilani Hyderabad campus.

To know more about us click here