Education

Ph.D. (Centre for Biosystems Science and Engineering) : Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Aug 2018 - present

Currently working on the ‘Biomechanics of Liver Cirrhosis’ Advisors: Prof. G.K. Ananthasuresh (Mechanical Engineering) and Prof. Saumitra Das (Microbiology and Cell Biology)
cGPA: 8.5

B.Tech. (Biotechnology) : Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore Campus

Jun 2014 - Jun 2018

cGPA: 9.54

Ph.D. Research

Introduction

Regardless of etiology, chronic liver diseases go through stages of fibrosis, cirrhosis and may culminate in hepatocellular carcinoma. In fibrosis and cirrhosis, the normal tissue gets replaced by scarred tissue which subsequently affects the hepatic tissue architecture and causes impaired hepatic function. Diagnostic techniques have demonstrated an increase in the stiffness of the liver as one progresses through the different stages of disease, meaning a fibrotic liver appears stiffer than a normal one. It has also been observed that the liver stiffness decreases to an extent after antiviral treatment was administered to HBV/HCV infected patients.
Our goal is to understand how the stiffness of the microenvironment may affect the characteristics of liver cells, like hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells. We are also interested in investigating the correlation between the stiffness and function of these cells, particularly the hepatocytes, and understand whether they may play a role as a possible accomplice in fibrosis progression. We are also trying to understand whether the presence of Hepatitis C proteins make the hepatocytes more responsive to changes in substrate stiffness.

Concept figure

Research Work

We have fabricated collagen-coated polyacrylamide gels of varying stiffnesses to mimic the stiffness of a normal (3 kPa), fibrotic (10 kPa), and cirrhotic (40 kPa) liver. We are culturing hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells on the samples and performing experiments to assess the correlation between substrate stiffness and cell characteristics like stiffness, cell morphology, proliferation and gene expression levels of certain markers. We are also investigating the correlation between cell stiffness and function, in the hopes of identifying a biomechanical marker that can help improve the assessment of fibrosis. We are also investigating whether the presence of Hepatitis C proteins in hepatocytes make them more sensitive to changes in substrate stiffness.

My advisors

Prof. G.K. Ananthasuresh

Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science

Prof. Saumitra Das

Professor, Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science

Publications

Barua A., Kesavan K., Jayanthi S. Molecular docking studies of plant compounds to identify efficient inhibitors for ovarian cancer. Research Journal of Pharmacy and Technology. 2018; 11(9): 3811-3815.
Balakrishnan S., Raju SR., Barua A., Pradeep RP., Ananthasuresh GK. Two nondimensional parameters for characterizing the nuclear morphology. Biophysical Journal. 2021; 120(21): 4698-4709.

Conferences

Poster presentation: Effect of substrate stiffness on hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells in the context of liver fibrosis. 9th World Congress of Biomechanics, July 2022 in Taipei, Taiwan
Poster presentation: Influence of substrate stiffness on the biomechanical characteristics of hepatocytes and hepatic stellate cells in the context of liver fibrosis. TERMIS-AP, October 2022 in Jeju Island, South Korea
Poster presentation: Presence of HCV proteins renders hepatocytes more susceptible to mechanical changes in the microenvironment leading to fibrosis progression, Biological Transactions: From Molecules to Organisms (BTMO), February 2023, IISc Bangalore, India
Highlighted Poster: Presence of Hepatitis C viral proteins renders hepatocytes more responsive to mechanical changes in the microenvironment leading to fibrosis progression, PMRF Annual Symposium, February 2023, IIT Madras, India

Courses taken

Teaching Experience

Course instructor of Cell Mechanics course under the PMRF-ISSS Teaching Programme – facilitated by the Institute of Smart Structures and Systems (ISSS) (June 2021 – September 2021)(April 2022 - August 2022)(November 2022 - April 2023).
Teaching assistant at Kendriya Vidyalaya, IISc branch (Jan 2021 – June 2021)
Teaching assistant of the course ‘Fundamentals of Bioengineering: Part – 2’ under BSSE Department, IISc (June 2020 – December 2020).

Fellowships

Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (awarded in October 2020)

Awards and Honours

Felicitated by the Governor of West Bengal with ‘Mamraj Agarwal Rashtriya Puruskar’ for securing 98.2% in ICSE, 2012
Received a Certificate of Academic Excellence and a cash prize of Rs 15,000/- from DPS Megacity for securing 1st rank in ICSE, 2012. (Class 10 board examinations)
Received a Certificate of Academic Excellence from DPS Megacity for securing 2nd rank in class 11 (2012-2013)
Received a merit scholarship from VIT University for securing 10th rank in Biotechnology (academic year:2014-2015)
Received a merit scholarship from VIT University for securing 2nd rank in Biotechnology (academic year: 2015-2016)
Received a merit scholarship from VIT University for securing 3rd rank in Biotechnology (academic year 2016-2017)
Received a merit scholarship from VIT University for securing 4th rank in Biotechnology (academic year 2017-2018)
Received a merit certificate from VIT University for securing AIR 77 in GATE Biotechnology 2018
Awarded ‘Recommendation with commendation’ for my PhD research work during PMRF Review Cycle, May 2022
Poster was highlighted during the PMRF Annual Symposium 2023, held at IIT Madras