Dr. Amrita B. Hazra
Principal Investigator

Amrita Hazra completed her Bachelors and Masters degrees in Chemistry at Jadavpur University, Calcutta (2000-2003) and at the Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur (2003-2005), respectively. She obtained a Ph.D. at Cornell University in Chemical biology with Tadhg Begley in 2010. This was followed by a postdoctoral stint at the Department of Plant and Microbial Biology at the University of California, Berkley with Michi Taga. She joined IISER Pune as an assistant professor in December 2015, and is currently an associate professor. She enjoys teaching organic chemistry and biochemistry, and thinking about enzyme mechanisms, microbial metabolism, and why questions in chemistry and biology. She is fascinated by vitamins, enzymes, microbial communities, fermentation, and millets.

Email: amrita@iiserpune.ac.in

---------- Team ----------

Aniket SR Vartak
Integrated PhD student, Biology

"The aspect of working on the interface of biology and chemistry and utilizing different tools to answer interesting problems is what led me to join the lab. And I think that's exactly the best thing about the lab."

Education history: B. Tech in Chemical Technology from ICT, Mumbai

Email: aniket.vartak@students.iiserpune.ac.in

Shweta Nikhar

PhD student, Chemistry

Shweta joined IISER Pune in 2022 as PhD scholar. She completed her M.Sc in Chemistry from Nagpur University. She finds the intersection of Biology and Organic Chemistry interesting. With a background in Biotechnology, it amuses her how the Vitamin B1 biosynthesis intermediates are exchanged in E.coli. She finds tranquility in reading books, exploring new places, and reading mythology.

Education history: B.Sc. in Chemistry from LAD college, Nagpur

M.Sc. in Chemistry from HISLOP college, Nagpur

Email: shweta.nikhar@students.iiserpune.ac.in

Rajdip Chakraborty

Integrated PhD student, Chemistry

Rajdip joined IISER Pune as an Integrated-PhD student in 2021 after completing his B.Sc (H) in Chemistry from the University of Calcutta. He is interested in understanding biological systems as a grand assembly of chemical systems. Currently, he is investigating homologs of the enzyme 3-mercaptopyruvate sulfurtransferase (3-MST) and their role in hydrogen sulfide biogenesis. His favorite hobbies include reading classic fiction, playing sitar and listening to Indian classical music.

Education history: B.Sc (hons.) in Chemistry

Email: rajdip.chakraborty@students.iiserpune.ac.in

Gayathri Murali

4th-year BS-MS student, Biology

"I am interested in Microbiology and Biochemistry and Whytamin lab is the right place to explore the interface between the two. The best thing about the lab is its diversity with respect to the people as well as the collaborative environment that brings in a lot of constructive input from the lab-mates."

Email: gayathri.murali@students.iiserpune.ac.in

Dhritiraj Bastav Kalita
3rd-year BS-MS student, IISER Pune

"Having always been amazed by the chemistry that nature does in biological systems, I want to explore the fields of science where chemistry and biology shake hands. The Whytamin lab is where such a research mindset is shaped to build young researchers. The best thing about the lab is the motivating research environment, a supportive supervisor as well as the graduate students who truly inspire me to dive deeper into my research"

Email: dhritiraj.bastavkalita@students.iiserpune.ac.in

Shreya Mahato
PhD student, Biology

"I joined the lab to pursue questions in basic science that are yet unanswered and I think the best thing about the lab is that it allows you to look at these problems from the combined lens of biology and chemistry"

Education history: B.Sc in Biotechnology from St. Xavier's College-Ahmedabad, Gujarat

M.Sc in Biotechnology form Visva Bharati-Santiniketan, West Bengal

Email: shreya.mahato@students.iiserpune.ac.in

Prayashi Goswami
MS student, Biology

"I was intrigued by the kind of questions the lab asked. But what really fixated me was the prospect of applying insights from basic science research into building something – a bioassay. I think the best thing about the lab is that it fosters curiosity and encourages a wide spectrum of learning, out of other things."

Education history: B.Sc in Biochemistry (hons.) from St. Anthony's College, NEHU, Shillong

Email: prayashi.goswami@students.iiserpune.ac.in

Prathith Bhargav

Project Associate, Chemistry

Prathith completed his BS-MS in Chemistry from IISER Pune in 2024 and joined the lab as a Project Associate. He is interested in understanding biomolecules and their interactions through computation and machine learning. Currently, he's working on understanding antibiotic tolerance in E. coli strains through Structural Bioinformatics and Proteome-wide docking. In his free time, he enjoys swimming, jogging, and listening to Carnatic music.

Education history: B.Sc in Biochemistry (hons.) from St. Anthony's College, NEHU, Shillong

Email: prayashi.goswami@students.iiserpune.ac.in

---------- Alumni ----------

PhD

Yashwant Kumar

PhD student, Chemistry, 2016-2021

Yashwant completed his M.Sc. in chemistry from Vinoba Bhave Univesity, Hazaribag, and then joined PhD in IISER. His research interests involve mechanistic enzymology, synthetic biology, and organic synthesis. He explored the molecular basis of nucleobase utilization in nucleotide-utilizing enzymes. Yashwant is also known for his on-stage performances at several co-curricular events at IISER.

Current affiliation: Post Doctoral fellow, The SParK Research Group, IIT Gandhinagar

Rupali R. M. Sathe
PhD student, Biology, 2016-2022

Had you have asked the younger Rupali about her dreams, the first thing she would've said that she wants to be a 'scientist.' Well, she did go on to become one, and it seems to be going great for her. Using a bit of both microbiology and chemistry, she tried to work out the alternative pathway for Vitamin B1 biosynthesis. The training in Biotechnology from her Bachelors helped stem new ideas for her work. In her free time, she likes to breathe in a bit (unlike her anaerobic cultures), relax and read novels.

Current affiliation: Postdoctoral fellow, Leibniz Institute for Natural Product Research and Infection Biology - Hans Knöll Institute

Yamini Mathur
PhD student, Biology, 2016-2022

Yamini Mathur joined IISER-Pune as an Integrated-PhD scholar in 2015 after a Bachelors in Biochemistry from Jaipur National University. She had a keen interest in extensive metabolic pathways and worked on exploring the function and mechanism of novel methylations involved in the anaerobic pathway to Vitamin B12 biosynthesis. Beyond the lab, she enjoys reading and has a newfound interest in teaching.

Current affiliation: Post Doctoral fellow, Seed Lab, University of California Berkeley

Ateek Shah
PhD student, Chemistry

Ateek pursued an integrated PhD curriculum in IISER Pune since 2016. He has completed his B.Sc. (H) in Chemistry from Delhi University. His interests are organic synthesis, biochemistry, enzymology and microbiology. He was trying to understand the role of nucleobase in nucleotide specificity and to change the nucleotide specificity of bifunctional FAD synthetase from Escherichia coli.

Email: ateek.shah(AT)students.iiserpune.ac.in

Current affiliation: Postdoctoral Visiting Fellow, NICHD, National Institutes of Health, Maryland