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.

Email: amrita(AT)iiserpune.ac.in

Team

Aniket Vartak
Integrated PhD student, Biology

Aniket started his journey in IISER Pune as an Integrated-PhD student in 2020 after completing his B.Tech in Intermediates and Dyestuff technology from the Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai. He wishes to continue and enrich the research on vitamin B12 lower ligand biosynthesis going on in the lab.

He likes to look at and understand the world in his own way and enjoys inhabiting the earth in this awesome knowledge era.

Email: aniket.vartak(AT)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.

Email: shweta.nikhar(AT)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.

Email: rajdip.chakraborty(AT)students.iiserpune.ac.in

Gayathri Murali

3rd-year BS-MS Student

Gayathri is a third-year BS-MS student who is currently interested in biochemistry and molecular biology. She is currently investigating the exchange of vitamin B1 and its intermediates in E. coli synthetic cocultures. In her free time, she likes listening to music and exploring new places and food spots.

Shashank Verma
4th-year BS-MS Student

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