Protein Biomarkers: Discovery and Applications in Clinical Diagnostics

Dr. Sumit Kumar Singh is an Assistant Professor in the School of Biochemical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) Varanasi. Before joining IIT BHU, he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Delaware and obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi. His areas of interest principally encompass broad domain of therapeutic protein characterization. The current research endeavors of his group are focused on developing platform approaches by proteomic and glycomic profiling methods to understand pathobiology of viruses, development of a Universal Flu Vaccine, and developing approaches for generating pre-defined glycans in monoclonal antibodies for therapeutic applications. The research embodies a two-fold approach: (a) Identification of biomarkers that are specific to a particular disease state; (b) utilization of the chosen biomarkers to develop therapeutics using data-driven protein engineering approaches. He has authored more than 30 publications and several presentations in the area of analytical characterization and development of safe and efficacious protein-based therapeutics. He has also been a recipient of several awards at various conferences, including the Young Scientist in Bioprocessing Award (Bioprocessing India Society) and a Research Excellence Award by IIT Delhi. He is also a member of several scientific societies including American Chemical Society (BIOT Division), American Society for Mass Spectrometry, and Bioprocessing Society of India.

Dr.  Pranjal Chandra is an Assistant Professor in the School of Biochemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, India. He earned his Ph.D. from Pusan National University, South Korea, and did postdoctoral training at Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Israel. His research focus is highly interdisciplinary, spanning a wide range in biotechnology, nanobiosensors, material engineering, and nanomedicine. He has designed several commercially viable biosensing prototypes that can be operated for onsite analysis for biomedical diagnostics. He is a guest editor and an editorial board member of various international journals. He is author of over 110 high-impact publications including research/reviews papers and invited book chapters. He has published 16 books on various aspects of biosensors/medical diagnostics. Dr. Chandra is the recipient of many prestigious awards, coveted honours, and fellowships such as: Shakuntala Amir Chand Prize 2020 by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR, Government of India),  DST Ramanujan fellowship (Government of India);  Early Career Research Award (ECRA) (DST, Government of India); BK -21 and NRF fellowship, South Korea; Technion Post-Doctoral Fellowship, Israel; Nano Molecular Society India Young Scientist Award; Biotech Research Society India (BRSI) Young Scientist Award; Young Engineers Award 2018;Highly Cited Corresponding authors in The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), Cambridge, London; Top 10% cited article in the General Chemistry Section RSC Journal, Cambridge, London; and Gandhian Young Technology Innovation Award (GYTI) 2020. Dr. Chandra is also listed among the world’s top 2% scientist in a report by Stanford University, USA for the year 2019 and 2020.