Dhiraj Bhatia
Dhiraj Bhatia received the Ph.D. degree from Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, preceded by M.Sc. degree from University of Pune, India. Currently, he is an Assistant Professor in Biology Engineering, IIT Gandhinagar.
Email: dhiraj.bhatia@iitgn.ac.in
Research Interest
- Cellular and Molecular Bioengineering apply engineering approaches to understand quantitatively fundamental cellular functions, and to explore this understanding for designing improved technologies. We use Structural DNA Nanotechnology to explore important aspects of receptor-mediated regulation of cell behavioural properties like endocytosis, signalling, migration and differentiation. The central paradigm of my research is developing DNA based nanodevices to probe, program and reprogram receptors mediated regulation of cellular functions and to achieve this, we explore techniques of biochemistry, molecular biology and cell biology to program parameters characterizing receptor-ligand properties in in-vitro and in cellular systems. Our research questions are inspired by health-care technologies of interest to pharmaceutical, biomedical and biotechnological companies, and we strongly invest in multi-disciplinary collaborative interactions, involving colleagues from both academics and industry.
Work Experience
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Assistant Professor, Biological Engineering, IIT Gandhinagar: July 2018 – Present
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DST-Ramanujan Fellow, IIT Gandhinagar (2018-2023)
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Labex (Laboratories of Excellence), co-PI and Postdoctoral Fellow, September 2017-June 2018
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Human Frontiers Science Program (HFSP) Postdoctoral Fellow: September 2014 – August 2017
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Curie Postdoctoral Fellow: September 2013-August 2014
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PhD, NCBS-TIFR: 2007 – 2013
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MSc Chemistry, University of Pune 2007
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BSc Chemistry, University of Pune 2005
Selected Recent Publications
- Dhiraj Bhatia, Senthil Arumugam, Michel Nasilowski, Himanshu Joshi, Christian Wunder, Valerie Chambon, Ved Prakash, Prabal Maiti, Ludger Johannes, Benoit Dubertret & Yamuna Krishnan, “Quantum dot-loaded monofunctionalized DNA Icosahedra for single particle tracking of targeted endocytic pathways in living cells”, Nature Nanotechnology, 2016, 11, 1112-1119.
- Dhiraj Bhatia, Sunaina Surana, Saikat Chakraborty, Sandhya P. Koushika and Yamuna Krishnan*, “Synthetic, icosahedral DNA-based host-cargo complex for functional bio-imaging in vivo”, Nature Communications, 2011, 2:339.
- Dhiraj Bhatia, Shabana Mehtab, Ramya Krishnan, Shanthinath S Indi, Atanu Basu and Yamuna Krishnan*, “Icosahedral DNA Nanocapsules by modular assembly”, Angewandte Chemie Int. Ed., 2009, 48, 4134-4137.