Department of S c h o o l o f N a t u r a l S c i e n c e s
Cell wall Modifying Enzymes and their role in antibiotic resistance
Ms. Malvika Modi (PhD Student) and Dr. Richa Priyadarshini (Research Advisor)
β-lactam antibiotics target the peptidoglycan cell wall biosynthetic pathway in bacteria and in response bacteria have developed various resistance mechanisms. In this study, we investigated the cell wall recycling pathway and its role in antibiotic resistance in Caulobacter crescentus. These findings are crucial for understanding antibiotic resistance mechanisms in bacteria.
•Organised the first India-EMBO lecture course at SNIoE in June 2024.
•Awarded SERB-CRG grant (INR 5783360; 2024-2027).
•Received award from Springer Nature and SNU for outstanding contribution to Research and Sustainability (2025).
Dr. Richa Priyadarshini
Ms. Malvika Modi
Dr. Richa Priyadarshini
Dr. Bimlesh Lochab
Rashmi Niranjan (ICMR-SRF)
Rashmi Niranjan (ICMR-SRF)
Isolation and characterization of small metabolites from Lactobacilli species with anti-biofilm properties
Ms. Rashmi Niranjan (PhD Student) and Dr. Richa Priyadarshini (Research Advisor), Dr. Bimlesh Lochab (collaborator)
In this study we used a systematic approach to understand the underlying probiotic mechanisms of lactobacillus species andisolate small effector molecules/ metabolites with antibiofilm properties.
Publication: doi.org/10.1016/j.bioflm.2024.100237
Project Funding: ICMR-EMR
•Organised the Cancer Workshop at SNU in March 2025.
•Organized Biotechnology for Young Learners in Oct 2024.
•Awarded CSIR-ASPIRE grant (INR 24,00,000) 2024-2026)
Grant: CSIR-ASPIRE Grant
Title: Deciphering the role of Hsp110 molecular chaperone in cell division arrest and septin ring dynamics during Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, (Rs 26,00,000 for 3 years)
Award: Dr Koyeli Mapa delivered a lecture titled "Differential stress response by sub-mitochondrial compartments during proteotoxic stress" and was awarded the best oral presentation award at the International Symposium on Mitochondria, Cell Death and Human Diseases: Frontiers in Cancer Research held at JNU, Delhi on 17-18 February 2025
Achievements:
1. Dr Koyeli Mapa joined as an invited Member of the Subject Expert Committee for Life Sciences - III: Health Sciences for the Prime Minister Early Career Research Grant (PMECRG) program of Anusandhan National Research Foundation (ANRF).
2. Reviewed research grant of the Israel Science Foundation (2025).
Dr. Koyeli Mapa
FACULTY ACHIEVEMENTS
•Invited project review panel member for Interdisciplinary research review panel by FWO, Belgium for the year 2024
Dr. Rohini Garg
Paper Title
Knot-Knot Chronicles: Unveiling the G-Quadruplexes
•Core Committee member and resource person for WINGS (Work & Industry Neutral Growth Skills) 2024, organized jointly by Women in Scientific Domain (WiSDom), a flagship initiative of Indian National Young Academy of Sciences (INYAS) at Indian Institute of Technology Bombay from August 8-10, 2024 at IIT Bombay.
•Partial Travel support from INSA to attend iGEM meeting in Paris, France in November 2024
Author list
Unlocking Crops' Genetic Potential: Advances in Genome and Epigenome Editing of Regulatory Regions
Sharma H & Garg R
Journal Name
Month & Year
Critical Reviews in Biotechnolog y Nov 2024
Ali N, Singh S & Garg R
Current opinion in Plant Biology Nov 2024
Single same-cell multiome for dissecting key plant traits
Garg R., Sahu SK, Jain M
Trends in Plant Sciences Oct 2024
STUDENTS HIGHLIGHTS
Ananya Grewall won the Best Poster Award at the First Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Meeting – India 2025 (Feb 18-21, JNCASR, Bangalore)
Alpana Mohapatra 3rd year (UG) students have been awarded the Khorana Call under the Khorana Program for Scholars. She will be joining the renowned St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, USA, for a research internship
Vidya Ramachandran (UG) won the Best Poster Award at the NCUR Biosciences 2024 (IISER Tirupati, Dec 16-17.
Selected to Join Novonesis, Bangalore National Debate winner- Voice for BT contest, 2024
Mudassar Ali won the Best Poster Award at the 18th CRCA Conference (Feb 17-18, 2025, JNU) for his research on ANKZF1 and mitophagy.
Gaurav Kansagara, a PhD candidate, received a DBT travel grant to present his research at the EMBO Workshop (Oct 7-11, 2024, France) and won the Best Junior Scientist Award at SPIM 2024 (Nov 21-22, France).
DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Workshop "Understanding Cancer: Present and Emerging Concepts" held from March 24-29, 2025 at SNU campus. It focuses on novel cancer research and treatment, offering networking and collaboration opportunities with top cancer biologists and clinicians worldwide.
EMBO Biology Across Scales Lecture Series, held at SNU on March 8th, 2025. The event featured insightful talks by researchers across disciplines and provided a platform for discussion and collaboration followed by Poster presentation.
DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
India-EMBO lecture course titled "Post-transcriptional regulation in aging and agerelated diseases,“ co-organised by SNU, Greater Noida, and Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, New Delhi, from 10 to 15 June 2024.
Dr. Geetanjali Chawla received an award for outstanding contribution to Research and Sustainability, Feb 25th, 2025 at SNU, Delhi-NCR
MoU signed between SNIoE and TIGS, on December 9th, 2025
DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Shiv Nadar School Class 6 students visit on 20 Feb 2025
GTIPA event held on November 15-16, 2025
Vidya Gyan student visit on Feb 16th, 2025
Biotechnology for Young Learners on 5 Oct'24
DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Field trip on 21st March 2025 to the Dabur Research Foundation at Ghaziabad for Industrial Biotechnology B.Sc. 2nd and 3rd year students.
Educational visit for B.Sc. (Biotechnology) 3rd-year students to the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTech), CSIR, Chandigarh
DEPARTMENT HIGHLIGHTS
Fieldwork photos from Ph.D. student Tania Ann Varghese's research on ecosystems/ecology in Kerala
