India Alliance Newsletter I Issue 10 I July 2016

News & Views Issue 10 July 2016

EDITORIAL

Happy Monsoon!

In the July 2016 issue of the India Alliance Newsletter we bring to you updates on India Alliance Fellowship schemes, funded research and events, interesting research stories, general articles and interviews. We hope you find this issue an enjoyable and informative read.

At the outset, we would like to congratulate our Intermediate Fellow Dr Arun Shukla (IIT Kanpur) who recently received the Young Scientist Award from the Indian Society of Chemists and Biologists. India Alliance Fellows, Dr Shantanu Chowdhury (Senior Fellow, IGIB, New Delhi), Dr Abhik Saha (Intermediate Fellow, IISER Kolkata), Dr Amit Dutt (Intermediate Fellow, ACTREC Mumbai), Dr Mahesh Kate (Intermediate Fellow, CMC Ludhiana) and Dr Rajiv Sarkar (Early Career Fellow, CMC Vellore) along with the India Alliance CEO, Dr Shahid Jameel participated and represented the India Alliance at the first annual meeting of the DELTAS (Developing Excellence in Leadership, Training and Science) initiative in Nairobi on 5 and 6 July. The DELTAS initiative is managed by the Alliance for Accelerating Excellence in Science in Africa (AESA), and funded by the Wellcome Trust and Department of International Development (UK). This was the first in what we hope will be many exchanges between the India and Africa programmes.

Applications submitted for the Margdarshi , Clinical and Public Health (CPH) Fellowships, Early Career (ECF; basic research scheme) and Senior and Intermediate (SIF; basic research scheme) Fellowships are currently under review. We are presently accepting applications for our Senior and Intermediate Fellowships (SIF; basic research scheme). Call for applications will be made for Research Training Fellowships on 1 August 2016.

The India Alliance continues to support various events aimed at increasing public awareness of science and important public health issues. Read about the play “The Vaidya’s Oath” in this issue. The play staged by Jagriti Theatre at India International centre, New Delhi highlighted the looming threat of Antibiotic Resistance in India. For the next event in the “Voices for Health” series, the India Alliance has joined hands with the Indian Institute of Public Health Shillong to organise a public awareness event “Let’s talk Cancer in the North East” on 26 July in Shillong. More information on this event can be found in this newsletter. India Alliance regularly supports various scientific meetings and workshops in India that are aimed at promoting scientific training, exchanges and collaborations. This issue includes a short report of the recently held 4th Bangalore Cognition Workshop aimed at providing training to young students in cognitive neuroscience which was organised by India Alliance Intermediate Fellow Dr Supratim Ray and his colleagues at IISc Bangalore and was supported by the India Alliance.

Our SciComm team recently partnered with Nature India and Nature Jobs to conduct a one-day Science Communication and Career workshop at the 44th National Seminar on Crystallography (NSC44), NCCS Pune which was attended by 80 PhD students and Postdocs. Find out more about this workshop in this issue. Applications submitted for our next biannual Science Communication workshop which will be held in Hyderabad on 26 and 27 September are currently under review and the selected participants will be informed by end of July.

The booming personal care product market in India is in direct contrast to the abysmal safety guidelines around the use of nanomaterials in these products. In this issue, our Early Career Fellow at Panjab University, Dr Madhu Khatri has written an important piece “Personal care at a high price? ” in the background of her current research which attempts to characterize and identify toxic engineered nanomaterials using zebra fish as a model system. Intermediate Fellow at Institute for Stem Cell Biology, Dr Sunil Laxman, writes about how to start a new lab and ways in which institutions can facilitate smooth transition for early career scientists, in his piece “Effectively starting-up a new lab: Enabling Bootstrapping, Flexibility and Freedom”. The Research Highlights section features recently published work of, Senior Fellow Dr Rashna Bhandari (Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad) in collaboration with Intermediate Fellow Dr Nagaraj Balasubramanian (Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, IISER Pune) that provides novel insights into the role of small cellular protein IP6K1 in cancer progression; Intermediate Fellow Dr Sunil Laxman’s research group at Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem) Bangalore and scientists at Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Germany identified a metabolic pathway in cells that help them survive dehydration and Early Career Fellow Dr Neeraj Kumar’s recent work uncovers the underlying sophistication of human perception. A big thank you to all of them for sharing their novel research stories. This issue also includes interviews of eminent immunologist, Dr Vineeta Bal, National Institute of Immuology, New Delhi; Dr Rupjyoti Talukdar, Intermediate Fellow based at Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad and Dr Sachin Sharma, Grants Adviser at the India Alliance. Thank you to them for sharing interesting and useful insights on their work and life.

We will continue to bring to you interesting research stories, announcements and discussions and as always look forward to your valuable comments and suggestions.

Best wishes, Sarah Iqbal, PhD Public Engagement Officer 1.

CONTENTS

3 INDIA ALLIANCE FELLOWSHIP ANNOUNCEMENTS Call for applications for Senior and intermediate Fellowships (basic scheme)

4 INDIA ALLIANCE FELLOWS New Research Training Fellows: Dr Deepak Gautam and Dr Sumsum Sunny

5 PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT CORNER The Vaidya’s Oath, Let’s talk Cancer in the North East, 4th Bangalore Cognition Workshop

8 SCIENCE COMMUNICATION Science Communication & Career workshop series, upcoming SciComm workshops

9 IN CONVERSATION WITH..

Dr Vineeta Bal, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi

10 INDIA ALLIANCE RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Dr Rashna Bhandari, Dr Sunil Laxman and Dr Neeraj Kumar

12 INDIA ALLIANCE FELLOW IN SPOTLIGHT Dr Rupjyoti Talukdar, Intermediate Fellow, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad

13 EFFECTIVELY STARTING-UP A NEW LAB: Enabling Bootstrapping, Flexibility and Freedom Dr Sunil Laxman, InStem, Bangalore

14 PERSONAL CARE AT A HIGH PRICE? Dr Madhu Khatri, Panjab University

16 INDIA ALLIANCE STAFF CORNER Dr Sachin Sharma, Grants Adviser, India Alliance

17 EXTERNAL ANNOUNCEMENTS Young Investigator meeting 2017, India, Young Investigator meeting 2016, Cambridge, UK Newton Bhabha PhD Placements Programme 2016-17

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INDIA ALLIANCE FELLOWSHIP ANNOUNCEMENT

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS SENIOR AND INTERMEDIATE FELLOWSHIPS 2017 Preliminary Application Deadline: 16 AUGUST 2016

The Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance invites applications for its Senior and Intermediate Fellowship scheme. These Fellowships are available across the full spectrum of biomedical research from fundamental molecular and cellular studies through clinical and public health research*. Interdisciplinary projects are welcome.

Eligibility: • No age or nationality restrictions. The applicant need not be resident in India while applying but should be willing to relocate to and work in India • A salaried position or commitment towards a salaried position at the Host Institution is not required • Applicant can have a PhD in any discipline of science • This competition is open for basic science/veterinary researchers between 4 -15 years of post-PhD research experience.

• The Applicants are advised to choose the most appropriate scheme suitable for them based on their qualification, research experience, career trajectory and track record.

Please refer to the guidance notes, provisions and mandate of the scheme for deciding on the scheme you wish to compete for. The Office reserves the right to advice on the suitability of the scheme accordingly.

Provisions: The 5 year Fellowship support provides • Competitive personal salary support • Generous and flexible funds for research • Funds to develop international collaborations Requirements: The following are essential for the application.

• A research proposal that is based on a hypothesis and seeks to answer an original biomedical research question • A not-for-profit Host Institution in India that will administer the Fellowship for the full duration of the award • A sponsor at the Host Institution, who can guarantee space and resources for the duration of the award Application forms will be available on the India Alliance Online application System (IASys) at https://fellowships.wellcomedbt.org/Login.aspx on 1 July 2016.

Senior Fellowship: For researchers who have demonstrated their potential to lead an independent research program and want to expand it further to undertake pioneering research.

Suitable for applicants with 7-15 years of post-PhD research experience.

Please visit our website http://wellcomedbt.org/fellowshiptype/basic-biomedicalresearch-fellowships for further information on these Fellowships. Please write to us with queries to info@wellcomedbt.org

Intermediate Fellowship: For postdoctoral researchers who have been successful in building a track record of pursuing a cutting edge research and wish to establish their own independent research program in India. Suitable for applicants with 4-7 years of post-PhD research experience

*We encourage Clinicians and Public Health researchers to apply in a separate competition, which will be announced next in Jan/Feb 2017. Please visit our website www.wellcomedbt.org for further information

RECENTLY RECOMMENDED AWARDEES

SENIOR AND INTERMEDIATE FELLOWSHIPS2016 * indicates newly awarded host institute

Thiruvananthapuram

Intermediate Fellowships (2016) Dr Chandra Chaturvedi, Sanjay Gandhi Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences, Lucknow*

Dr Prerna Sharma, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Dr Dhandapany Perundurai, Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Bengaluru

Dr Sarit Agasti, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore

Dr Sonam Mehrotra, Tata Memorial Centre-Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer, Mumbai

Senior Fellowships (2016) Dr Srivatsan Seergazhi Gopalan, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune, Pune

Dr Prabodh Kapoor, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow*

Dr Arnab Gupta, University of Calcutta, Kolkata* Dr Kumarswamy Regalla, Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology,

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Dr Jayandharan Giridhara Rao, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur

RESEARCH TRAINING FELLOWSHIP

New

INDIA ALLIANCE FELLOWS

The Research Training Fellowship offered by the India Alliance aims at providing clinicians with an opportunity to perform high quality basic, clinical and public health research in a laboratory, clinical or community environment of their choice. The Training Programme must be built around a rigorous research focus and should provide comprehensive training in research methodology and experimental design to the Research Training Fellow. See below to read about some of our recently funded Research Training Fellows.

Next Call for Applications : 1 August 2016. Visit our website for more information

A randomized controlled study comparing Computer Aided Design​ (CAD)​ model vs conventional technique for Total Hip Arthroplasty in patients with fused hips and spinopelvic deformity

helpful in determining the level and direction of the femoral neck osteotomy, the depth of acetabular reaming, and most importantly, positioning and placing of the components taking into account the distorted pelvifemoral anatomy and spatial orientation of the pelvis and spine so as to obtain functionally stable hip. We wish to compare the clinical and radiological outcome in patients undergoing Total Hip Arthroplasty for fused hips using the model with those without using it (control group). We wish to find out that whether the pelvic parameters get changed or not in these patients after the surgery. We also wish to find out an algorithm (specific protocol) for the cases with fused hips whereby the optimum component position can be defined independent of the bony anatomy. This will be done by calculating the relationship between the magnitude and the direction of the spinopelvic deformity, and, change required in the position of components to achieve a stable hip This protocol will help the fellow surgeons in planning the Total Hip replacement surgery in fused hips with optimum component positioning adequate stability with functional range of motion and minimal wear of bearing surfaces. We encounter a number of patients with fused hips who need Total Hip Replacement in our institute. No such study has ever been designed and conducted in India.

Dr Deepak Gautam Research Training Fellow 2015 All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi Co-supervisors: Prof. Rajesh Malhotra, Department of Orthopaedics Prof D N Srivastava, Department of Radiology, Prof Anoop Chawla, Department of Mechanical Engineering, AIIMS, New Delhi Total Hip Arthroplasty (THA) ranks as one of the most rewarding surgeries yet devised. It has afforded pain relief and improved quality of life for millions of patients worldwide. The number is increasing in an exponential manner even in India. Being an apex institute, a number of complex Hip replacement surgeries are performed routinely at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

One of those challenging surgeries is Total Hip Arthroplasty in patients with fused hips due to Ankylosing Spondylitis. Most of the patients are young adults and the stability remains the most important factor in its outcome after Total Hip Arthroplasty in them. One of the major intraoperative challenges in total hip arthroplasty (THA) in these patients with bony ankylosis is to find a correct balance between hip biomechanics, tribology and postoperative functionality. In cases with fused hips, it is difficult to prepare an adequate surgical plan for acetabular replacement. The normal anatomy is jeopardized along with hip ankylosis in patients with Ankylosing Spondylitis. In addition to this, there is spinopelvic deformity. The stability of Total Hip Arthroplasty primarily depends on the positioning of acetabular component.

The orientation of acetabular component in turn is influenced by several factors such as the pelvic tilt, body position and individual variation in pelvic parameters. Most of the post-operative adverse events occur as a result of malpositioning of components in functional position. Conventionally, the component positioning is done in static lying position during the surgery but the dislocation occurs in these patients due to the dynamic phenomenon that is seen with the change of position like sitting and walking which are the movements executed in daily living. So, even an anatomically oriented cup placed in supine position may functionally prove to be wrongly oriented favoring subsequent instability and poor outcome while the patient stands and walks. A thorough preoperative planning is imperative for total hip arthroplasty (THA) in these patients so as to decrease the possible adverse outcome. It could be obtained by a technique called rapid prototyping (RP) modeling using a three-dimensional Computer Aided Design (CAD) data. These models can be used as an essential tool to plan for the surgery and preoperative rehearsal prior to the surgery. In total hip arthroplasty for ankylosed hips, such models would be

Molecular cytology of oral potentially malignant and malignant lesions Dr Sumsum Sunny Research Training Fellow 2015 Mazumdar Shaw Centre of Translational Research, Bangalore Website Co-supervisors: Dr Amrita Suresh, Mazumdar Shaw Centre of Translational Research, Bangalore Dr Moni Abraham Kuriakose, Mazumdar Shaw Medical Centre, Bangalore Oral cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths in India and despite the ease of screening/detection, over 80% of the patients’ present with advanced disease. Development of a simple, point-ofcare diagnostics can potentially help to down-stage disease at diagnosis. Cytology, with proven efficacy in cervical cancer screening, is a potential non-invasive, oral cancer screening method.

However, oral cytology poses challenges in terms of lack of accuracy to detect premalignant lesions. The Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance-funded study proposes a molecular marker-based, liquid cytology technique to improve accuracy of the technique in detection of pre-malignant/malignant lesions. Molecular markers, selected from literature, will be initially validated in well annotated patient cohorts (normal, benign, dysplastic, carcinoma) by immunohistochemical analysis. Subsequently, a subset of markers will be assessed for their efficacy in cytology using cell lines and patients. The study, thus, ultimately aims to develop a non-invasive screening tool that can enable early detection of oral cancer.

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INDIA ALLIANCE

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT CORNER REPORT THE VAIDYA’S OATH 29 JUNE 2016 Making a Public Health impact through Theatre

"Rarely does a health crisis come into your living room like this” quips one of the characters in the opening scene of the play the Vaidya’s Oath, referring to one of the biggest health threats of the twenty first century- Antimicrobial/Antibiotic Resistance (AMR). India, being home to various antibiotic-resistant bacteria, has still not woken up fully to this threat and the play, staged at the India International Centre (IIC), New Delhi, on 29 June, highlighted the problem of AMR and the lack of seriousness to tackle this urgent public health threat.

The Vaidya's Oath written by Gautam Raja and directed by Jeff Teare, was developed by Jagriti Theatre, Bangalore, in collaboration with Theatrescience UK and the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), Bangalore. The play was made possible by a Wellcome Trust UK International Engagement Award in 2015. The show in New Delhi was supported by the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance and the IIC. The Vaidya’s Oath weaves together a story of a disenchanted primary health centre (PHC) doctor, Ajay who has been given a punishment transfer to a remote town in UP because he raised the issue of AMR at the health minister’s office; his wife, Uma who is from Bangalore and struggles to adjust in the new place and with Ajay’s embitterment; Kamala, a mother, whose baby is admitted in the PHC with untreatable sepsis infection; and Rahul, who doubles up as a seismologist and a budding stand-up comedian, enjoys cracking microbiology jokes. Their lives intersect and the play 5.

slowly brings out the many problems each of the characters is facing - deftly touching upon various hard facts of human life, the medical practice in the country, science and medical myths, socio-economic hues in India, and of course the big villain of this century, AMR. The play keeps reminding the audience about the imminent threat of AMR through lines such as, “money cannot buy you protection from infection”, “earlier, scientists used to say ‘don’t panic’ and now they are saying ‘you are not panicking enough’ ”. Ajay’s passionate monologue towards the end of the play to an audience of doctors, post the introduction of Chennai Declaration (a roadmap to tackle AMR), alluded to the relevance of the play’s title - the Vaidya’s Oath- a Vedic oath taken by the physicians around 15 BC as a commitment towards the profession.

If the oath is broken “the knowledge shall bear no fruit” – the failure to tackle antibiotic-resistant infections will be a failure of medical knowledge and practice with catastrophic consequences in India and worldwide.

The play throughout maintained an effortless balance of staying true to the art of theatre and to the scientific and medical facts of the subject at hand. The Vaidya’s Oath is an important demonstration of how the theatre arts can be used effectively to convey science and promote awareness of public health issues in India and has hopefully set the stage for many such theatrescience collaborations in the future.

Find out more about “The Vaidya’s Oath” here.

PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT CORNER

UPCOMING EVENT

Date & time : 26 July, 3.30 PM Venue: State Convention Centre, Shillong, Meghalaya Bishop Cotton Road, Opposite Aurobindo Ashram India’s emergence as a fast growing economy and its consequential change in lifestyle-related behaviors are partially responsible for the country’s increasing cancer burden. This disease is among the top leading causes of death among both rural and urban India. According to the latest National Cancer Registry Program, some of the highest incidence of cancer rates among men and women in the country were observed in Aizwal district in Mizoram and East Khasi district in Meghalaya.

Join us for a panel discussion to hear from cancer researchers, doctors, care givers, and survivors. Get an opportunity to ask and get your cancer-related questions answered.

Come find out and discuss What are some of the common causes of cancer specific to the North East? How can we bridge the gap between the public and their access to key health information on cancer? How can effective communication and public engagement remove the stigma attached to cancer? What kind of support is available for cancer patients during and post-cancer treatment? How can different stakeholders and, most importantly, YOU play an important role in cancer prevention? and more..

Please save the date and spread the word around.

RSVP for the event here http://bit.do/cancerevent This event is being jointly organised by The Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance and the Indian Institute of Public Health Shillong/Public Health Foundation of India​

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​Expert panel : ​ Dr Preet K Dhillon, ​Cancer epidemiologist, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi​ ​Ms Patricia Mukhim (Padma Shri)​, ​Editor, Shillong Times​ ​Dr Juditha Symielieh​, ​Oncologist, Civil Hospital, Shillong​ ​Prof (Dr) P Bhattacharya, Head, Cancer Palliative Care Clinic & Registrar, North Eastern Indira Gandhi Regional Institute of Health and Medical Science, Shillong​ Dr Munin N Baruah, Managing Director, North East Cancer Hospital and Research Institute, Guwahati

Voices for Health is an effort aimed at engaging people and communities to better understand public health and to educate them about key determinants of emergent heath issues. This initiative is planned as a series of public engagement events that will bring together biomedical researchers with policy makers, social scientists, health workers, media and other stakeholders to talk about important health issues.

Each event will focus on a public health topic of contemporary interest. The series will aim to demystify science and myths, disseminate latest health research and share perspectives of experts and people. The first of the series focused on antibiotic resistance.

Join "Voices for Health" https://www.facebook.com/voicesforhealth/

INDIA ALLIANCE

EVENT SUPPORT REPORT

4th BANGALORE COGNITION WORKSHOP 19 June- 2 July 2016 IISc Bangalore Dr Supratim Ray, Intermediate Fellow, IISc Bangalore

The 4th Bangalore Cognition workshop was held at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) Bangalore from 19 June to 2 July 2016.

This workshop along with the previous ones have provided state-ofthe-art instruction in cognitive neuroscience to young students, motivating them to follow a career in this field, and have helped in establishing links between the cognitive neuroscience research communities in India and those in the US, Canada and Europe.

There has been a paradigm shift in brain research worldwide, with a greater push for large collaborative projects, such as the Human Brain Project in Europe and the US BRAIN initiative. Cognitive neuroscience research and training in India is also at a key point in its evolution, which presents an extremely important concern for Indian faculty and students: establishing and maintaining links with the international community which we aim to provide through these workshops by inviting speakers from different countries.

Such connections provide access to latest research findings in the field, offer opportunities for international collaborative research, and leads to greater international awareness of discoveries made

by Indian neuroscientists.

The 4th Bangalore Cognition workshop was divided into five focused modules: vision, brain signals at multiple scales, attention, motor systems and memory and spatial navigation. Each module lasted for two days and consisted of 7 lectures (1.5 hours each) and a panel discussion on open challenges. In addition, there were four lab sessions of 3 hours each on psychophysics, electroencephalogram (EEG), brain imaging and neurophysiology, which attempted to provide a holistic experience of research in the field. Each module was planned such that there was plenty of time for discussions and social events to promote scientific exchanges and informal interactions.

mechanisms by which neurons in these brain regions encode and process visual stimuli. Computer vision scientists who develop state-of-the-art machine learning algorithms showed how these algorithms employ neurally-inspired principles to achieve object recognition. The second module involved a series of talks from scientists who record brain signals at different scales. Using different types of electrodes the speakers showed how information could be recorded at very fine scales that represent the local circuitry of the brain, to coarse scales that represent the network dynamics. Scientists also described advanced modeling techniques that could bridge these scales to understand brain function at both local and global levels. The third module dealt with the question of how we pay attention. Using cleverly devised behavioural techniques as well as brain imaging, speakers described key neural mechanisms by which our brain enables us to attend to relevant information while simultaneously ignoring irrelevant, distracting information. Clinical aspects of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were also discussed. The fourth module dealt with how we control complex movements that allow us to juggle multiple balls and play cricket – tasks that are extremely difficult for even the most advanced robots. This module includes talks by scientists who study various brain areas that are involved in voluntary control of action, motor control, motor learning, and representation of coordinate frames. The final module on memory and spatial navigation dealt with the question of how we form memories, how we learn different tasks, how space is represented in the brain, and how these abilities enable us to navigate in the world effectively. The participants felt the workshop equipped them with sufficient tools to address cognitive research questions and interaction with the invited speakers and Indian neuroscientists provided them with more profound insights into the field.

We hope that these workshops will continue to serve as an important platform for budding neuroscientists to receive training in cutting-edge cognitive research and will facilitate scientific exchanges between neuroscience communities in India and other countries.

Lab session: EEG lab demo in which EEG data was collected from one of the participants

The module on vision dealt with the question of how we see and recognize objects. Neuroscientists who record signals from parts of the brain involved in visual image processing described the

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Workshop programme and speakers

INDIA ALLIANCE SCIENCE COMMUNICATION WORKSHOPS 1ST SCIENCE COMMUNICATION & CAREER

WORKSHOP SERIES

In partnership with Nature India & Naturejobs NCCS Pune, 14 July 2016

Top right: (L-R) Dr Madhankumar Anandhakrishnan, Dr Sarah Iqbal (Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance), Ms Subhra Priyadarshini (Editor, Nature India), Dr Shekhar Mande (Director, NCCS Pune), Ms Sonia Sharma (Nature Jobs)

Nature Jobs and focused on the importance of public communication of science for researchers and also discussed alternate science careers, such as, science journalism and industry.

The speakers of the workshop stimulated various discussions on these topics and there was active questioning by the participants on many aspects of science communication and career planning, such as, how to apply for postdoc positions in India and abroad, preparing for interviews, making important career decisions, transitioning to popular science writing and industry after PhD and many more. The workshop included both hands-on exercises and lectures.

The first one-day Science Communication and Career workshop, was held on the side of the 44th National Seminar on Crystallography (NSC44) at National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, which was attended by around 80 PhD students and Postdoctoral scientists. Apart from the participants from the hosting institution, attendees came from various other academic and research establishments, such as, NCL Pune, IIT Bombay, IMTECH Chandigarh, IISER Kolkata, Pune University, Manipal University, Jaipur, SSN Research centre, SSN college of engineering, Kalavakkam, Chennai, Central Institute of Medicinal and Aromatic Plants, Lucknow, CCMB Hyderabad, SP University, Pune, University of Mysore, IICT Hyderabad and IISER Pune.

Workshop mentors: Dr Madhankumar Anandhakrishnan, Dr Sarah Iqbal (Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance), Ms Subhra Priyadarshini (Editor, Nature India); Invited speaker: Dr Sanjay Singh (CEO, Gennova Biopharmaceuticals Limited)

The first half of the workshop included modules on Presentation skills, Manuscript and Grants writing and how to make a CV, cover letter and prepare for a job interview. These sessions were conducted by the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance. Afternoon sessions of the workshop were conducted by Nature India and

Please visit our website http://wellcomedbt.org/sciencecommunication-workshop for more information on these workshops and for requesting one at a conference.

Upcoming Workshops One-day SciComm and Career workshop 18 October 2016

Two-day SciComm workshop 26-27 September 2016, Hyderabad Submitted applications are under review. Selected applicants will be contacted in the last week of July

XXXIV Annual Meeting of Indian Academy of Neurosciences NBRC, Manesar

For more details visit "SciComm Workshop" under "Quick Links" on our website 9.

IN CONVERSATION WITH

DR VINEETA BAL Dr Vineeta Bal is a clinician-turned-scientist based at the National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi. Soon after completing her MD from University of Bombay, she started working as an immunologist and has had wide ranging interests from infectious disease epidemiology, diagnostics, innate immunity to cell fate decisions in T-cell and macrophage biology over the course of her research career.

Dr Bal has served as an India Alliance Fellowship committee member and a mentor at the Science Communication workshops in the past.

What motivated you to become a scientist?

A potential distinction between practising as a physician and practising as a scientist helped me choose the path to become a scientist. The difference in the two disciplines is that physicians are supposed to treat a patient, hopefully cure them, and move on to the next. While clinical acumen is required in routine practice, I thought, there is minimal requirement for using one’s gray cells frequently and challengingly. In contrast, I expected that pursuing research career would mean identifying gaps in our knowledge and asking relevant research questions hoping to fill the gaps. While reading textbooks of medicine, I frequently stumbled on the sentence ‘etiopathologic mechanisms are not known’. That phrase, I can say, was one of the trigger for this decision making process.

However, I must admit, until I was well into my medical course I had not given a serious thought about what I would really enjoy to do in my life! I am glad I made the right choice!

Could you briefly take us through your scientific journey and about your interest in immunology?

I was somewhat uncertain about leaving medical profession and entering what were considered ‘unchartered areas’ for medical doctors in India in the late 70s. Unfortunately, the situation has not changed much today. However, I opted to pursue research career while completing my MD, not knowing whether I would enjoy and/or survive in a new field. In case I was disillusioned, I wanted to hold on to my MD degree to run away! As weeks and months went

by I realised that I am enjoying being in a research environment and did not miss patients too much! But my basic training as a physician meant that I chose most questions in immunology research which will have a bearing on human health in the long run.

I began my career using patient material for diagnosis of tuberculous meningitis. But out of 35 plus years of research career, I have not spent more than a few years working primarily with patients. However, using animal models to look for immune responses to infections and immunisation, understand how immune memory is generated and what are the mechanisms by which memory cells persist to provide long term protection, how function of the immune system is compromised with ageing, how T cells make choices to produce certain cytokines and not others, what are the consequences of such cell fate decisions, are some of the areas I have been interested in. The knowledge gained from all these efforts can contribute to thinking about how human immune system works, how it can be modified for the betterment of human health. While human health is not the main reason for my asking research questions, at the back of my mind I always make linkages with it. Can’t really get away from the primary professional training!

by doing so create a certain degree of discomfort. Of course, the natural and important question that comes up is whether a status quo that has systematically left out half the population is even worth protecting. Change of this scale is slow but needs to really be speeded up. The number of women in senior scientific positions is seriously limited. We have a leaky pipeline and seeking to plug it is viewed almost as relaxing the rules. But perhaps it is time to ask what are the rules that have resulted in our present situation, which has led to a serious paucity of women in the STEM disciplines. We need to change the framework that results in this kind of exclusion.

It will not be sufficient to simply apply a few bandage solutions. In India, we need to work at so many different levels from the earliest stages of education all the way to institutions that need to sort out their working environment to be more gender-sensitive. There is unfortunately no fast, fix it solution. It needs a multi-pronged approach at multiple levels.

While I used to think neuroscience as a research area as fascinating as immunology at the beginning of my career, I realise how much out of depth I am in that field. The knowledge in every field is increasing so speedily that keeping abreast with every development even in my area of interest is becoming difficult. Thus, apart from superficial interest and updating in neurosciences I hardly manage to keep up!

What is your impression of the status of women in science in India today?

Status of women in science in India is no different from their status in rest of the world in this arena. They are poorly represented as faculty, even in biology, despite very significant presence at doctoral level. This underrepresentation is a reflection of status of women in India in general. They are treated in accordance with the patriarchal structures and attitudes prevalent in the society.

Educational status of husband, wife and the rest of the family makes only marginal difference to the discrimination faced by women. Even in well-educated families where both husband and wife are working, women have to take major burden of childcare, parental care and housework. All of these responsibilities take toll in pursuing careers, including those in science.

A major and persistent push is required to improve working conditions for women, helping them to stay in research, encouraging them to come back to research if they have been sidelined. Changing mindsets of families, and that includes women scientists too, is not easy. No social change can happen overnight.

Thus, while sporadic efforts made to get more women in science should be lauded, they are not sufficient. Loss of trained women power is also a loss to the nation and national wealth.

Over the past 6-8 years my engagement with research involving human immune system has increased significantly. Rather than finding quick fixes as solutions I like to see Homo sapiens as a model organism to address interesting research questions, of course, with due consideration to ethical issues.

If you were not a scientist, you would be..

I would have considered working as a public health professional I suppose. And of course I have been engaging with many science and society questions, which include gender awareness and health.

However, I do not think of these pursuits as a ‘profession’ but as my responsibility to the society.

What according to you are the challenges women scientists face in India? What solutions would you offer?

The challenges that women scientists face in India perhaps don't differ so much from those faced by women scientists all over the world. The scientific community has traditionally been a male bastion and so women are amongst the new faces on the block in that sense. In some ways we are facing all the issues that new entrants face in established domains. We challenge status quo and

What is the best advice you have ever received?

In my life no single advice or opinion has been really useful for me. I have always talked to people, listened to advice and decided to the best of my capability what is good for me to do at that moment.

There have been mistakes and there have been some successes. I suspect I am solely responsible for that.

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Find out more about Dr Bal’s research here.

INDIA ALLIANCE

RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS Uncovering the underlying sophistication of human perception Dr Neeraj Kumar, Early Career Fellow and Dr Pratik K. Mutha IIT Gandhinagar

How does a football player estimate where a ball kicked by him is going? One source of information for generating such an estimate is feedback about the ball’s motion provided by the player’s visual system. The player may also predict the trajectory that the ball is going to take based on his kicking action. We show in our recently published study in the Journal of Neurophysiology that such predictions about the sensory effects of actions can be a rich source of information, which, when combined with actual sensory feedback yields better perception of the world around us. In case of the football player, this implies that his/her judgment about the ball’s trajectory is enhanced by combining their predictions with information provided by their visual system. In our study, we blended a motor learning paradigm that imposes new sensory predictions with a dynamic visual search task to first show that perceptual judgments are poorer when they are based on sensory feedback that is misaligned with those predictions. We then show, perhaps for the first time, that perception is strongly influenced by the most stable sensory predictions available. We induced instability in the motor-learning induced predictions, and observed that people transitioned to using other stable predictions available

for their perceptual judgments rather than relying on visual feedback alone as is conventionally thought. Finally, we show that when sensory predictions are not modified at all, these judgments are sharper when subjects combine their natural sensory predictions with actual sensory information. Collectively, these new and exciting findings uncover the tremendous operational flexibility and sophistication within the human perceptual system, and have substantial implications for theoretical and computational models of perception.

Adaptive reliance on the most stable sensory predictions enhances perceptual feature extraction of moving stimuli.

Neeraj Kumar, Pratik K. Mutha. Journal of Neurophysiology Image Credit Spike Walker, Wellcome Images Cerebellum - the region of the brain involved in sensory perception Light microscopy

The secret to surviving dehydration lies in a sugar Dr Sunil Laxman Intermediate Fellow, National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS)

By Anusha Krishnan, Research Communications Officer, NCBS

Dehydration is one of the most common environmental hazards that threaten living beings on a daily basis. In the hot, dry tropical summers, loss of moisture is a continuous and inexorable process.

Yet tiny fungi and even soft bodied worms manage to survive extreme losses of water, a form of dehydration known as dessication. How do these organisms endure dehydration to revive and continue their life processes once water is available? The answer lies with a sugar named trehalose. Though we know how trehalose is produced, what remained unknown till now, was how cells redirect their energies towards making this protective molecule. Now, scientists from the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), India, and the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Germany, have identified the key metabolic pathway that helps organisms to synthesise the trehalose that helps them survive dehydration.

The work, published in the journal eLife, identifies the well-known text-book pathway called the ‘Glyoxylate Shunt’, as the main conduit for directing resources into trehalose production. In the growth phase, the chief metabolic processes in cells are focussed on generating energy and manufacturing material for reproduction. During this time, trehalose generation is unnecessary. However, when preparing to tide over harsh

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conditions such as dehydration, cells need to funnel material and energy into synthesising trehalose. The Glyoxylate Shunt, known to function in bacteria, fungi, round worms and plants, is recognised now as a powerful pathway that can rewire and divert resources towards making protective molecules like trehalose. Therefore, when a cell needs to switch metabolic gears from a reproductive mode into a mode preparative to surviving dehydration, this pathway provides a very important switch.

Although the Glyoxylate Shunt has long been known to operate in these organisms, especially in plants during seed germination, its actual biological function remained elusive. “One of the most exciting things about this study is that we have shown that the Glyoxylate Shunt has an essential physiological function. It plays a crucial role in providing organisms with the protection they need to survive dehydration,” says Sunil Laxman, one of the authors of the paper. The work is a collaborative initiative between Laxman’s group at inStem, Bangalore and Kurzchalia’s team at MPI-CBG in Dresden. The joint venture came about in a chance discussion between the two scientists early last year during Laxman’s visit to Dresden. Hypothesising that the principles of dehydration and the use of the Glyoxylate Shunt might be conserved across kingdoms of life, the researchers teamed up to prove their idea in two vastly different organisms – worms and yeast.

INDIA ALLIANCE RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS An important outcome of this research lies in stimulating future studies on the role of the Glyoxylate Shunt in drought resistance in plants. Alternatively, this work could also be useful in the field of cryogenic preservation. Apart from its importance in helping cells survive dehydration, trehalose has also been found to be beneficial in protecting cells during freezing and thawing. “My group is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms of how the Glyoxylate Shunt is regulated, and how it co-ordinates with other metabolic pathways to balance various functions in the cell, especially under conditions such as dehydration or freezing,” says

Sunil Laxman. “Freezing exerts similar stresses on cell membranes as dehydration does. Since trehalose also protects against cell injuries caused by freezing and thawing, our research can have very practical applications in biotechnology, especially in studying cryogenic survival,” he adds.

The glyoxylate shunt is essential for desiccation tolerance in C. elegans and budding yeast. Cihan Erkut, Vamshidhar R Gade, Sunil Laxman, Teymuras V Kurzchalia. eLife

Role of cellular small molecule IP6K1in cancer progression Dr Rashna Bhandari, Senior Fellow, Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad

Inositol pyrophosphate (IP7) is one among the many small molecules in living cells that govern important cellular functions and is present in all eukaryotic organisms, from yeast to humans.

Structurally, IP7 is a six carbon ring (inositol /cyclohexane hexanol) attached to 5 mono-phosphates and one di-phosphate (I=inositol; P7=seven phosphates). In mice and humans, IP7 is synthesized from IP6 by IP6 kinases (IP6Ks). Three isoforms of IP6Ks are found in mammals, and gene deletion of each isoform leads to diverse, non-overlapping phenotypes in mice. Previous studies show a facilitatory role for IP6K2 in cell migration and invasion, properties that are essential for the early stages of tumuorigenesis. However, IP6K2 also has an essential role in cancer cell apoptosis, and mice lacking this protein are more susceptible to the development of aerodigestive tract carcinoma upon treatment with an oral carcinogen.

Not much is known about the functions of the equally abundant and ubiquitously expressed IP6K1 isoform in cell migration, invasion and cancer progression. We conducted a gene expression analysis on mouse cells lacking IP6K1, revealing a role for this protein in the interaction of the cell surface with extracellular proteins. We initiated a collaboration with India Alliance Senior Fellow, Dr Nagaraj Balasubramanian at IISER, Pune, who is an expert in the study of cell adhesion dependent signalling. Together, we determined that cells lacking IP6K1 manifest defects in cell shape or cytoskeleton remodeling triggered by their adhesion to extracellular proteins, leading to reduced cell spreading and migration. Expression of active, but not inactive IP6K1, reversed migration defects in IP6K1 knockout cells, suggesting that IP7 synthesis by IP6K1 promotes cell locomotion. Cytoskeleton remodeling and cell migration support the ability of cancer cells to achieve their complete oncogenic potential. Human cancer cells with lower IP6K1 levels displayed reduced migration and invasion into the extracellular matrix. When fed an oral carcinogen, mice lacking IP6K1 showed reduced susceptibility to invasive carcinoma.

Thus, our data reveal that like IP6K2, IP6K1 is also involved in early

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cytoskeleton remodeling events during cancer progression.

However, unlike IP6K2, IP6K1 is required to support invasive carcinoma. Our study therefore uncovers similarities and differences in the roles of IP6K1 and IP6K2 in cancer progression, and we propose that an isoform-specific IP6K1 inhibitor may provide a novel route to suppress carcinogenesis.

Deletion of inositol hexakisphosphate kinase 1 (IP6K1) reduces cell migration and invasion, conferring protection from aerodigestive tract carcinoma in mice. Rathan S. Jadava, Dharmika Kumara, Natasha Buwac, Shubhra Gangulia, Sitalakshmi R. Thampattya, Nagaraj Balasubramanian, Rashna Bhandari. Cellular Signalling (April 2016).

Banner image credit Benita Denny, Wellcome Images Abnormal cell - artworkArtwork illustrating a single rogue cell amongst its normal neighbours. This could be the beginnings of a cancerous growth.

INDIA ALLIANCE FELLOW IN SPOTLIGHT

DR RUPJYOTI TALUKDAR Intermediate Fellow, Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad

Dr Rupjyoti Talukdar is a Clinical Pancreatologist and Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Intermediate Fellow based at Asian Institute of Gastroenterology, Hyderabad. His group is studying the molecular pathogenesis of acute pancreatitis in humans.

What are you working on and what impact do you hope it will have?

My broad research area entails pancreatic diseases, primarily acute and chronic pancreatitis. My specific research under the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Fellowship is on the molecular pathogenesis of human acute pancreatitis. The reason I am highlighting the word human is because most studies in acute pancreatitis have been conducted in experimental murine models, which may not necessarily be applicable to humans. Acute pancreatitis is a potentially life-threatening illness in which mortality could reach as high as 43% in the presence of organ failure in combination with infection within the pancreatic necrotic tissue (even though overall mortality is low at ~5%). Several complex immune mediated events develop early on the natural course of this illness; and now it is known that murine and human immunology could be pretty variable. Therefore, we need to study human to treat humans!

period, but I was not really getting what I desired for. As I moved on, I had the real tryst with hard core research on pancreatic diseases during my senior residency in gastroenterology in New Delhi. However, even though I was involved in clinical research, being from a clinical background I had no idea on bench research. It was during that period when I received the offer to join the department of surgery at University of Minnesota as a Post Doc. I did not lose any time in grabbing that opportunity, and it eventually emerged as the turning point in my academic career. I went through a rigorous 6 months learning curve in an attempt to get the hang of lab techniques/basic science, when I noticed the beauty of bench research whereby one could see a disease inside out! I discovered something that I had been yearning for so many years; and that transformed me into the clinician scientist that I am today.

We are among the few groups globally who have been studying the pathophysiology of acute pancreatitis in humans. The primary goal of our research is to identify any potential target within the early time course of the disease so that the progression into lifethreatening complications could be arrested. This is of utmost importance since there is currently no definitive curative treatment modality for acute pancreatitis. We use freshly harvested human pancreatic tissues from surgical specimens from patients who undergo surgery for indications where a normal pancreas margin also needs to be resected (eg. pancreatic cystic lesions, benign biliary tumours/strictures etc). My lab have been able to show the link between initial injury with alcohol metabolites and bile acids (the two most common causative factors for AP in humans) and how the cytokine released from the injured acinar cells results in a cytokine mediated second hit to the acinar cells. We believe that the magnitude of this second hit is what determines the severity of the disease. Therefore, we have identified a mechanism which if we can arrest could result in amelioration of the inflammation and thereby the severity of the illness.

What inspired you to become a clinician scientist?

This is an interesting questions; and I would like to share the answer especially with the clinicians!

The cellular and molecular basis of disease always intrigued me right from my early MBBS days. I perhaps realised very early in my medical career that the best possible treatment for any ailment would stem out of an elaborate understanding of the molecular basis. Even though I was interested in research at the time, I did not have any idea on how to go about it until I was in my postgraduate course in internal medicine. I did publish a few papers during that

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What role can scientists play in the society today?

Scientists have a major role to play in today’s society. There have been immense and rapid strides on every front in the society over the recent times. Many of the developments are results of the hard work of scientists, not necessarily the ones who spent their lives in labs, but also social scientists, economists, environmentalists and so on. When it comes to biological and clinician scientists, I would wishfully think that they conduct more and more translational research which would bring about feasible deliverables which are of use for the society at large.

How has Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance funding helped you and your research?

Immensely! A major help of course is that the India Alliance funding provides my livelihood! But more important is the fact that it generously caters to my research needs in the form of flexible options and also supports my research fellows. I am an Intermediate Fellow and the independent funding agencies under the Government. of India are likely to be apprehensive to fund new players in the field such as me. The role of the India Alliance fitted well in here; by its policy of providing funds for personal expense, consumables, conference travels, publication, work outside host institution etc. It actually aided in grooming my scientific career in a holistic manner.

What keeps you going everyday?

Depends on the context in which the question is being asked! At the clinical front, the anticipation to encounter some new problem; at the scientific front, the potential for generation of some new question based on the clinical problem, and hope to get a solution; and finally at the personal front, hope to get back home from work early (which of course never happens) and spend some quality time with my toddler daughter!

EFFECTIVELY STARTING-UP A NEW LAB Enabling Bootstrapping, Flexibility and Freedom Dr Sunil Laxman, Intermediate Fellow Indian science, like India itself, moves forward like a lumbering, slow whale. You don’t think it is really moving, but somehow, when you look after a period of time, it actually has moved forward. But in the past decade, there has been perceptible forward movement. Just the number of young scientists who have started up their new labs suggests this. And every returning scientist faces up to the jarring reality of starting a lab in India.

This reality is jarring, because of the way many institutes and administrators view how a research program should be set up. This idea of setting up a lab has little in common with how the term “start-up” is used in the technology sector, though in reality there should be much in common. Using a broad paintbrush, we’ll explore some aspects of setting up a lab in India in this article, contrasting what should be possible with what is actually possible within most systems in India.

Some institutional ideas of how a lab should be set-up are a legacy of the past. Years ago, a scientist would identify a challenging problem, and slowly set forth to solve it. He or she would be given a room, a pat on the back, and would go about by first securing resources to get started, and take years to populate the lab, or set up minimal experimental systems. While this has changed, it hasn’t changed enough. The idea of slowly building up largely remains.

Unfortunately, the pace at which science is carried out worldwide has changed quite dramatically. Unless the questions being asked are esoteric and uses obscure systems, the traditional model guarantees that a starting scientist will not be able to do competitive, cutting-edge research. Instead, they are better off settling for very modest targets in science.

Setting up a successful experimental lab really comes down to a few things, of which I’ll highlight three as the most confounding.

The first is to be able to hire competent technical personnel, in addition to students or fellows. A trained, experienced technician or lab manager can transform the initial setting up of a lab, from establishing experimental protocols, to setting up efficient ordering and management of laboratory inventory. Unfortunately, hiring such a person is a practical impossibility for a new investigator in India. A second, almost necessary requirement is to be able to hire and support some project assistants for 2-3 years. Eventually, a lab will attract (institute or agency funded) graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, but initially the uncertainty of steadily and reliably supporting 2-3 personnel, and not just relying on graduate students (with long learning curves), dramatically alters how quickly a lab gets going.

The second is to be able to do at least some of the kinds of experiments one needs to do fairly quickly. This has two components to it, the first being having trained personnel (see point one), and the second, having the right kind of equipment to do this. Now traditionally, researchers are expected to equip their lab with the instruments they need, provided the funding is there.

This means negotiating the notorious indenting system required by most institutes, discovering ways to circumvent the lowest-cost clauses typically present (so as not to be saddled with a dud instrument instead of what you want), and waiting months for the orders to be processed and the equipment to arrive and be installed. Many scientists spend years twiddling their thumbs waiting, while science in their chosen fields moves on. This problem will be enormously mitigated if all institutes invest in setting up exceptional core facilities, open to all their scientists, and with a huge preference for junior faculty to use. These should be facilities where the faculty (or their personnel) directly do their own experiments, and don’t have to rely on the vagaries of the managing operator of the facility. For example, a biologist would 13.

jump-start his/her program if there were easy, unrestricted access to quality microscopes, centrifuges, PCR machines, incubators and more. This would work as an interim while the investigator equips his/her lab, and by sharing space with other junior faculty at this time, this will build camaraderie, and avoid building individual silos.

Yet, only a few institutes have seriously considered variations of this model.

Finally, many things in science at some level boil down to money.

There is this concept of a “start-up package”, a term borrowed from what is typically offered to starting faculty at American institutes. In India, most institutes truly want to support their hires, but cannot provide a fixed “start-up” which the faculty member can freely use.

The institutional argument is that they will provide what the faculty asks for. But that lands into the pitfalls of whether the faculty member will actually get what he/she wants, when that will happen, how that will happen, and sometimes if that will happen.

This also restricts the flexibility of how that money can be used, and what it can be used for. Typically grants in India tend to be earmarked with strict ring-fenced money, and money for (say) equipment cannot be used for consumables and vice versa. This means a researcher cannot prioritize or change immediate needs as demanded by the science. If say a researcher who has some funds wants to buy a high-end computer, or travel to a conference abroad instead of spending money on chemical reagents, it is sometimes impossible to do so, or requires weeks or months of negotiation and creative navigation of the systems. All of this only results in much time lost, creative energies misdirected, and reconciliation to reducing the scope of science being attempted.

With the plethora of current institutional and funding agency rules, many of these problems seem insurmountable. But many of these problems while starting up can be minimized if the nature of the “start-up” package changes. Our institutes obviously need to help their hires to build their research programs by providing space, and the ability to buy expensive equipment and more. But if, in addition to this, all starting faculty have smaller amounts of very flexible funding, to use as they choose best, this can dramatically resolve difficulties while starting up. If say this money can be freely used to hire technical staff or personnel (on contract for ~3 years), or use for travel, or use as needed for equipment or consumables (without resorting to lowest common denominator pricing), to be used flexibly across say five years, imagine how effective this could be.

Cynics will point out that obviously, with current agency rules, and financial year based accounting, this seems impossible. But if all institutes worked harder on endowments, tapping into both private donors as well as their sometimes influential and extensive alumni networks, clearly defining these as endowments for their faculty (and not funds to build more buildings or hostel rooms), this could work. This requires that institutional leadership views their roles in administration differently, and needs an entirely different approach to funding in addition to, and not replacing existing approaches. If we cannot enable our starting faculty better, there will continue to be pockets of excellence, but it will be impossible to raise the general bar of research high enough to keep pace with the best in the world.

Dr Sunil Laxman is an Assistant Investigator and India Alliance Intermediate Fellow at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), Bangalore, his lab studies metabolic sensing and cellular decision-making. Outside of the lab, he is interested in history, culture, music and philosophy, and writes a monthly column on the scientific method, Crosstalk, for The Wire.

PERSONAL CARE AT A HIGH PRICE? Assessing hazards of nanomaterials Dr Madhu Khatri, Early Career Fellow

Nanotechnology has been around for decades, but the technology is so delicate and complex that it has taken a long time for engineers, scientists, and manufacturers to maneuver cost effective ways of using it. Nanotechnology deals with manipulation of structures of matter in the size range of 1-100 nanometers. Particles of these size ranges are called nanoparticles and could exhibit novel characteristics as compared to the same material without nanoscale. Nanotechnology entered the field of cosmetics and health products nearly 40 years ago with liposome moisturizing creams. However, at present just about every personal care product in market, including deodorant, soap, toothpaste, shampoo, hair conditioner, anti-wrinkle cream, moisturizer, foundation, face powder, lipstick, blush, eye shadow, nail polish, perfume and after-shave lotion contains nanoparticles.

The big cosmetic giants such as Boots, The Body Shop, Avon, Nivea and Unilever are all currently using nanomaterials in their products. A number of nanomaterials that are already in use are titanium dioxide (TiO2), zinc oxide (ZnO), alumina, nano silver, nano gold, silicon dioxide, calcium fluoride and copper. Their function ranges from providing UV protection, serving as antibacterial agents, helping in cell renewal which results in glowing skin and maintains overall youthful appearance. An everincreasing use of engineered nanomaterials (NGM) in cosmetic products signifies a huge potential of nanotechnology for the cosmetics industry and its consumers. However, this use of NGMs in personal care products casts questions on the safety of these materials as cosmetics come in direct physical contact of body surfaces. In recent times, nanotoxicologists all over the world are unanimously of the opinion that the risks of using nanomaterials in cosmetics are real as they may be absorbed by the body via digestive tract (by inadvertent uptake of lip care products and toothpaste), the lungs (by inhalation of perfumes and deodorants), eye membranes and the skin (intact or abraded).

awareness in India gives cosmetic giants a free pass to play with the health of their customers. This underscores the urgency to explicitly authorize, regulate and label nanomaterials in cosmetics in order to ensure its safety. In the time to come when next generation of nanocosmetics will be ready to hit the market, the role of regulatory bodies is bound to be amplified. No other field of science would be as concerned as nanocosmetics about the safety of its products, since the well-being and safety of the consumers is at stake. Though much time has passed since the arrival of nanocosmetics, the regulatory bodies across the globe are still not prepared enough for this sudden and quick revolutionary technology that has swept everybody off their feet.

Most regulatory guidelines were written before the advent of this field and therefore discussions regarding the appropriate evolution of these guidelines to meet the needs of nanocosmetics specific properties are currently on the discussion table.

There are growing concerns about the transparency observed by the industry in the use and testing of nanoparticles in personal care products, as manufacturers or importers are generally not required to communicate this information. Therefore, the consumer cannot even make an informed decision whether or not to use products containing nanomaterials and to what extent the usage is safe. In India, the cosmetic market is booming and is currently growing at 15-20% annually and is expected to reach $2.68 billion by 2020. However, till date there are no clear policies/guidelines on regulation or monitoring of cosmetic products making use of nanomaterials. Therefore , the absence of a clear regulatory framework coupled with lack of public

There are several unresolved and unappreciated issues in studying nanomaterial toxicity. The toxicity of nanomaterials is governed by their properties that can be attributed to their smaller size, chemical composition, surface structure, solubility, shape and aggregation. Importantly, these properties of particles at the nanoscale can differ greatly from those of the same substance with a larger size and it is claimed that due to a greater surface area to volume ratio, the nanoparticles are more likely to be toxic.

Due to the innumerable possible combinations and interaction of nanoparticles and various biomolecules, it becomes practically impossible to determine their toxicity.

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The use of nanoparticles in cosmetics should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, taking into account factors like size, shape, concentration, dispersion and distribution, the physical and chemical characteristics of nanomaterials used and interaction with the cells and biological systems. The behavior of nanoparticles being used needs to be studied in more detail within the framework of a comprehensive risk assessment analysis. The western world is comparatively ahead in regulating nanocosmetics. The US FDA requires all the cosmetics including those containing nanomaterials to be extensively tested for their safety before entering the market. The European Union (including UK) takes this a step further and recently made it mandatory that whoever places cosmetics containing nanomaterials on the market must notify the European Commission and additionally clearly indicate the nanomaterials in the list of ingredients marked as ‘nano’ on product labels.

PERSONAL CARE AT A HIGH PRICE? DR MADHU KHATRI

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A F D

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Zebra fish model to test different concentrations of copper oxide nanoparticles. A. Normal zebrafish B. Malformed eye (10 ug/ul) C. Full body malformed (50 ug/ul) D. Malformed notochord (10 ug/ul) E. Unhatched embryos after malformations (50 ug/ul) F. Dead embryo (50 ug/ul)

Another challenge is the possibility of mixed exposures where the individual nanomaterial is not particularly toxic but the interaction between multiple types of nanomaterials or other compounds may cause serious health issues. This is all the more important given the fact that current toxicity testing methods that are used are not nanomaterial specific and therefore are inadequate for determining the specific risk relevant-properties of nanoparticles. Adequate in vivo and in vitro testing methods are currently being developed but a considerable amount of research still needs to be conducted. Most of the toxicity research conducted on nano-based products pertains to short duration only, with miniscule prediction of long-term or chronic toxicity. Hence, to establish the safety for the usage of these nanoparticles and to overcome or reduce the consequent threats, extensive research on their long-term effects is the need of the hour.

cost efficient, and predictive toxicity screening/evaluation approaches for ENM. This has been central to our current research at Panjab University where we are attempting to study the possible toxic effects of these ENM using zebra fish as a model system. This model provides high throughput screening platform for various ENMs and has the potential to fit in between the traditional cell culture and mammalian models, providing validation of in vitro-toxicity and prioritization of invivo animal experiments. We are particularly interested in questions related to chronic toxicity at low doses; effects of mixed nanoparticle exposures, developmental and reproductive toxicity. Scientific data from this work would help us better inform manufacturers and public about using nanomaterials and encourage more conscious use of these in cosmetics.

Dr Madhu Khatri is an Assistant Professor and Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Early Career Fellow at Panjab University, Chandigarh. Find out more about her work here.

The large variety of ENM, coupled with their novel physicochemical and biological properties as mentioned earlier, have posed an urgent need to develop timely, high throughput,

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INDIA ALLIANCE STAFF CORNER

DR SACHIN SHARMA, Grants Adviser

Dr Sachin Sharma joined the India Alliance grants team in 2014 after his research stint at ICGEB, New Delhi and brief experience as an entrepreneur. When not busy scrutinizing applications and advising Fellowship applicants, Sachin keeps himself occupied with musical and comedic endeavours.

What is your background?

I was born and brought up in Meerut, a small yet prominent city in Uttar Pradesh, a great place to grow up in and where I received most of my education. After my Bachelors degree, I was accepted to join the army but since my mother did not approve of this, I finally ended up doing Masters in Microbiology. During a chance visit to Delhi University South Campus (I was accompanying a friend who had just won 3.2 Lakhs in a Kaun Banega Crorepati show!),Professor J S Virdi showed great interest in taking me in his research group. The lab studies an enteric pathogen, Yersinia enterocolitica. I started working on β-lactamases and extended spectrum β-lactamases, enzymes responsible for antibiotic resistance, from Y. enteroclitica and we identified and characterized two different types of β-lactamases, a first in India. Subsequently, I joined International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB), New Delhi as a post-doctoral fellow and studied dendritic cells interaction with Mycobacteria tuberculosis.

After that, I started working as a scientist in another project funded by a multinational company and worked on metabolic disorders.

But overtime I felt distant from research and now I don’t miss active research as much and it has been a very happy transition to a nonacademic life at the India Alliance. But I do consider myself an “arm-chair” researcher still (I keep abreast with the developments in the field).

How has your India Alliance journey been so far?

I joined India Alliance in January 2014. I was aware of India Alliance before that from colleagues who had been awarded India Alliance Fellowship. This inspired me to be a part of the change that this organization was trying to bring to the funding processes in India and its impact on Indian Science. My India Alliance journey has been quite enlightening. Since I came straight from a research bench and had a bit of experience of starting a company, I did take some time to get into a different system where one is supposed to work on the desk the whole day. But I cannot re-collect when I started liking working as a grants adviser. I had to undergo training in Hyderabad, after which I joined the Delhi office where I was the

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first occupant. I have fond memories of my training days in Hyderabad and I love the city. I have gained a lot of administrative experience at India Alliance and most importantly learnt the importance of team work. Another very strong and attractive feature of the India Alliance that I admire is that of quick execution.

As a funding body, we plan many things and the implementation of any such plan or policy is rather quick and efficient.

What was the last piece of research that excited you?

I recently read a review published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology 2015 by Professor Gokhan Hotamisligil and his team on metabolic functions of fatty acid-binding proteins (FABPs). He provides a compelling account on the roles of FABPs in drug discovery of metabolic diseases. This paper discussed in detail the decisive functions of FABP4 in metabolic homeostasis and indicated that investigating the mechanisms of FABP4 action would provide interesting therapeutic avenues to explore in future.

When not busy on the job, what do you enjoy doing?

I also used to think earlier about the same question “How to enjoy when not busy at India Alliance” but quickly I discerned that this question has turned into a dream. Anyway, jokes apart, I have great interest in music, particularly classical music and Ghazals (Ghulam Ali). I like to practice singing regularly and I have given several stage performances. My long term plan is to learn to play a musical instrument – flute is a particular fascination. Someday when I have time, I hope to learn to play this mesmerizing musical instrument.

Another hobby is mimicry.

Who inspires you (living or dead)?

My late Uncle, who was a clinician by profession, has been an inspiration for me. He was a “torchbearer” and taught me how to live a practical and happy life. I learnt from him the value of strong principles and fidelity. He taught me to never give up until a goal is achieved and I am indebted to him for his guidance and good advice.

OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

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OTHER ANNOUNCEMENTS

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS: Newton Bhabha PhD Placements Programme 2016-17 About the Programme On behalf of the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, UK and the Ministry of Science and Technology, India, British Council India, the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) India are pleased to invite applications for funding to support short-term PhD placements between UK and Indian institutions.

It is the third consecutive year Newton Fund India in partnership with DST and DBT is offering opportunity for the UK and Indian PhD scholars to spend a period of their study (2 to 4 months) in Indian and UK higher education institutions between April to December 2017.

This placement is student centred and aims to enhance the capacity building of individuals by participating in international intellectual networks, building cultural understanding, and fostering long term sustainable research collaborations. We request you to promote this opportunity in your regions as relevant.

Deadline for applications: Friday 16th August 2016 by 17.00hrs UK time.

For more information please visit BC, India website: https://www.britishcouncil.in/newton-bhabha-phd-placements-programme

Please send your feedback, suggestions and contributions to public.engagement@wellcomedbt.org

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