Chandigarh May 17, 2023
Multiple grants to two faculties from Biophysics and University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences
Dr. Ravi Pratap Barnwal of Department of Biophysics, Panjab University Chandigarh (PUCHD) and Dr. Gurpal Singh of University Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), PUCHD were sanctioned 4 research grants and one Karyashala grants in last 6 months. All these research projects will fund one manpower and will help either in procurement of high end instrument or in creating an infrastructure for doing science. Specific details are provided herein
(1) DST-CSRI grant: A fund of around 93 Lacs was sanctioned by DST under Cognitive Science Research Initiative to the team for developing early detection biosensor for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). AD, a type of dementia that is prevalent in adults with age group of >60 years; around 8% population in this age bracket is susceptible for AD.
(2) ICMR grant: A fund of around 60 Lacs was sanctioned by ICMR to develop lateral flow technique for rapid and early detection of microRNA in type 1 diabetes. This project involves other coinvestigators as Dr. Neha Singla, Biophysics Panjab University and a collaboration from PGIMER Chandigarh (Prof. Sanjay K. Bhadada, Endocrinology and Dr. Soham Mukherjee, Endocrinology). The developed kit will be tested on the patients at PGIMER Chandigarh.
(3) SERB-CRG grant: Another project of ~60 Lacs was approved by SERB to develop peptide based nanotherapeutics for early detection as well treatment of prostate cancer, one of the leading cancers in India. This project involves a collaboration from PGIMER Chandigarh (Prof. Sanjay K. Bhadada, Endocrinology, Prof. Rakesh Kapoor, Radiotherapy & Oncology and Prof. Santosh Kumar, Urology). The developed kit will be tested on the patients at PGIMER Chandigarh.
(4) CSIR grant: This project funded by CSIR (~45 Lacs) aims to develop new series of the peptides based on the viruses. These peptides will have higher stability and will access multiple RNA targets in different pathogens/diseases.
(5) SERB-Karyashala grant: A workshop entitled “Biology meets nanotechnology” is funded by SERB to train 25 PhD and PG students. This 7 days’ program will bring together many imminent scientists and speakers in the field of Nanotechnology, Medicine and Biology and give students an exposure to existing facilities at Panjab University and nearby institutions.
