In news
Dr. Sonu Gandhi, a Scientist at the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB), Hyderabad, has been awarded the prestigious SERB Women Excellence Award
Highlights
- She has recently developed a smart nanodevice for the detection of Rheumatoid arthritis (RA), cardiovascular disease (CVD), and Japanese encephalitis (JE).
- The smart nanodevice developed by her group helped in detection of the biomarkers of the diseases using graphene functionalised with amine and conjugated with specific antibodies.
- The developed sensor offers several key advantages, such as ultra-high sensitivity, ease of operation, and a short response time, that can be easily integrated into a chip for point-of-care testing.
- The developed sensor exhibited a clear advantage over conventional techniques, and it is highly sensitive.
- They can improve early diagnosis of the diseases, ensuring prompt, more effective, and less expensive treatment.
Major work
- Her work is based on understanding the mechanism of interaction between nanomaterials and biomolecules on the surface of devices called transducers that receive energy from one system and transmit it for the development of a new generation of biosensors for clinical diagnosis of bacterial and viral disease, veterinary and agricultural applications, food analysis and environmental monitoring.
- Dr. Sonu’s lab has developed electrochemical as well as a microfluidic-based nanosensor for detection of pesticides used primarily to control foliage and soil-borne insect pests in Fruits and Vegetables.
- In a parallel study, her lab has developed ultrafast sensing of a biomarker of cancer.
- The developed cancer biosensor called urokinase plasminogen activator receptor (uPAR) may be used as a quantitative tool, making it a tenable alternate for the detection of uPAR in cancer patients.
About the awardSERB Women Excellence Award is a one-time award given to women scientists below 40 years of age and who have received recognition from any one or more of the following national academies such as Young Scientist Medal, Young Associate etc.Source: PIB
