In the area of cancer nanomedicine, we have drawn long-standing collaborative projects with various qroups in the neighboring institutes In a DBT funded collaborative project with Bombay college of Pharmacy, we developed sugar conjugated nano-formulation for intraocular carboplatin formulation in orthotopic retinoblastoma mouse model. In another collaboration with Chemical Engineering dept. |T-B, we have developed mesoporous silica nanoparticles (MSN) loaded Gemcitabine and/or curcumin for treatment of pancreatic cancer.

The HER2 receptor is a tyrosine kinase that drives breast cancer commonly designated as HER2+ve subtype. In these patients, the HER2 receptor protein is either overexpressed and/or harbor mutations occurring In various segments of this receptor. We are specifically stucying how the mutations occurring in the direrization domain might alter the dynamics of signaling, thereby promoting toahe reSIStaNCE HER2 targeted therapies. Understanding the downstream signaling switches that occur in presence of specific acquired mutations would help develop effective precision treatment.

Our group has long drawn interest in Cancer Nanomedicines which provide alternative treatment solutions for otherwise difficult to treat cancers. To develop various bio-functionalized, tumor-targeted nanomedicine materials for cancer therapy, we are actively engaged in multiple collaborative projects. In one promising line of work done in collaboration with NanoBios Lab at IlT-B, we have tested multiple biocompatible gold-nanospheres (Au-NS) nanomaterial for photothermal therapy (PTT). This method shows exceptional therapy efficacy in vivo.

In 2022, cellular plasticity has been added as a new 'Hallmark of Cancer'. It can be defined as the ability of cancer cells to dynamically modulate biochemical and biomechanical properties in response to intracellular and extracellular stimuli.

The aim of this project is to understand the basic biology of human sodium iodide symporter (hNIS) gene function in breast cancer (BC). The natural overexpression of hNIS protein in majority of BC samples has triggered global research initiatives to verify the possible targeted radioiodine therapy as an option in BC patients.

Cancer cell signaling is a vast area of research, where protein-protein interactions, protein activation and degradation kinetics play vital roles in cellular signaling. We have been rigorously developing and using bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET) based assessment method to study cell signaling and protein-protein interactions. We are pursuing the design of various BRET reporter sensors for important cancer-targeting proteins intimately involved in oncogenic signaling. In recent years, our lab has designed multiple BRET sensors for determining protein activation in vivo.

Lucifer ase reporters are the backbone of optical imaging. In collaboration with IBCh, Moscow Academy of Sciences, Russia we are studying a novel Luciferase. luciferin pair isolated from a wild bioluminescence mushroom species. This luciferass is distinctively unique for its enzyme substrate activity and therefore readily integrated with other common luciferase systems available.