Members in Shanta Dhar Lab

PI | Scientist | Postdocs | Visitors | Graduates | Undergraduates | Alumni

Principal Investigator (PI)

Dr. Shanta Dhar, PhD, FRSC

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Gautier Building Room #317
1011 NW 15th Street
Miami, FL 33136-1019
Email: shantadhar@med.miami.edu
Office: (305) 243-1292
Fax: (305) 243-3955

Shanta was born in West Bengal, India. She received her Ph. D. from the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India. Her graduate work was in the area of bioinorganic chemistry with the overall goal being to develop copper(II) complexes to effect photocleavage of double stranded DNA at longer wavelengths. In 2006, she came to this side of the globe and  joined Johns Hopkins University as a postdoctoral fellow where she worked in the area of bioorganic chemistry with Prof. Marc M. Greenberg developing fluorescent sensors for the detection of various DNA lesions. In 2007, Shanta joined the group of Prof. Stephen J. Lippard at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and her postdoctoral studies were focused on nanocarrier-mediated delivery of platinum-based drugs for their potential applications in cancer. Shanta joined the chemistry department at the University of Georgia in August 2010 and in summer 2016 she joined University of Miami, Miller school of medicine, currently she is in the process of motivating young talents towards the exciting field of metal-based nanomedicine for their potential uses in different human diseases.

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Scientist

Dr. Bapurao Surnar, PhD

PhD from Indian Institute of Science Eductation and Research, Pune
Office: (305) 243-5830

Bapu is from Hyderabad, India. He did his Bachelors from Kakatiya University and Masters from Osmania University in Telangana. He pursued his PhD in "Synthesis and bio-application of functional polycaprolactones" with Prof. Jayakannan at IISER Pune. He is currently working on development of multi tasking nanodevices for therapeutic applications for prostate cancer, viral diseases and heart diseases. In June 2020, he was promoted to assistant scientist at the Univeristy of Miami Miller School of Medicine.

Post-Doctoral Researchers

Dr. Xiao Zhang, PhD

PhD from Key Laboratory for Advanced Materials, East China University of Science and Technology, Shanghai, China
Office: (305) 243-5830

Xiao is from Dezhou, China. He received his Ph.D. degree in Applied Chemistry from East China University of Science and Technology. In the winter of 2018, he joined the group of Prof. Françisco Raymo at University of Miami as a postdoctoral associate and focused on synthesis of photoactivable BODIPY dyes for bioimaging. He is currently working on development of nanoparticles for therapeutic applications.

Visiting Researchers / Research Professionals / Volunteers

Graduate Students/Researchers

Akil A. Kalathil

University of Miami, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Office: (305) 243-5830
Fax: (305) 243-3955

Akil was born and raised in the suburbs surrounding Chicago, Illinois, before moving to India for seven years, and then to McDonough, Georgia for high school. He completed his bachelors degree in chemistry at the University of Georgia, and then worked in the Division of Laboratory Sciences at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for two years. He joins our lab, and the University of Miami as a Biochemistry and Molecular Biology direct admit graduate student.

Shrita Sarkar

University of Miami, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Office: (305) 243-5830
Fax: (305) 243-3955

Shrita is from Kolkata, India. She received her MS in Biophysics and Molecular Biology from University of Calcutta. Upon completing MS, she started working at the Department of Biochemistry under Dr. Sanghamitra Sengupta where she studied the analysis of cellular ROS induction due to infection in human host. Before joining the Miller School of Medicine, she worked as a Project Assistant at National Institute of Biomedical Genomics gained experience in neonatal nasopharyngeal microbiome studies for developing improved diagnostic modalities. Her current research interests include studying the effects of mitochondria targeted nanoparticle in glioma stem cells as a novel initiative to treat Glioblastoma.

Subham Guin

University of Miami, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Office: (305) 243-5830
Fax: (305) 243-3955

Subham is from Kolkata, India. During his MS in Biotechnology, he received a Summer Research Fellowship from the Indian Academy of Sciences (IAS) for writing a research proposal on Mycobacterium tuberculosis, which allowed him to complete his summer internship at the National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi. Before joining our lab at the Leonard Miller School of Medicine, he worked as a Project Trainee under Dr. Anindita Ukil at the Department of Biochemistry, University of Calcutta. The major aim of his project there, was to study how the parasite (Leishmania donovani) sabotages host Reactive Oxygen Species machinery by upregulation of a host protein heme oxygenase-1 for its survival.

Akash Ashokan

University of Miami, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Office: (305) 243-5830
Fax: (305) 243-3955

Akash is from Kerala, India. He completed his integrated BS-MS dual degree in Chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune. During his BS-MS, he worked under Prof. M. Jayakannan on synthesising L- amino acid based poly(ester-urethane)s for pharmaceutical applications. He completed his Master’s thesis project on “L-DOPA based enzyme responsive poly(ester-urethane)s for drug delivery applications”. He joined our lab as a graduate student at Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Department.

Arnab Chakraborty

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Office: (305) 243-5830
Fax: (305) 243-3955

Arnab is from Kolkata, West Bengal, India. He has a MS in Molecular Chemistry from Amity Institute of Click Chemistry Research & Studies, Amity University, Noida where his research focused on synthesizing “Click” compounds for anti-microbial studies, engineering porphyrin moieties as photodynamic therapy tools against malignancies and developing hydrogel nanocomposites for applications in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. The focus of his dissertation thesis is to investigate the mechanisms concerning transcytosis of mitochondria-targeted polymeric nanoparticles across the blood-brain barrier (BBB). Furthermore, he intends on constructing nano-platforms for drug delivery that incorporate theragnostic tools, with the ultimate goal of improving the safety and efficacy of medical interventions spanning brain malignancies as well as neurodegenerative dysfunctions.

Alexis Spencer

University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Office: (305) 243-5830
Fax: (305) 243-3955

 Alexis was born and raised in Miami, FL. She did her undergraduate studies at FIU and received a Bachelor of Science in Biological Sciences as well as a Bachelor of Arts in Natural and Applied Sciences. Currently at the UM Miller School of Medicine, she is pursuing a Master’s in Biomedical Sciences (MiBS). She also serve as MiBS programs senator for the Graduate Student Association and Biomedical Graduate Student Government. Her long term goal is to become a surgeon and currently working on learning how to make nanoparticles for cardiovascular disease project.

Undergraduate Researchers

Joel Costaya

University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences
Office: (305) 243-5830
Fax: (305) 243-3955

Joel was born in Havana, Cuba and raised in Miami, Florida. He is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Miami pursing a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. His goal still is to attend medical school and perhaps might be looking towards a PhD in the biomedical sciences as well. His areas of interest include: biotechnologies, neural networking, artificial intelligence, and 3-D printing technologies in order to help those with a reduced neurological function from illnesses such as Alzheimer's Disease and those suffering from stroke.

Jada Lee

University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies
Office: (305) 243-5830
Fax: (305) 243-3955

Jada was born and raised in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois before moving to Jacksonville, Florida to finish high school. She is currently attending the University of Miami for a bachelor’s in Health sciences, in hopes of attending medical school in the future. Jada has previously worked in Howard Hughes Medical Institution labs, participating in planarian stem cell research. Jada is currently exploring research with biosynthetic nanoparticles and their potential impact in the medical world.

Neal Luthra

University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences
Office: (305) 243-5830
Fax: (305) 243-3955

Neal was born and raised in Merritt Island, FL. He is currently an undergraduate student at the University of Miami and is working towards a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He is hoping to attend medical school and is currently exploring what his research areas of interest are.

Isabella Lopez

University of Miami College of Arts and Sciences
Office: (305) 243-5830
Fax: (305) 243-3955

Born and raised in Miami, FL, Isabella is currently pursuing a Bachelors in Science at UM in biochemistry and applied physics. Her goal after undergrad is to attend graduate school in biochemistry or chemical biology. Isabella has also been an active contributing writer to Scientifica Magazine for the past three years.

Post-Doctoral Researchers (Alumni)

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