Research Interest

Our group broadly aims to understand the underlying genetic component, if any, and its possible role in the pathobiology of various human diseases/disorders. For fulfilling our objectives we employ modern techniques and tools of Molecular Genetics and Cell biology. The overall objective of our studies is to define the aetiology and the genetics behind these diseases and to translate this understanding in order to develop new approaches to diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

Position held

Education qualification

    1. Worked as DBT-Overseas Associate with Prof. Knut Stieger, Head of the Research group - "Retinal Gene Therapy Laboratory", Dept. of Opthalmology, UKGM, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany (Nov 2016- Oct 2017).

    2. Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Human Molecular Genetics from L V Prasad Eye Institute Degree awarded by University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India (2011).

    3. Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Biochemistry from University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, Telangana, India (2004).

    4. Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Genetics, Zoology & Chemistry from Nizam College (Autonomous), Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana, India (2002).


Ongoing projects

Sl. Title Sponsored Start date End date Fund

Completed projects

SL Title Sponsored Start date End date Fund
1 Studies on genetic and epigenetic alternations on keratoconus patients from Assam, India. DBT/IIT-G 2019-04-29 2021-08-31 15.98 Lakhs
2 In vitro studies to investigate the therapeutic approach of editing the defective exon 3 of the human CHST6 gene associated with Macular Corneal Dystrophy through the CRISPR-Cas9 technology. DST 2019-03-26 2022-07-29 45.94 Lakhs
3 Diagnosis and Immunopathogenesis of Dengue Virus Infections; a longitudinal investigation into genotype diversity, diagnosis and immune response to dengue infections in Assam, Northeast India. Funded by LSRB-DRDO, Govt. of India (Co-PI). 2017-07-21 2022-05-02 61.59 Lakhs

Publication

  1. Yanik M, Ponnam SPG, Wimmer T, Trimborn L, Müller C, Gambert I, Ginsberg J, Janise A, Domicke J, Wende W, Lorenz B, Stieger K., Development of a Reporter System to Explore MMEJ in the Context of Replacing Large Genomic Fragments., Molecular Therapy - Nucleic Acids, 11, 407-415, 2018, 11, 407-415, Click Here (DOI)
  2. Ponnam SP,Ramesha K, Matalia J, Tejwani S, Ramamurthy B, Kannabiran C., Mutational screening of Indian families with hereditary congenital cataract, Molecular Vision, 19: 1141–1148, 2013, 2.245, Click Here (DOI)
  3. Somaraju Chalasani ML, Muppirala M, G Ponnam SP, Kannabiran C, Swarup G. , A cataract-causing connexin 50 mutant is mislocalized to the ER due to loss of the fourth transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic domain., FEBS Open Bio, 3:22-9, 2012, 2.231, Click Here (DOI)
  4. Ponnam SP, Ramesha K, Tejwani S, Ramamurthy B, Kannabiran C. , Mutation of the gap junction protein alpha 8 (GJA8) gene causes autosomal recessive cataract., Journal of Medical Genetics, 44(7): e85, 2007, 5.751, Click Here (DOI)
  5. Mrigyanka Chakravarty, Surya Prakash Goud Ponnam, Narayan Bardoloi , Subhash Kumar, Prasanta Saikia, A comprehensive molecular genetic analysis of keratoconus patients from assam, a northeastern state of India, European Journal of Ophthalmology, , 2022, , Click Here (DOI)
More Publication >>

Books

  1. Genetics and Epigenetics of Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Polycystic Ovary Syndrome - Symptoms, Causes and Treatment (DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.113187), 2023, Intech Open

Awards

SL Awards Year
1 "DBT-Overseas Associate", Govt. of India 2014 - 15
2 National level ICMR-Junior research fellowship (JRF) 2004
3 National level CSIR Junior Research Fellowship 2005
4 National level CSIR Junior Research Fellowship 2006
5 Best scientific poster award at IERG (July 2008) at the Indian Eye Research Group held at Madurai, TN. 2008
6 Early Career Research Award (ECR-SERB) 2018-2019

Research Scholars

Ms. ADITY PAUL
Ms. ADITY PAUL Contact: NA Email: adity16@tezu.ernet.in

She has joined as a Research Scholar in September 2020.

Ms. APARAJITA  BARUAH
Ms. APARAJITA BARUAH Contact: NA Email: apara21@tezu.ernet.in

She has joined as a Research Scholar in September 2020. She has qualified for national and state-level examinations such as CSIR-JRF (2020), CSIR-LS (2021), GATE-XL (2022), and SLET-NE (2022). She was awarded the "Best Poster Award" for her presentation at a national seminar (virtual) on Cutting Edge Tools in Biotechnology (2021), Telangana University. She also presented a scientific poster at the 46th AICBC2024, ACTREC, Navi Mumbai.

SONJUKTA BORBORAH
SONJUKTA BORBORAH Contact: NA Email: sonju12@tezu.ernet.in

She has joined as a Research Scholar in Jan 2024. She has qualified national and state-level examinations such as GATE-XL (2023), and SLET-NE (2023).


Project Students


M.Sc. students

Ms. Antarika Das

Enrollment no: 0 Mobile: 0 Email: NA@NA

Integrated M.Sc. students

T. Sanjeevani

Enrollment no: Batch 2021-2024 Mobile: NA Email: NA

K. Anjali

Enrollment no: Batch 2021-2024 Mobile: NA Email: NA

Alumni

RAJEEV RANJAN

RAJEEV RANJAN

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@nil.COM

2010 - 2012

PRITHU BARUAH

PRITHU BARUAH

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@Nil.COM

2010 - 2012

BIKAS K. NATH

BIKAS K. NATH

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@Nil.COM

2011 - 2013

MITHINGA BRAHMA

MITHINGA BRAHMA

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@Nil.COM

2011 - 2013

RAJESH DAS

RAJESH DAS

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@Nil.COM

2012 - 2014 

SAJIDA SULTANA

SAJIDA SULTANA

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@Nil.COM

2012 - 2014 

SANGEETHA MAURYA

SANGEETHA MAURYA

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@Nil.COM

2013 - 2015

Deepshikha Das

Deepshikha Das

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@Nil.COM

2013 - 2015

Irshadul Haque

Irshadul Haque

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@nil.COM

2016 - 2018

Tangkam Marak

Tangkam Marak

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@Nil.COM

2017 - 2019

Ashutosh Anubhav

Ashutosh Anubhav

Contact: NIL Email: NIL@Nil.COM

2016 - 2018

Mrs. MRIGYANKA CHAKRAVARTY

Mrs. MRIGYANKA CHAKRAVARTY

Contact: NA Email: NA@NA

Title of thesis: Molecular Genetic Analysis of Keratoconus Patients from Assam, India.

Award of PhD Degree: 2022

Ms. Sushmita Chakraborty

Ms. Sushmita Chakraborty

Contact: NA Email: NA@NA

Mr. Harshit Kalra

Mr. Harshit Kalra

Contact: NA Email: NA@NA

Mr. Hemov Bora

Mr. Hemov Bora

Contact: NA Email: NA@NA

Mr. Anshuman Das

Mr. Anshuman Das

Contact: NA Email: NA@NA

Batch 2019-2021

Ms. Antarika Das

Ms. Antarika Das

Contact: NA Email: NA@NA

Batch 2019-2022

Ms. Asmita Sen Sarma

Ms. Asmita Sen Sarma

Contact: 0 Email: asmitassarma20@gmail.com

Batch 2021-2023

Mr. Rupen Chakma

Mr. Rupen Chakma

Contact: 0 Email: rupenchakma87@gmail.com

Batch 2021-2023

Ms. Ishika Bhattacharjee

Ms. Ishika Bhattacharjee

Contact: 0 Email: ishikabhattacharjee124@gmail.com

2023

Ms. Eshika Purkayastha

Ms. Eshika Purkayastha

Contact: 0 Email: eshika.purkayastha2704@gmail.com

2023

Activity Details

SL Title Year Type
1 Presented a scientific poster at "75th Annual meeting of Society of Biological Chemists (India)" held during 8-11th Dec, 2006 at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi 2006 Seminar
2 Attended a workshop titled "Good Clinical Practice" held on 23rd Dec, 2006 conducted by the Dept. of Clinical Research, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. 2006 Workshop
3 Presented a "Free paper" in a conference titled "Genomics: Impact on Human Health" held during 2-3rd Feb, 2007 organized by the Dept. of Zoology, Osmania University and Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. 2007 Seminar
4 Presented a research paper at the 16th Annual meeting of "Indian Eye Research Group" held during 28-29th July, 2007 at L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. 2007 Seminar
5 Presented a scientific poster at the 5th International symposium titled "Genetics, health and Disease" held between 17-19th Feb, 2008 at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab 2008 Seminar
6 Best scientific poster Award at the 17th Annual meeting of "Indian Eye Research Group" held on 26-27th July, 2008 organized by Dr. G. Venkataswamy Eye Research Institute, Arvind Medical Research Foundation, Madurai, Tamilnadu. 2008 Seminar
7 Participated in Asia-ARVO (Asia-The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology,2009) an International conference on research in vision and ophthalmology held between 15-18th Jan, 2009, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh. 2009 Seminar
8 Attended a workshop titled "Biostatistics for Healthcare" 2011 during 26th Jul 2011 to 27th Jul 2011 organized by DBT Nodal Cell (Tezpur University) at Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam. 2011 Workshop
9 Attended a workshop titled "Training of trainers in life skills" held between 10-14th Oct, 2011 organized by Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur, Tamilnadu at the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati, Assam. 2011 Workshop
10 Member, Organizing Committee of "DST-INSPIRE Internship Science Camp"held between 11-16th Jun, 2012 organized by Tezpur University, under the aegis of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India held in Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam. 2012 Workshop
11 Attended a workshop on "Tools of Proteomics"held on 21-22th Jun, 2012 sponsored by GE Health Care systems Ltd. and organized by the Dept. of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam held at Tezpur University, Napam, Assam. 2012 Workshop
12 Attended a workshop on Intellectual Property Rights titled "Capturing Innovations for IPR Protection in Tezpur University" held on 8th Aug 2012 organized by MHRD IPR Chair, Tezpur University, Napam, Assam. 2012 Workshop
13 Attended a workshop titled "Advances In Applied Microbiology and Bioprocess Engineering" held on 23-24th Aug, 2012 organized by ONGC-Centre for Petroleum Biotechnology, Tezpur University held at Tezpur University, Napam, Assam. 2012 Workshop
14 Served as a "Resource person" and attended a workshop titled "Basic Genetic Engineering Techniques for Gene Cloning" held between 17-21st Dec, 2012 at the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Napam, Assam. 2012 Workshop
15 Delivered a lecture as an "invited speaker" on "Molecular Biology techniques and their applications in Ophthalmic Research" held on 16th Feb 2013 at Chandraprabha Eye Hospital, Jorhat, Assam 2013 Talks
16 "Resource Person" and delivered a lecture in a conference titled "Hands on training programme on Bioinstrumentation and Biological Methods for its Application in Biological sciences" at Dept. of Biotechnology, Darrang College, Assam. 2013 Talks
17 Participated in the UGC sponsored four week "Orientation course" organized between 4-28th Mar, 2013 at Academic Staff College, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. 2013 Workshop
18 Participated in Northeast winter school on "Human Genetics: Techniques and Statistical Analyses" organized by Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata and Tripura University, Agartala held in Tripura University. 2013 Workshop
19 Served as a "Resource Person" in the "DST-INSPIRE Internship Winter Science Camp" organized by Tezpur University,sponsored by DST, GOI held at Tezpur University. 2013 Talks
20 Served as a "Resource person" and attended a APSCHE sponsored national level seminar (PHARMASAGRA2k14) on "Recent trends and applications of software tools in pharmacy" held at Vaageswari institute of pharmaceutical sciences, Andhra Pradesh. 2014 Talks
21 Participated in "Refresher course" in the subject of "Molecular Biology and Biotechnology- Life Sciences (ID) " held between 21st Mar-11th Apr, 2014 at UGC- Academic Staff College, Bangalore University, Karnataka. 2014 Workshop
22 Participated in a national seminar on "Recent Advances in Biotechnology Research in North East India: Challenges and Prospects" held on 27-29th Nov, 2014 at the Dept. of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam. 2014 Seminar
23 Delivered a lecture as a "Resource Person" on "Molecular Biology and Analytical Techniques in Petroleum Biotechnology" organized by ONGC-Centre for Petroleum Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University. 2014 Talks
24 Served as a "Resource Person" for a workshop titled "Exploring Biological Databases" at Bioinformatics Infrastructure facility, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam. 2015 Workshop
25 Delivered a lecture as an "invited speaker" "Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), its variants & different applications" held on 23rd May 2015 Dept. of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya. 2015 Talks
26 Participated in a national seminar on "Recent Advances in Biotechnology Research in North East India: Challenges and Prospects" held on 27-29th Nov, 2014 at the Dept. of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam. 2014 Seminar
27 Scientific poster "In vitro studies to investigate the therapeutic approach of replacing the defective human RPGR-ORF15 gene through MMEJ" held on XXV Anniversary Congress of European Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, Germany 2017 Seminar
28 Participated in "2 Days Workshop cum Training Program on Ribosome and Translation Techniques" held during 25-26th November, 2017, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam. 2017 Workshop
29 Presented a poster "In vitro studies to investigate the therapeutic approach of replacing the defective human RPGR-ORF15 gene through MMEJ" held during 7-8th April, 2017, 12th ProRetina-Research Colloquium-Retinal Degeneration in Potsdam, Germany 2017 Seminar
30 7. Participated in "Refresher course" in the subject of " Refresher course in Life Sciences (ID)" held between 29th Oct 2018 to 20th Nov 2018 at UGC-HRDC, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana 2018 Workshop
31 Resource Person, Delivered a lecture on "Polymerase Chain Reaction: Principle and applications" held by Dept. of Botany, Food & Nutrition, RBVRR Womens College (Autonomous), Hyderabad, TS 2021 Seminar
32 Resource Person, Delivered a lecture on ""Genome-Editing Technologies: Principles and Applications" on 17th April 2020 held by Dept. of Botany, Govt. Degree Womens College, Jagitial, TS. 2021 Seminar
33 Keynote speaker at National webinar and delivered a lecture on "Polymerase Chain Reaction: Principles and Applications" on 30th April 2021 held by Dept. of Zoology, SSR Govt. Arts and Science College, Karimnagar, TS 2021 Seminar
34 Resource Person at National Seminar (CTEB) and delivered a lecture on "Genome Editing Techniques: The tools that enable researchers to alter the genetic code" on 3rd Dec 2021 held by Dept. of Biotechnology, Telangana University, Nizamabad, TS. 2021 Seminar
35 Resource person, " Hands on experience on Polymerase Chain Reaction" on 7th Jan 2022 held by Dept. of Zoology, Giriraj Govt. College, Nizamabad, TS 2022 Seminar
36 A Talk was delivered as a part of PG Guest Lectures on Medical Biotechnology and Genetics, Organized by Dept. of Psychiatry, LGBRIMH, Tezpur on 27 Feb 2024 titled "Recent Biotechnological Breakthroughs in Healthcare" 2024 Talks