Curriculum Vitaé

Name :                                    Trupti Swarup Gokhale nee Rawte

Correspondence Address :   BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus

P O Box 345055,

Plot No. UG 06

Dubai International Academic City,

Dubai, UAE.

Date of birth :                        17.05.1975           

Mobile :                                  +971-50-1813394

Email :                                    trupti@dubai.bits-pilani.ac.in

 

Educational Qualifications

Degree & Year	University	Subjects of study	Class obtained (Percentage marks)
Ph.D. (2002)	Department of Microbiology, Goa University, India	Studies on bacteria from mangrove ecosystem producing poly-β-hydroxybutyrates”, under the guidance of Prof. Suneela Mavinkurve
M.Sc. (1997)	Mumbai, India	Microbiology	First (64.00%)
B.Sc.  (1995)	Mumbai, India	Microbiology (Biotechnology as applied component)	First (71.33%) Stood 3rd in the University and 1st in the college

 

Awards & Scholarships

1.      Received the Best Paper Award at the 3^rd Global Sustainable Biotech Congress 2014, 1-5^th December 2014, Jalgaon, India.

2.      Received the Best Paper Award for Technology Transfer at the INTECH 2011 conference at Bratislava, Slovac Republic, September 2011

3.      Independent Research Associateship from Department of Biotechnology – Indian Institute of Science (DBT – I.I.Sc.) for the years 2003 – 2006.

4.      Scholarship from the Ocean Science and Technology Cell (OSTC), DOD, Govt. of India, for the year 2001-2002.

5.      Goa University (India) studentship for the year 2000-2001.

6.      Scholarship from the Department of Ocean Development (DOD), Govt. of India, for the years 1997-2000.

7.      Mumbai University student scholarship for the years 1995-1997.

8.      Nominated as an expert in the field of Mangroves by the Mangrove Research Organization of National Institute of Oceanography (NIO), India.

 

Projects

1.      Seed grant from BITS Pilani Dubai Campus for the project titled, ' Optimization of Selected High Yield Grass Species for Biomass and Bioenergy Applications using Saline and Recycled Wastewater' in collaboration with International Centre of Biosaline Agriculture, for an amount of AED 245,000/- duration January 2017-2020.

2.      Grant received from EXPO Live under the University Innovation Grant, February-July 2018.

3.      Co-PI for the RedMud remediation project by Hindalco Industry.

 

Advisory Board Member

1.      International Advisory Board member for  International Conference on Microbes for Better Tomorrow 2018, organized by Dr. D.Y. Patil University, Pune, India during  17th  to 19th February 2018

2.      International Advisory Board member for  International Conference on Nanotechnology for Human Welfare ( ICNHW-2018) during  1st  to 2nd February 2018 organized by H.V. Desai College, Pune, in association with College of Engineering Pune and Microbiologist Society of India at H.V. Desai College, Pune, India.

3.      International Advisory Board member for  International Conference on Applied Nanotechnology and Nanoscience ( ICANN-2017) held at Baramati, India during  7th  to 9th December 2017

4.      International Advisory Board member for the International Conference on Microbial Technology for Better Tomorrow (ICMTBT-2018), held at Pune, India during 17-19 February 2018.

5.      Organizing committee member for ICCCTAM-12, Dubai, UAE, 8-9^th December 2012.

6.      International Advisory Board member for  International Conference on Biotechnology for Better tomorrow BTBT-2013, Mauritius 2013

 

Other Contributions

1.      Convened Summer course on Biotechnology in Health Sciences at BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, Dubai, UAE, 13-23 July 2020.

2.      Convener of the International Conference on Biotechnological innovations in food and Health care (BIFHC 2019), at BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, Dubai, UAE, 27-28 January 2019.

3.      Organized " Engineering & Technology Workshop 2017" for school students on 29-30th March 2017 at BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, Dubai, UAE.

4.      Organized a one day symposium on 'Diagnostics and Healthcare with a Focus on Expo 2020' at BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, Dubai, UAE on 15th December 2015.

5.      Team member in Organizing the Workshop on Interdisciplinary Research at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus, Hyderabad, India on 4-5 November 2015.

6.      Organized a "Science and Technology workshop" for school students on 20-21st December 2015 at BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, Dubai, UAE.

7.      Team member in Organizing the Workshop on Interdisciplinary Research at BITS Pilani, KK Birla Goa Campus, Goa, India on 14-15^th November 2014.

8.      Organized a Networking workshop on Interdisciplinary Research at BITS Pilani Dubai Campus on 16th-17th March 2015 at BITS Pilani Dubai Campus, Dubai, UAE.

9.      Joint Secretary at the ‘International Conference in Biotechnology and Bioengineering-2014’, 29-30^th October 2014, held at BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus, Dubai, UAE

10. Organizing Committee member of the International Conference ‘Advances in Biotechnology, BIOTECH 2014’, 10-11^th March 2014, Dubai, UAE.

11. Invited as judge for the 3rd ‘International Conference on Renewable Energy: Generation and Applications’ (ICREGA’14), 2-5 March 2014 at UAE University, Al Ain, UAE.  

Teaching Experience

1.      Undergraduate and Post graduate teaching in Biotechnology from 2009 onwards at Department of Biotechnology, BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus, Dubai, UAE.

2.      Undergraduate teaching in Biotechnology and Microbiology from 2004-2007 at Department of Microbiology and Biotechnology, Wilson College, Mumbai, India.

3.      Postgraduate teaching in Biotechnology from 2002-2004 at Department of Biotechnology, University of Pune, India.

4.      Postgraduate teaching in Microbiology, Biochemistry, Immunology from 1999-2001 at Department of Microbiology, Goa University, India.

 

Research Students:

ME (BIOT) Dissertations/ Research Practice supervised:

1.      Isolation and characterization of E.coli from various sources of water in the UAE, with special emphasis on chlorine resistant E.coli. KTT Arjun, Submitted 2013-14. (Dissertation)

2.      Rapid Detection Of Micro-organisms In Food & Water, KTT Arjun, Submitted 2012-2013. (Research Practice)

3.      Analysis of Alternate medicine to determine the bioactive compounds, Irshad Ahmed, Submitted 2012-2013. (Dissertation)

4.      Towards Developing An Immunosensor For Viral Detection In Camels, Thansi Thaha, Submitted 2012-2013.  (Research Practice)

 

 Invited talks:

1.      Delivered an invited talk on “Integration Of Nanotechnology And Polymer Science For Development Of Antimicrobial Polymers” at a webinar on New Perspectives in Life Sciences amidst Covid times on 29 April 2022 organized by St. Xavier’s College, Mapusa, Goa, India.

2.      Delivered an invited talk on “Biosynthesized Nanofertilizers and Nanopesticides for sustained agriculture in arid environments” at a webinar on Contributions of Biological Sciences for Sustainable Environment on 25-26 February 2022 organized by Wilson College, Mumbai, India.

3.      Delivered an invited talk on “Polymers Embedded with CuO and ZnO Nanoparticles: A Boon For Food Packaging” at The Frontiers of Microbiology: Man-Microbe Dynamics organized by SIES College, Mumbai, India on 18-19 September 2021.

4.      Delivered an invited talk on “Vaccines and Immunization: Myths or facts” at a webinar on Awareness of COVID19 infections and prevention at Emerson FZ LLC on 3^rd February 2021.

1.      Delivered an invited talk on " Role of metal nanoparticles in enhancing Agricultural Produce" at the International Conference on Innovative Practices in Agricultural Biotechnology 2020 during 29 August 2020 held at Shri Vyankatesh Arts, Commerce and Science College, Deulgao Raja, India.

2.      Delivered an invited talk on "Biosynthesis of metal nanoparticles and their potential use as Biofertilizer and Biopesticide" at the International Conference on Microbes for Better Tomorrow 2020 during 22-23 February 2020 held at The Maldives National University, Male, Maldives.

3.      Delivered an invited talk on "Synthesis of metal Nanoparticles for Applications in Sustained Agriculture" at the International Conference on Microbes for Better Tomorrow 2018 during 17th to 19th February 2018 held at Dr. D.Y. Patil University, Pune, India, (pp Invited talks iv).

4.      Delivered an invited talk on "Synthesis of metal Nanoparticles for Applications in Sustained Agriculture" at the International Conference on Nanotechnology for Human Welfare (ICNHW-2018) during 1st  to 2nd February 2018 held at H.V. Desai College, Pune, India, (pp 9)

5.      Dr. Trupti Gokhale was invited to give an Invited Talk on "Synthesis of metal Nanoparticles for Applications in Agriculture" at the International Conference on Applied Nanotechnology and Nanoscience (ICANN-2017) during 7th  to 9th December 2017 held at Tuljaram Chaturchand College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Baramati, India.

6.      Invited as an expert in the field of Biotechnology for the Career Orientation Program at Our Own High School, Sharjah Girls, Sharjah, UAE on 13th December 2017.

7.      Delivered an invited talk on Development of Biosensors at the Inaugural of the Silver Jubilee celebrations of the Microbiology Department, Bharti VidhyaPeeth, Pune, India on 11th July 2017.

8.      Delivered an invited talk on Alternate Medicines practiced in Arab regions at International Conference on Ancient Science and Technology Retrospection and Aspiraitons (ASTRA 2017) on 18th and 19th January 2017 held at H.V. Desai College, Pune, India.

9.      Delivered a Career Counseling talk on 'Careers in Engineering' at the Times Education Exhibition, Amonora Mall, Pune on 14th May 2017.

10. Invited as an expert in the field of Biotechnology for the Career Orientation Program at Our Own High School, Sharjah Girls, Sharjah, UAE on 13th October 2016.

11. Delivered a counseling talk on 'Introduction to Biotechnology' at the Higher Education Summit organized by The Young Vision on 13^th -14^th January 2015. 

12. Delivered a virtual lecture on "Development of Biosensors" at a National  Seminar on 'Biotechnology for Better Tomorrow' on 26^th February 2015 at Gogate-Jogalekar College, Ratnagiri, India.

13. Development of Biosensors, at National Symposium on ‘Exploring the Environment- A Microbiological Approach’ marked to celebrate 50 Years of the Microbiology Department of Wilson College, Mumbai, India on 5^th January 2013.

 

Publications as Book Chapter

Dali Vilma Francis, Neeru Sood, Trupti Swarup Gokhale (2020) Applications Of Metal Nanoparticles In Agriculture in Shivaji Pawar (ed.) Nanoscience Progress and Prospects Today, New York: Nova Science Publishers, pp 157-178 (ISBN: 978-1-53617-292-8)

 

Publications cited in the International & National journals:

Francis, D.V.; Jayakumar, M.N.; Ahmad, H.; Gokhale, T. Antimicrobial Activity of Biogenic Metal Oxide Nanoparticles and Their Synergistic Effect on Clinical Pathogens. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2023, 24, 9998. https://doi.org/10.3390/ ijms24129998 

1.      Dali Vilma Francis, T. Aiswarya, Trupti Gokhale (2022) Optimization of the incubation parameters for biogenic synthesis of WO3 nanoparticles using Taguchi method, Heliyon, Volume 8, Issue 9, e10640, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2022.e10640.

2.      Somasundaram Rajeswari , Neeru Sood ,Trupti Swarup  Gokhale  & Ramachandran Subramanian (2019) Assessing salt-stress tolerance in barley Univ. Sci. vol.24 no.1 Bogotá Jan/Apr. http://dx.doi.org/10.11144/javeriana.sc24-1.asst 

3.      Pranay Sood, Neeru Sood and Trupti Gokhale (2015) “Microwaves: An Alternative Bacterial Sterilization Technique?”, GSTF Journal of Biosciences Vol 3, No. 2, DOI: 10.5176/2251-3140_3.2.52, http://dl6.globalstf.org/index.php/jbio/article/view/1352

4.      Madhumitha Balasubramani, Jyotsna Lakshmi Kumar, Nanduri Kameswara Rao, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale, Somasundaram Rajeswari, Makram Belhaj Fraj and Sanjeet Mishra,(2014)  “Stress-Tolerance of Sinorhizobium spp. Nodulating Sesbania and Cowpea in Desert Soils” Journal of Pure and Applied Microbiology, 8(1): 323-331.

5.      Adarsh Venkataraman Ganesan, Hardeep Kumar,  S. Swaminathan, K. K. Singh, Reenu Anne Joy, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale, R. K. Mittal (2014) Analysis of MEMS-Based Microneedles for Blood Monitoring. Bionanoscience, June 2014,  4(2): 128-135

6.      Samrudhi R. Sharma, N. Kameswara Rao, Trupti S. Gokhale, Shoaib Ismail (2013) Isolation and characterization of salt-tolerant rhizobia native to the desert soils of United Arab Emirates. Emirates Journal of Food and Agriculture, 25 (2): 102-108.

7.      Kiran Menon, Kamalapriya Anala, Gokhale Trupti, and Neeru Sood (2012) Cloud computing: Applications in biological research and future prospects. Proceedings of 2012 Intemational Conference on Cloud Computing, Technologies: Applications & Management, IEEE Xplore, 102-107

8.      Trupti Gokhale, Almas Wali, Shailee Parikh, Neeru Sood (2012) Research of marine isolates in development of biosensors for environmental pollutants. Engineering Review. 32(1), 17-22.

9.   NK Rao, Neeru Sood,Trupti Gokhale, Jyotsna Kumar, Ketul Sanghavi, S. Rajeswari & Sanjeet Mishra, 2012. Isolation of Stress tolerant Rhizobia from the UAE Soils, Biosalinity News Vol.13 ,issue, pp8-9.

10. V. Sitaramam, Shilpa Pachapurkar and Trupti Gokhale (2008) The alternative oxidase mediated respiration contributes to growth, resistance to hyperosmotic media and accumulation of secondary metabolites in three species. Physiology and Molecular Biology in Plants. 14(3): 235 – 251.

11. Rawte T. and Mavinkurve S. (2002) Characterization of polyhydroxyalkanoates from marine bacteria. Current Science. 83(5), 562-564.

12. Rawte T. and Mavinkurve S. (2004) Factors influencing the accumulation of Polyhydroxyalkanoates in marine bacteria. Indian Journal of Marine Science. 33, 181-186.

13. Rawte T., Padte M. and Mavinkurve S. (2002) Incidence of marine and mangrove bacteria accumulating polyhydroxyalkanoates on the mid-west coast of India. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology. 18(7), 655-659.

14. Rawte T. and Mavinkurve S. (2002) A rapid hypochlorite method for extraction of polyhydroxyalkanoates from bacterial cells. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology. 40 (August) 924-929.

15. Rawte T. and Mavinkurve S. (2001) Bacterial polyhydroxyalkanoates- Biodegradable plastics. Indian Journal of Microbiology. 41 (4), 233-245

 

Papers presented at Conferences & seminars

1.      Neeharika Senthilkumar, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale and Mrutuyanjaya Sahu. Bioethics and Biosafety Policies and Practices in UAE : A Critical Review. Fifth international conference on Emerging Research Paradigms in Business and Social Sciences, Dubai, UAE, 14-16 January 2020.

2.      Dali Vilma Francis, Neeru Sood and Trupti Gokhale.  Nano-therapeutics: A Review on Nano-Metals in Therapeutics. International Conference on Biotechnological innovations in food and Health care (BIFHC 2019), Dubai, UAE, 27-28 January 2019.

3.      Fatemah Bensaheb, Dali Vilma Francis, Debashish Chitnis, Namisha Bohara, Neeru Sood and Trupti Gokhale.  Antifungal Properties of Biosynthesized Metal Nanoparticles. International Conference on Biotechnological innovations in food and Health care (BIFHC 2019), Dubai, UAE, 27-28 January 2019.

4.      S Rajeswari, Trupti Gokhale and Neeru Sood.  Assessment of Salinity Stress Tolerance in Barley Hordeum vulgare L for Cultivation in Arid and Semiarid Regions. International Conference on Biotechnological innovations in food and Health care (BIFHC 2019), Dubai, UAE, 27-28 January 2019.

5.      Akshayaa Sridhar, Rajeswari Somasundaram, Trupti Gokhale, Namita Khanna & Neeru Sood. Isolation and Characterization of Microbes Associated with Root Nodules of Acacia and their Application as Biofertilizer in Saline Soils of UAE. International Conference on Biotechnological innovations in food and Health care (BIFHC 2019), Dubai, UAE, 27-28 January 2019.

6.      Debashish S. Chitnis, Namisha R. Bohara, Trupti Gokhale.  Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications of Biologically Synthesized Metal Nanoparticles. International Conference on Biotechnological innovations in food and Health care (BIFHC 2019), Dubai, UAE, 27-28 January 2019.

7.      Sidra Raihan and Trupti Gokhale, X-chromosomal Inactivation: new players in Gene Silencing, Genome Systems VIII, Organized by Centre for Genomics and Systems Biology, New York University Abu Dhabi, UAE during 7th- 8th February 2018.

8.      Safiya Aafreen, Vasudharini Venkataraman, Trupti Gokhale, Mainak Dutta, A New Direction To Treat Neuromyelitis Optica, 4th Middle East Molecular Biology Congress and Exhibition 2017, Zayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE, 1-4 November 2017.

9.      Ashvriya Thapa, Shweta Biswal, Neeru Sood, Ramachandran, Trupti Gokhale, Development Of A Biosensor Using Photobacterium Spps. For The Detection Of Environmental Pollutants, BioSmart 2017, 2nd International Conference on Bio-engineering for Smart Technologies, Paris, 30th August -1st September 2017 (978-1-5386-0706-0/17/$31.00 ©2017 IEEE)

10. Zaman SF, Khalil-Ur-Rahman, Ismail S, Kumar BGP, Sood S, Gokhale T and Subramanian R. Optimization of Growth Conditions For Biomass Production And Characterization For Bioenergy Applications, Current Trends in Biotechnology-CTBT 2017, 12-13, April 2017, Manipal University, Dubai, UAE.

11. Rajeswari Somasundaram,  Neeru Sood, Gokhale Trupti Swarup and Ramachandran S. Screening for Sensitive and Tolerance Barley Accessions to Salinity: A Case Study with 112 Accessions, Current Trends in Biotechnology-CTBT 2017, 12-13, April 2017, Manipal University, Dubai, UAE, page no. 10 of the proceedings.

12. Trupti Gokhale, Alternate Medicines practiced in Arab regions, International Conference on Ancient Science and Technology Retrospection and Aspirations (ASTRA 2017) on 18th and 19th January 2017 at H.V. Desai College, Pune, India.

13. Gayathri Ganesh,  Prashant Srinivasan, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale, Synthesis of Metal Nanoparticles using Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Bacillus subtilis isolated from the natural habitats of UAE, American Society of Microbiologist, Microbe 2016, 16-20th June 2016, Boston, USA.

14. Trupti Gokhale, Shweta Biswal, Ashvriya Thapa, Neeru Sood, Development Of A Biosensor Using Photobacterium sps. For The Detection Of Environmental Pollutants, American Society of Microbiologist, Microbe 2016, 16-20th June 2016, Boston, USA.

15. S. Balaji, K.A. Vasudev, P. Srinivasan, S. Singh, N. Sood, T.S. Gokhale, R. Subramanian, Prevalence of antibiotic resistance among biofilm forming bacteria isolated from domestic environments in Dubai. American Society of Microbiologist, Microbe 2016, 16-20th June 2016, Boston, USA.

16. Gayathri Ganesh,Ariya Nandkumar, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale, A Study on Heavy Metal Resistance in Stenotrophomonas maltophilia and Bacillus subtilis for Applications in Bioremediation, Current Trends in Biotechnology, Manipal University in association with American Society of Microbiologist on 3-4th May 2016, Dubai, UAE.

17. Prashant Srinivasan, Satvik Balaji, Srishti Singh, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale Rajeswari Somasundaram and Ramachandran Subramanian, Antibiotic Resistance among Biofilm forming Bacteria in Domestic Environments, Current Trends in Biotechnology, Manipal University in association with American Society of Microbiologist on 3-4th May 2016, Dubai, UAE.

18. Srishti Singh, Trupti Gokhale, Ramachandran S. and Neeru Sood, Screening of bacterial diversity in Dubai Beaches, Current Trends in Biotechnology, Manipal University in association with American Society of Microbiologist on 3-4th May 2016, Dubai, UAE.

19. Gayathri Ganesh, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale, Isolation of Copper Resistant Bacteria for synthesis of copper nanoparticles, ICNGCCT 2015 organized by Zelus Events, on 22nd - 23rd April 2015, Dubai.

20. Trupti Gokhale, Parvathy B., Revathy Krishnakumar, Vidhya Venugopal, Juweria Anam, Neeru Sood, Phytoremediation of recalcitrant compounds, 3^rd Global Sustainable Biotech Congress 2014, 1-5^th December 2014, NMU, Jalgaon, India.

21. S.Rajeswari, Trupti Gokhale, Salma Shariff, Swathi Murali, Aarti Swaminathan , Khaled M. and Neeru Sood,  Interactive Effect Of Micro And Macro Nutrients In Barley Cultivars Differing Salt Tolerance, International Conference in Biotechnology and Bioengineering-2014, 29-30^th October 2014, Dubai, UAE.

22. Gayathri Ganesh Neeru Sood and Trupti Gokhale, Isolation of Copper Resistant Bacteria and Fungi for Synthesis of Copper Nanoparticles, International Conference in Biotechnology and Bioengineering-2014, 29-30^th October 2014, Dubai, UAE

23. Akshay Deshpande, Saima Sirajuddin, Sarah Nuruddin, Salma Sheriff, Neeru Sood and Trupti Gokhale, Photobacterium Sps : A Bioanalyte In Development Of Biosensors, International Conference in Biotechnology and Bioengineering-2014, 29-30^th October 2014, Dubai, UAE.

24. Vivin Karthik, Sridevi Thyagarajan, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale, Sanjida Ahmed, Dna Ancestry Test Confirms The Predominance Haplogroup J (Y-Dna) And H (Mt-Dna) Among The Middle Eastern Population. International Conference in Biotechnology and Bioengineering-2014, 29-30^th October 2014, Dubai, UAE

25. Nirupama Dixit, Anyaa Mittal, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale, KK Singh, Nanoparticles In Drug Delivery And Therapy Of Alzeheimer’s Disease, International Conference in Biotechnology and Bioengineering-2014, 29-30^th October 2014, Dubai, UAE

26. Adarsh Venkataraman Ganesan, Reenu Anne Joy, Kiran Menon, Hardeep Kumar, K.K. Singh, Trupti Swarup Gokhale, Neeru Sood,  An integrated microsystem for piezo-resistive detection of mutations in Hemoglobinopathies, The 1^st Middle East Molecular Biology Congress & Exhibition 2014-Dubai, UAE.

27. Reenu Anne Joy, Adarsh Venkataraman Ganesan, Kiran Menon, Seba Sara Varghese, S. Swaminathan, K.K. Singh, Trupti Gokhale, Neeru Sood, “Design and simulation of a microcantilever based sensor for thalassemia screening in the UAE”, Advances in Biotechnology, BIOTECH 2014, 10-11^th March 2014, Dubai, UAE.

28. Rajeshwari Somasumdaram, Trupti Gokhale, Neeru Sood, N. K .Rao. “Isolation and characterization of microbial strains associated with leguminous plants from desert soils”, Advances in Biotechnology, BIOTECH 2014, 10-11^th March 2014, Dubai, UAE.

29. Pranay Sood, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale, “Microwaves: An Alternative Bacterial Sterilization Technique?” Advances in Biotechnology, BIOTECH 2014, 10-11^th March 2014, Dubai, UAE.

30. Neeru Sood,N.K. Rao, B.Madhumita, Jyotsna Kumar,  Trupti Gokhale,   S. Rajeshwari , Ketul Sanghavi, M. Belhaj Raj & Sanjeet Mishra. Stress Tolerance response of rhizobia isolated from Desert soil. Indo-Mauritius conference on Biotechnology For Better Tomorrow BTBT-2013, 11-12 Nov, 2013.

31. Trupti Gokhale, Priya Somani, Arshi Agarwal, Salma Sheriff, S. Rajeshwari & Neeru Sood. “Polyhydroxyalkanoates: Optimization and Characterization”, Indo-Mauritius conference on Biotechnology For Better Tomorrow BTBT-2013, Mauritius, 11-12 Nov, 2013.

32. Irshad Ahmed S, Salma Sheriff, G. Vijaya, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale, ‘Use of alternate medicine for a healthy tomorrow,  Indo-Mauritius conference on Biotechnology For Better Tomorrow BTBT-2013, 11-12  Nov, 2013.

33. Adarsh Venkataraman Ganesan, Hardeep Kumar, S. Swaminathan, K.K. Singh,Reenu Anne Joy, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale, R.K. Mittal , “Design and Simulation of Microneedles for Blood Alcohol Detection,” Proc. International Conference on Emerging Technologies from Micro to Nano, Goa, India 23^rd-24^th February 2013.

34. Reenu Anne Joy, Kiran Menon, Neeru Sood, Trupti Gokhale (2013) Microsensors for Water Quality assessment: A Review. Poster presentation at Emerging Technologies from Micro to Nano 2013, Goa, India 23^rd-24^th February 2013.

35. Kiran Menon, Kamalapriya Anala, Gokhale Trupti, and Neeru Sood (2012) Cloud computing: Applications in biological research and future prospects. Oral Presentation at ICCCTAM-12, Dubai, UAE, 8-9^th December 2012.

36. Trupti Gokhale, Almas Wali, Shailee Parikh, Neeru Sood (2011) Lux genes as biosensors for environmental pollutants. Oral presentation at IN-TECH 2011, Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 1^st -3^rd September 2011.

37. Neeru Sood, Tarandeep Ahuja, Bharat B Gulyani & Trupti Gokhale (2011) Use of Algal Biomass for Decolourization and Degradation of Textile Dyes. Poster presentation at 1st International Conference on Algal Biomass, Biofuels & Bioproducts,  St Louis, USA, 17 - 20 July 2011.

38. Rawte T. and Mavinkurve S. (2000) Polyhydroxyalkanoates in the marine microflora of Goa. Paper presented at the International Conference on Microbial Biotechnology held at Osmania University, Hyderabad, India, 15th - 17th July.

39. Rawte T. and Mavinkurve S. (1998) Polyhydroxyalkanoates from mangrove flora.Paper presented at the 39th Annual conference of the Association of Microbiologist of India held at the College of Fisheries, Mangalore, India, 6th and 7th December.

40. Rawte T. and Mavinkurve S. (1997) Biodiversity of mangrove ecosystem. Paper presented at the 38th Annual conference of the Association of Microbiologist of India held at Delhi University South campus, Delhi, India, 11th-13th December.

 

 

Work experience

Doctoral work was based on an important environmental issue about the non degradability of plastics. A solution was sort by producing polymers (polyhydroxybutyrates) using bacteria, which were similar to the synthetic plastics but, were truly biodegradable. Bacteria accumulating these polymers were isolated from the hitherto unexplored tropical marine and mangrove ecosystems. A rapid method using hypochlorite was developed to extract the polymers from the bacterial cells. The accumulation of these polymers in different isolates was optimized by varying physical and chemical parameters of growth for maximum polymer yield. The polymers obtained were characterized for their chemical composition and also their physical and mechanical properties were studied to find their probable applications. This study has developed polymers with properties similar to petrochemical plastics except for the fact that they are truly biodegradable.

 

Post doctoral work was based on two aspects

i.                    Studying the membrane protein interactions and voids in the membranes as an effect of osmotic pressure on the membranes.

ii.                  To exhibit the presence of an alternate oxidase respiratory pathway in eukaryotes to combat the osmotic stress and help in growth and accumulation of secondary metabolites.

This work was carried under the guidance of Prof. V. Sitaramam, at the Department of Biotechnology, University of Pune, India as a Teaching Research Associate on an independent project funded by DBT-I.I.Sc.

 

Worked as a full time lecturer in Microbiology and Biotechnology at Wilson College, Mumbai, India from July 2004-May 2007. During this period was appointed as an examiner in Biotechnology at the Third Year B.Sc. exam by University of Mumbai, India.

 

Presently working as Associate Professor at  BITS Pilani, Dubai Campus, UAE. Courses taught at undergraduate level include General Biology, Microbiology, Biological Chemistry, Biophysics, Genetics, Instrumental Methods of Analysis, Recombinant DNA Technology, Experiments in Biotechnology, Introduction to Environmental Biotechnology, Industrial Microbiology and Bioprocess engineering, Cell and Tissue culture technology,  Food Biotechnology and Immunotechnology.

Courses taught at postgraduate level include Environmental Biotechnology and waste management, Microbial Fermentation technology, Protein and enzyme bioengineering, Advanced And Applied Microbiology, Research Practice.

 

Instruments/techniques handled routinely are Spectrophotometers, Spectrofluorimeter,

Oxygraph, surface tensiometer, PCR, HPLC, HPTLC, GC, DSC, Rheometers, confocal microscope, fluorescence microscope, XRD, FTIR and NMR,  ICP-OES and Particle size analyzer and Zeita sizer.

 

Research Interests

Presently concentrating on the following areas of research

1. Synthesis of metal nanoparticles and their applications in healthcare and agriculture
2. Development of Biosensors using lux genes. These biosensors would be used to detect pollutants like heavy metal ions, pesticides, herbicides, etc in the environment.
3. Development of bioplastics from bacteria. These biopolymers formed from the bacteria possess properties similar to petrochemical plastics, but are truly degradable. Investigations are being done on the co-polymerization aspect to improve the mechanical properties of these polymers.
4. Development of biofertilizers using the native Rhizobial cultures from desert soils.
5. Bioremediation of oil spills using Halophilic bacteria, capable of degrading recalcitrant hydrocarbons.
6. The effects of microwaves on bacterial cultures are been studied with respect to the damage caused by microwaves to the DNA and the proteins.
7. Effects of osmotic pressure on biological membranes.