Assistant Professor
Chemistry Department
Birla Institute of Technology & Science (BITS) Pilani, K K Birla Goa Campus
Zuarinagar, Goa - 403726, India
Contact Details
Office: C-220
Email: uttarab@goa.bits-pilani.ac.in
Phone: 0832-258-0479
Education
Integrated-PhD, Department of Inorganic and Physical Chemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, Karnataka, India, 2008-2015
PhD Supervisor: Prof. Akhil R. Chakravarty
BSc, Presidency College Kolkata, University of Calcutta, West Bengal, India, 2005-2008
Professional Experience
Postdoctoral Research Associate, Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany, May 2019 - Apr 2022
PI: Prof. Ingo Ott
Visiting Scientist, Jacobs University Bremen, Germany, Nov 2018-Apr 2019
PI: Prof. Ulrich Kortz
Postdoctoral Research Associate, École nationale supérieure de Chimie de Paris (Chimie ParisTech), France, Sept 2017 - Aug 2018
PI: Prof. Gilles Gasser
Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Georgia and Miller School of Medicine, University of Miami, USA, Mar 2016 - Jun 2017PI: Prof. Shanta Dhar
About the Faculty
Uttara was born in Kolkata, West Bengal. She completed her bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Presidency College, Kolkata and moved to Bangalore to pursue the Integrated-PhD program in the Chemical Science division at the Indian Institute of Science. During her PhD in the group of Prof. Chakravarty, she developed iron-based photosensitizers that could be excited with near-IR light for photodymanic therapy. After completion of her PhD, she did her postdoctoral research in the United States with Prof. Dhar, where the team developed therapeutic, biodegradable nano-formulations against cancers, brain diseases and viral infections. She then moved to Paris, in the team of Prof. Gasser, where she developed economically viable photosensitizers. She was a visiting scientist in the group of Prof. Kortz in Germany and later, she joined the group of Prof. Ott where she worked on organometallic gold complexes as anticancer and antimicrobial agents.
She joined the Chemistry Department at BITS-Pilani K K Birla Goa Campus in May 2022 as an Assistant Professor.
Uttara enjoys travelling, reading novels and good food.
Selected Awards
- Outstanding Potential for Excellence in Research and Academics (OPERA) Award, Birla Institute of Science and Technology, Pilani, India, 2021
- ACS Spring Meeting Travel Award, American Chemical Society, USA, 2017
- Best Poster Award, Miller School of Medicine, Miami, USA, 2016
- Best Poster Award, Florida International University, Miami, USA, 2016
- Best Thesis Award, Indian Institute of Science, India, 2016
- Best Seminar Award, Indian Institute of Science, India, 2013
- Junior Research Fellowship (CSIR-JRF), Govt. of India, 2010
- Integrated-PhD Fellowship, Indian Institute of Science, India, 2008
- Cunningham Memorial Prize for highest marks in Chemistry, Presidency College, University of Calcutta, India, 2008