The Morpholino Group
We are a group of crazy chemists and biologists passionate about nucleic acid therapeutics, specifically morpholino oligonucleotides. Meet the overexcited group below 👇
Meet Our Team
Dr. Abhishek Gupta
RA-I
Four C’s of his life: Chemistry, Chicken, Carrom and Cricket (never plays though). Standardizes reactions slowly, steadily and with resilience.
Development of Azaproline-based peptides and delivery agents.
M. Sc. IACS (Int. Ph.D.)
B. Sc. Scottish Church College
Date of joining: June, 2018
Swrajit Nath Sharma
Senior Research Fellow
Focused, humble, and witty, with a keen interest in Chemistry and a passion for dancing.
Synthesis and evaluation of biological efficacy of IGT-ASO conjugates in Exon skipping models.
M.Sc IACS (Int. Ph.D.)
Bsc. Dibrugarh University
Date of joining: September 2021
Sudipta Sarkar
Senior Research Fellow (CSIR)
Serious Biologist. She isn't in any way shape or form what you think she is.
Oncoimmunotherapy
M.Sc, Rajabazar Science College, University of Calcutta
B.Sc.: Hooghly Mohsin College
Date of joining: February 2022
Mohammed Qasim
Senior Research Fellow (UGC)
Funny and serious. Calm and mischievous. He is not at all what you think he is.
Development of Internal Oligo-guanidinium Transporter (IGT).
M. Sc. IACS (Int. Ph.D.)
B. Sc. Maulana Azad College
Date of Joining: August 2022
Subhamoy Pratihar
Senior Research Fellow
Vivacious manager and go-to person of the group. Also a night owl and a comic.
Synthesis of Antisense Morpholino Oligonucleotides.
M.Sc. IACS (Int. Ph.D.)
B. Sc. Bankura Sammilani College.
Date of Joining: August 2022
Maria Mukherjee
Senior Research Fellow (UGC)
​From in vitro cell biology to handling mice, her unique skillset also includes singing and writing sentences inclined at 45 degrees.
Synthesis and evaluation of biological efficacy of Antisense Morpholino oligonucleotides.
M.Sc. University of Hyderabad
B.Sc. Jadavpur University
Date of joining: January 2024
​
Debajyoti Kuilya
Junior Research Fellow
Calligrapher Gyani Baba, found his true calling in organic synthesis somewhere between chess and Marvel superheroes.
Synthesis of Antisense Morpholino oligonucleotides.
M.Sc. Vidyasagar University
B.Sc. Vidyasagar University
Date of joining: October 2023
Subhadip Bhoj
Junior Research Fellow
Our own Leonardo da Vinci- Creating masterpieces in the lab and on canvas. While fighting against addiction, he somehow ended up becoming a full time mutton addict.​
Regiospecific functional group modification on different biologically active Iboga derivatives
M. Sc. IACS (Int. Ph.D.)
B. Sc.Vidyasagar University
Date of joining: August, 2025
Soumitra Moish
Junior Research Fellow (CSIR)
Funniest scientist, who can't stay silent for more than 2mins. He can make anyone 'kaku' in no time. Also, dynamically equilibrating on both PMO and Iboga.
Synthesis of Antisense Morpholino Oligonucleotides..
M.Sc. University of Hyderabad
B.Sc. Kharagpur college
Date of joining: August 2025
​
Shreyasi Acharya
Project Assistant
Synthesis of C5 Base-Modified Morpholinos.
M.Sc - Visva Bharati University
B.Sc. Visva Bharati University
Date of joining: January 2025
​
Alumni
Graduate students alumni:
1) Dr. Goutam Kumar Jana. Now at Pharma Co. ChemBiotek.
Thesis Title: Studies directed towards the synthesis of indolazepine-based alkaloid called "Ibogaine and its analogues".
2) Dr. Sankha Pattanayak. Senior Director of Chemistry, Creyo Bio, USA.
Thesis Title: Design, Synthesis and Biological Application of Modified Morpholino Nucleoside
3) Dr. Sibasish Paul. Postdoctoral Research Associate under Prof. Marvin H Caruther's group at the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Colorado, Boulder, USA. now as a scientist in Agilent Technologies, Colorado, USA.
Thesis Title: Synthesis and biological evaluation of alkaloids and modified nucleotides
4) Dr. Koushik Goswami. Post Doctoral Research Fellow under Dr. Stéphane P. Roche at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Florida Atlantic University. Former guest Lecturer in Belur Ramkrishna Mission Vidyamandir and Research Associate by Kothari fellowship (UGC) in Kalyani University. At present Assistant professor in Amity University, Kolkata.
Thesis Title:
5) Dr. Amrita Chakraborty. Research Associate by Kothari fellowship (UGC) in Visva Bharati University, Santiniketan, W. B. and also a guest lecturer. At present Assistant Professor, A. N. College, Patna.
Thesis Title:
6) Dr. Indranil Duttagupta. Postdoctoral Research Associate under Prof. Gérard Audran in Aix-Marseille University, France. At present Durham University, UK.
Thesis Title: Synthesis and biological applications of artificial amino acids.
7) Dr. Bappaditya Nandi. Assistant Professor in Budge Budge Engineering College, Kolkata.
Thesis Title: Synthesis of modified morpholino nucleoside monomers, cationic oligomers and their cellular transfection studies.
8) Dr. Jhuma Bhadra. Postdoctoral fellow at Clemson University, USA (May 2017). At present, Boston College.
Thesis Title:
9) Dr. Harleen Khatra. Assistant Professor, SUS College of Engineering.
Thesis Title:
10) Dr. Keshab Chandra Ghosh. Now at IOCL.
Thesis Title: Synthesis of biologically important cyclic peptides non proteinogenic amino acids and peptides.
11) Dr. Isita Banerjee. Now at Chembiotek, Kolkata.
Thesis Title: Development of methodology for C-2 Arylation of Indoles and synthesis of Mercaptophenylalanines and their peptides.
12) Dr. Jayanta Kundu. Now at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, USA.
Thesis Title: Design and synthesis of cellular transporter as a novel delivery vehicle for antisense oligonucleotides and towards the development of antisense therapy for the treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
13) Dr. Chandra Bose. Now works as Assistant Editor, Wiley.
Thesis Title: Regulation of Hedgehog Signaling by Chemical Tools.
14) Dr. Ujjwal Ghosh. Research Scientist at GenELixir India Ltd, Visakhapatnam.
Thesis Title: Exploring PMOs from different perspectives: A novel synthesis strategy of 5’-thiol functionalization and incorporation of guanidinium groups in their delivery.
15) Dr. Shalini Gupta. Post Doctoral Research Fellow under Prof. Steven Verhelst at KU Leuven, Belgium.
Thesis Title: Investigating the biological relevance of internal oligo-guanidinium transporter: Synthesis, mechanisms of uptake and functional delivery.​
16) Dr. Atanu Ghosh. Post Doctoral Research Fellow under Prof. Masad J. Damha at McGill University, Canada
Thesis Title: Synthesis of regular and modified morpholino oligonucleotides in automated DNA synthesizer for therapeutic evaluation
17) Dr. Arnab Das. Post Doctoral Research Fellow under Prof. Takeshi Wada at Tokyo University of Science, Japan
Thesis Title: Synthesis and Biological Assessment of Nucleobase Modified Phosphoramidate Morpholino Oligonucleotides
Research Associate Alumni:
1) Dr. Pragya P. Khan (DBT RA-1 for 3 years, Ph.D in Zoology, Visva Bharati University). At present working as a post doc Sunnyvale, California.
2) Dr. Priyanjalee Banerjee (DBT RA-1), now Assisstant Professor, Raiganj Surendranath Mahavidyalaya, Raiganj.
3) Dr. Ujjwal Das (RA-1), now at Rutgers University, New Jersey, USA.
4) Dr. Pallab Shaw (RA-1), now at University of Oklahoma (Health Stephenson Cancer Centre), USA.
Master's Project Students Alumni (2019 and later):
1) Ms. Shreya Sinha (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: July 2019-March 2020)
2) Mr. Abhishek Barua (IntPhD, SBS, project duration: June 2019-March 2020)
3) Ms. Shayari Bhattacharya (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: June 2020-May 2021)
4) Ms. Firdaus Ahmed (IntPhD, SBS, project duration: June 2020-May 2021)
5) Mr. Swapnendu Deb (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: September 2021-June 2022)
6) Ms. Neha Poddar (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: September 2021-June 2022)
7) Ms. Gargi Sarkar (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: September 2022-May 2023)
8) Mr. Rohan Sharma (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: September 2023-June 2024)
9) Mr. Bikram Das (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: September 2023-June 2024)
10) Ms. Latanjali Maharana (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: September 2023-June 2024)
11) Mr. Arpan Banerjee (BS-MS, project duration: September 2022-June 2024)
12) Mr. Devesh Shukla (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: August 2024-June 2025)
13) Mr. Abhigyan Bose (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: August 2024-June 2025)
14) Mr. Sagnik Majumdar (IntPhD, SAIS, project duration: August 2024-June 2025)
​