Department of Bioengineering

BE Seminar: Indigenous technologies for Gene therapy: Progress and Prospects
2025-05-19 16:00 - 17:00 (Asia/Kolkata) | IDR Building – G12: Classroom 3
Title: Indigenous technologies for Gene therapy: Progress and Prospects
Speaker: Dr. Jayandharan Rao,
Abstract: The most important component of gene therapy in humans is the choice of an efficient and safe gene delivery system, otherwise known as vectors. Viruses have emerged as important tools for this purpose. This is due to their natural ability to target specific tissues in humans. Several limitations, most notably the immunological barriers related to the recipient and the virus shell, preclude the universal application of viral vectors such as AAV. Unravelling how host cells perceive viral intrusion and their immediate and long-lived response to this process is thus crucial. Our idea is to traverse and investigate aspects of the virus life cycle, dissect the tug-of-war initiated between these players to establish primacy, and dwell on how it is possible to alter this milieu in favor of the virus to generate improved gene delivery strategies. Dr.Jayandharan believes that this multi-pronged and comprehensive approach to develop an AAV-based vector system encompassing the basic biology of the virus and pre-clinical validation in different disease models [Leber congenital amarousis, muscular dystrophy, diabetes, etc.] augurs well for their potential use in humans. Based on these concepts, we have developed highly efficient AAV-based gene therapy approaches for their potential therapeutic use. Their lab routinely tests some of the exciting leads gathered by our understanding of AAV-host interactions in preclinical models of genetic disorders.
About The Speaker: Prof. Rao is currently a Professor in IIT Kanpur. His group specializes in gene therapy. He is working on fostering equitable access for gene and cell therapy products around the world.

BE Seminar: Are these problems or are these opportunities?
2025-06-16 11:00 - 17:00 | IDR Building – G12: Classroom 3
Speaker: Dr. Anuradha Chandramohan
CMC, Vellore
Date: 16th June
Time: 11.00 AM
Venue: GF – 12, TCS Smart X Building
Title: Are these problems or are these opportunities?
Abstract: Imaging plays a critical role in diagnosing diseases, mapping their extent for therapeutic decision-making, assessing treatment response, and prognostication. Beyond these core functions, there is growing interest in opportunistic screening to identify life-threatening cardiovascular events and reduce mortality. In this presentation, she would like to focus on the following aspects of onco-imaging: predicting response to treatment, prognostic imaging biomarkers, the need for improving our understanding of the connection between lymph nodes and cancers, and the scope of opportunistic screening for patients with treatable cancer and cancer survivors. Lastly, she would like to touch upon the opportunities and worries of integrating language models into research and routine clinical care. She sees all these as both problem areas and immense opportunities for us to collaborate and find solutions together.
About The Speaker: Dr. Anuradha Chandramohan is a Professor of Radiology and the Clinical Lead of Abdominal Imaging at Christian Medical College Vellore. She specialises in onco-imaging with a keen research focus on colorectal cancer, peritoneal malignancy, and gynaecological oncology. Having trained at top cancer centres in the UK and USA, she is well-published, has lectured at major conferences, has held academic portfolios at the state and National Radiology Societies, and is currently the Associate Editor of the Indian Journal and Radiology and Imaging and Journal of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology. She was a faculty member at international conferences such as the European Society of Gastrointestinal and Abdominal Radiology (ESGAR) annual conference and the Asia Oceanian Congress of Radiology this year. In the latter, she delivered the India-Japan joint symposium on the contributions of imaging in peritoneal surface malignancies. Her contributions extend to developing quality indicators for onco-imaging with the National Cancer Grid, India, and enhancing synoptic reporting for abdominal and pelvic cancers through the NCG-Koita Centre of Digital Oncology. Guided by her core values of excellence, love, live, and give, she is committed to making radiology education, research, and practice in India more patient-centric, accessible, and cost-effective.

BE Seminar by Dr. Abhishek Jain: Convergence Engineering: Vascular & Cancer Medicine with Organ-Chips on Earth and Space
2025-06-26 16:00 - 17:00 | IDR Building – G12: Classroom 3
Speaker: Dr. Abhishek Jain
Department of Biomedical Engineering
College of Engineering
Department of Medical Physiology
School of Medicine
Texas A&M University.
Title: Convergence Engineering: Vascular & Cancer Medicine with Organ-Chips on Earth and Space
Abstract: The perpetual rise in cost of healthcare is one of the biggest socioeconomic problems of our globe. Part of the challenge is that productivity of drug companies is declining, and relatively fewer drugs are reaching market. This is partly so because drug discovery largely rests on the results from animal studies, which can turn into negative outcomes in human clinical trials. The Jain lab creates microphysiological systems and convergent technologies that predict human physiology and complement in vivo studies. By establishing and leveraging extensive collaborations across academia, medical centers, and space industry, they have made contributions in advancing the fundamental knowledge and drug discovery of ageing, thrombosis, ovarian cancer, and lymphedema. Here, a few examples of their approach will be presented.
Dr. Abhishek Jain is an Associate Professor of Biomedical Engineering and holds the Barbara and Ralph Cox’53 faculty fellow position at Texas A&M University. He is a founder of several next generation organ-on-chips and companion technologies of complex transport systems and AI-based analytics. His lab particularly specializes in engineering and commercializing patient-specific organ-chip platforms of cardiovascular and cancer medicine. They are recognized as leaders of integrating blood and lymphatic microcirculation in engineered cell systems.

BE: Seminar on Harnessing Nanoscale Cellular Communication for Designing Next-Generation Therapeutics by Dr. Tanmoy Saha
2025-08-21 10:00 - 17:00
Speaker: Tanmoy Saha, MSc, PhD.
Instructor at Harvard Medical School
Associate Bioengineer at Brigham and Women’s Hospital
Date: 21st August 2025
Time: 10.00 AM
Venue: GF – 22, TCS Smart X Hub (TSH) Building
Title: Harnessing Nanoscale Cellular Communication for Designing Next-Generation Therapeutics
Abstract: Cellular communication plays a critical role in physiology. Aberrant intercellular communication underlies disease progression. For example, cancer cells communicate with neighboring cells to exchange organelles, proteins, metabolites, and ions, which helps them gain survival advantages. I am interested in studying communication at the subcellular and cellular levels, such as: (i) transmembrane ionic communication, (ii) extracellular protein-mediated communication, and (iii) intercellular nanoscale physical communication.
Cells maintain an ionic homeostasis with the extracellular environment using ion channels and transporters. I have developed a variety of artificial chloride channels (ACT). The ACTs are robust supramolecular architectures made up of small molecules. This helps in a better understanding of ion transport activity and modulating ionic communication in cells. I introduced the first-ever example of ACT, which can induce apoptosis in cancer cells by disrupting ionic homeostasis.
Cancer cells communicate with immune cells via extracellular proteins, known as immune checkpoints. They send kill-me-not signals to T cells and macrophages. Immunotherapy has made a paradigm shift in cancer treatment by blocking such interactions, but effective in less than 30% of patients. I have introduced immunoengineered nanotherapeutics that serve as a unified platform to deliver a combination of pharmacological drugs and biologics to cancer cells. The bifunctional nanotherapeutic can activate both innate and adaptive immunity by blocking PDL1 and CD47 immune checkpoints. This has shown increased therapeutic efficacy in syngeneic lung cancer, which is not responsive to traditional immunotherapy.
Furthermore, we investigated a novel mechanism of immune evasion by cancer cells through nanoscale physical communication. We have used high-resolution electron and optical microscopy to identify that the cancer cells hijack mitochondria from T cells using nanoscale tubular communication. The transfer of mitochondria energetically empowers the cancer cells and increases their proliferation, metastasis, and drug resistance. In contrast, the T cell population depletes because of the lack of energy production. Blocking the nanotube-mediated mitochondria transfer by pharmacological inhibitors has shown potential therapeutic implications in increasing intrinsic T cell immune response and elevating therapeutic efficacy in combination with traditional immunotherapy. Moreover, we have shown elevating the immune response by supercharging T cells with exogenous mitochondria. Hence, a mechanistic understanding of cellular communication, the development of novel therapeutic strategies, and delivering them to the specific cells are critical for designing better therapeutic strategies in cancer and other chronic diseases.
About the Speaker: Dr. Saha is an entry-level faculty member at Harvard Medical School and an Associate Bioengineer at Mass General Brigham. He has completed an MSc from Visva Bharati University and a PhD from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune. Dr. Saha’s major research direction is to develop tools to study cellular communication and introduce novel therapeutic strategies. He has published his research in prestigious journals, including Nature Nanotechnology, Science Advances, and J. Am. Chem. Soc., Cell, PNAS, etc. He has received independent research grants from the Department of Defense and the Melanoma Research Alliance and many awards, including the best thesis award, Scholar in Training Award, etc.

BE Seminar: From design to healing: Engineering stimuli-responsive function biomaterials for advanced therapeutics
2025-10-07 10:00 - 11:00
Speaker: Dr. Sayan Deb Dutta
Senior postdoctoral research fellow
Biorobotics Research Group, Kangwon National University, South Korea.
Date: 7th October 2025
Time: 10.00 AM
Venue: GF – 22, TCS Smart X Hub (TSH) Building
Title: From design to healing: Engineering stimuli-responsive function biomaterials for advanced therapeutics
Abstract: Stimuli-responsive smart biomaterials are revolutionizing advanced therapeutics by actively sensing and responding to physiological or external cues, such as pH, temperature, enzymes, light, or magnetic fields. Unlike traditional scaffolds, these systems provide precise control over drug release, immune regulation, and tissue repair, making them highly promising for chronic wound healing and regeneration. Advances in 3D printing/ bioprinting enable the fabrication of patient-specific, hierarchical constructs with spatially organized therapeutic components. The integration of functional nanomaterials—including 1D materials, 2D nanosheets (e.g., graphene, gC3N4, MXenes), and hybrid architectures—enhances responsiveness, mechanical robustness, and therapeutic delivery. Embedding flexible bioelectronics, such as photonic nanocrystals and conductive nanofillers, further enables real-time health sensing and feedback-controlled therapy, merging regenerative medicine with digital health technologies. In parallel, the incorporation of therapeutic molecules, such as exosomes and small peptides, promotes angiogenesis, reduces oxidative stress, and modulates the immune response, thereby accelerating the healing process. Applications extend beyond medicine to cellular agriculture, where bioprinted adaptive scaffolds support cultured tissues and sustainable protein production, leading to eco-friendly meat cultivation. Moreover, advanced bioimaging probes (e.g., carbon dots) enable non-invasive, high-resolution monitoring of biomaterial–cell interactions, tumor imaging, and in situ tissue remodeling. Together, these innovations establish next-generation stimuli-responsive multifunctional platforms, paving the way for personalized, durable, and adaptive healthcare solutions.
About the Speaker: Dr. Sayan Deb Dutta holds a Ph.D. degree in biosystems engineering with a major in biomaterials science and engineering. Currently, he serves as a senior postdoctoral research fellow at the Biorobotics Research group, Kangwon National University, South Korea. He joined as a visiting research fellow at the School of Medicine, University of California, Davis. He completed his master’s degree at the University of Kalyani, West Bengal, India. Over the past six years, he has been involved in the biomedical engineering field, where he has developed multi-material bioinks, primarily based on natural biopolymers, proteins, and carbohydrates, for 3D printing/bioprinting, immunomodulation, and tissue engineering applications. His current research focuses on the development of naturally inspired flexible bioelectronics, stimuli-responsive 3D scaffolds, and the fabrication of bioactive nanomaterials (e.g., homogeneous and heterogeneous nanoparticles, nano/bioglass, and nanocrystals) with tunable physicochemical properties for elucidating the mechanisms of different cellular communications, human healthcare sensing, tissue healing, and regeneration towards advanced therapeutics.

BE Seminar: Deleting the Genome: Quantitative Imaging Approaches to Design Nanomedicine Delivery Strategies
2025-10-08 16:00 - 17:00
Speaker: Prof. Jeremy Simpson
College Principal & Dean of Science
UCD College of Science
Date: 8th October 2025
Time: 4.00 PM
Venue: Classroom- 624(6th Floor), TCS Smart X Hub (TSH) Building
Title: Deleting the Genome: Quantitative Imaging Approaches to Design Nanomedicine Delivery Strategies
Abstract: Quantitative biological imaging approaches can be used to study a wide range of phenomena in basic cell biology as well as applications in biotechnology and bioengineering. In this seminar, I will describe our high-content imaging technology platform and how it provides insight into trafficking pathways in cells, a number of specific human diseases, as well as how nanoparticles, as therapeutic carriers, deliver their cargo into cells. I will also present some of our current work illustrating how we use high-content imaging to study 3D cell models, which together provide us with the opportunity to interrogate cell function at the molecular level, in turn making valuable contributions to our wider understanding of human disease and therapeutic options.
About The Speaker: Prof. Simpson is an internationally renowned cell biologist with over two decades of experience in prestigious institutions across the UK, USA, and Germany. As Dean of Science at UCD, he leads over 5,300 students and 750 staff members. He also heads the UCD Cell Screening Laboratory, conducting pioneering research in cellular dysfunction and nanoparticle-based targeted drug delivery. With more than 130 peer-reviewed publications and numerous global lectures, Prof. Simpson brings unmatched academic depth and insight to this engagement.

BE Symposium 2026
2026-01-29 12:00 - 2026-01-30 17:30 | IDR Building – G22 Seminar Room
12th Annual Symposium, BE 2026
The Department of Bioengineering at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) is delighted to announce its 12th Annual Research Symposium, which will be held on 29th–30th January 2026 at the G22 Seminar Room, TCS Smart-X Hub Building, IISc Bangalore.
The symposium brings together researchers, academicians, and industry professionals to discuss cutting-edge advancements in bioengineering. The event will feature a series of keynote lectures, spotlight sessions, trailblazer student talks, and poster presentations.
The symposium provides a platform to showcase innovative research through trailblazer talks by young researchers and interactive poster sessions.
We invite researchers, students, and industry professionals to join us for two days of engaging discussions, knowledge sharing, and networking opportunities.

BE Symposium 2026 Brochure: Click here

Program Schedule

Jan 29, 2026

Time: 12:00 PM – 6:00 PMVenue: G22 seminar room, TCS Smart-X Hub building, IISc Bangalore

Time
Event

12:00 – 2.10 pm
Registration

2:10 pm
Welcome remark
Prof. Kaushik Chatterjee, Chair, BE

2:15 pm
Opening remark
Prof. Navakanta Bhat, Dean, Division of Interdisciplinary Sciences

2:25 pm
Introduction to Memorial Talk
Dr. Ajay Tijore, BE

2:30 pm
Prof. Sanjay Biswas Memorial Talk
Dr. Sanghamitra Pati, Additional Director General, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), Delhi

3:30 – 4:00 pm
Coffee Break & Poster Session

4:00 – 4:30 pm
Spotlight talk
Dr. Juhi Singh, IISc

4:30 – 5:00 pm
Spotlight talk
Dr. Meenakshi Kamaraj, IISc

5:00 – 6:00 pm
Poster Session

Jan 30, 2026

Time: 10:00 AM – 5:30 PMVenue: G22 seminar room, TCS Smart-X Hub building, IISc Bangalore

Time
Event

10:00 am
Spotlight talk
Dr. Sanhita Sinharay, IISc

10:30 am
Trailblazer Talk
Dr. Roshini P

10:45 am
Trailblazer Talk
Prem Singh Anant

11:00 am
Trailblazer Talk
Vijaya Vaishnavi V

11:15 – 11:45 am
Coffee Break & Poster Session

11:45 am
Spotlight talk
Dr. Medhavi Vishwakarma, IISc

12:15 pm
Trailblazer Talk
Isha Akte

12:30 pm
Trailblazer Talk
Akhilesh Agarwal

12:45 pm
Trailblazer Talk
Rashmita Luha

1:00 – 2:00 pm
Lunch

2:00 – 3:00 pm
Poster Session

3:00 pm
Industry Talk
Dr. Aditya Kulkarni, Senior Scientific Manager, Biocon Ltd. Bangalore

3:30 pm
Trailblazer Talk
Dr. Sulob Roy Chowdhury

3:50 pm
Trailblazer Talk
Dr. Akshi Vashishtha

4:10 – 4:30 pm
Coffee Break & Poster Session

4:30 pm
Spotlight talk
Prof. Mohit Kumar Jolly, IISc

5:00 pm
Trailblazer Talk
Shivaani E

5:15 pm
Trailblazer Talk
Harshavardhan B V

5:30 pm

Closing remarks and vote of thanks
