Rachit Agarwal

Associate Professor

Phone : +91-80-22933626 (O)
E-mail: rachit@iisc.ac.in
Website: https://be.iisc.ac.in/~rachit/

Research Interests:
Our lab focuses on using wide range of tools and concepts such as nano- and micro-particles, hydrogels, scaffolds and 3D organoids to generate treatment for diseases like Tuberculosis and Osteoarthritis. With our translational outlook, we plan to create clinically viable therapeutic options to treat such diseases.

Educational History

Post-PhD: 2013-2017, Post-doctoral Fellow under Andres J. Garcia, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, Georgia, USA

PhD: 2009-2013, Biomedical Engineering, University of Texas at Austin, Texas, USA. Dissertation title: Effect of shape on cell internalization of polymeric hydrogel nanoparticles

B.Tech and M.Tech (combined degree) –  2004-2009, Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, India – Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering              

Courses offered

BE210 Drug Delivery: Principles and Applications

BE214 Fundamentals of Bioengineering 2 (co-instructor)

BE206 Biology for Engineers (co-instructor)

Awards / Honours / Affiliations

  • Organization of Pharmaceutical Producers of India (OPPI) Young Scientist Award, 2024
  • Editorial board member for the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, August 2024
  • Selected as session co-chair for two sessions “Advances in Antimicrobial and Antibiofilm Biomaterials” and “Biomaterials for organoids and organ models” in the conference World Biomaterial Congress (WBC) 2024, Daegu, Korea. Awarded IISc international travel support of Rs. 2 lakhs.
  • Lead project investigator for gold medal-winning iGEM IISc undergraduate team for the year 2023-24.
  • Awarded Connect program fellow for a short-term stay in Germany by Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, April 2023. Also awarded travel funding through Connect Plus program by Indo-German Science & Technology Centre (IGSTC). Spent three weeks (June-July 2023) at Helmholtz Institute of Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) in Saarbrucken, Germany.
  • Early career editorial board member for the Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A, August 2021 
  • Intermediate Fellowship award from the Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance, July 2020 
  • Har Govind Khorana-Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award, Department of Biotechnology, November 2019 
  • Lakshmi Narayanan Young Investigator Award, Indian Institute of Science, October 2019 
  • Early Career Research Award, Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), 2018 
  • Ramanujan Fellowship, Department of Science and Technology (DST), 2017 
  • STAR Award, Society of Biomaterials, Boston, MA, 2013

Publications

  • Dhanabalan K.M.; Padhan B.; Dravid A.A.; Agarwal S.; Pancheri N.M.; Lin A.; Willet N.J.; Padmanabhan A.K., Agarwal R., Nordihydroguaiaretic acid microparticles are effective in the treatment of osteoarthritis. Journal of Materials Chemistry-B. 12 (2024) 11172.
  • Jeyasankar S.; Kalapala Y.C.; Sharma P.R.; Agarwal R., Antibacterial efficacy of mycobacteriophages against virulent Mycobacterium tuberculosis. BMC Microbiology. 24 (2024) 320.
  • Gupta V.K.; Vijaya V.V.; Suresh A.P.; Arrieta M.L.; Konkada J.M.; Jeyasankar S.; Raghunathan V.; Baliga N.S.; Agarwal R., 3-dimensional hydrogel culture system recapitulates key tuberculosis phenotypes and demonstrates pyrazinamide efficacy. Advanced Healthcare Materials. (2024) 2304299.
  • Dravid A.A.; Dhanabalan K.M.; Naskar S.; Vashistha A.; Agarwal S.; Padhan B.; Dewani M.; Agarwal R., Sustained release resolvin D1 liposomes are effective in the treatment of Osteoarthritis in obese mice. BioRxiv. Journal of Biomedical Materials Research Part A. (2023) 
  • Dhanabalan K.M.; Dravid A.A.; Agarwal S.; Sharath R.K.; Padmanabhan A.K., Agarwal R., Intra-articular Injection of Rapamycin Microparticles Prevent Senescence and Effectively Treat Osteoarthritis. BioRxiv. Bioengineering and Translational Medicine. 8 (2023) e10298. 
  • George E.; Goswami A.; Lodhiya, T.; Padwal P.; Iyer S.; Gauttam I.; Sethi L.; Jeyasankar S.; Sharma P.S.; Mukherjee R.; Agarwal R., Immunomodulatory effect of mycobacterial outer membrane vesicles coated nanoparticles. BioRxiv. Biomaterials Advances. 139 (2022) 213003.
    Media Highlights: IISc, BioSpectrum, The New Indian Express, Hindu, India Today, Phys.org.
  • Sharma P.R.; Dravid A.A.; Kalapala Y.C.; Gupta V.K.; Jeyasankar S.; Goswami A.; Agarwal R., Cationic inhalable particles for enhanced drug delivery to Mycobacterium tuberculosis infected macrophages. BioRxiv. Biomaterials Advances. 133 (2022) 112612.