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Doctoral Dissertation Primary Advisor at Rutgers

Name Graduation Year Dissertation Title
5 Dr. Dharanidaran Jayachandran 2019 – 2024 A Multifaceted Bioengineering Toolbox to Enable In Vivo and In Vitro Characterization of Polysaccharide Synthases
4 Dr. Aron Gyorgypal 2019 – 2023 Enabling and investigating real-time monoclonal antibody N-linked glycosylation for upstream processing of biotherapeutics
3 Dr. Markus Hackl 2018 – 2023 Development of a single-molecule force spectroscopy technique for the characterization of protein-carbohydrate dissociation forces
2 Dr. Bhargava Nemmaru 2017 – 2021 Cellulase Engineering to Alleviate Non-Productive Enzyme Binding to Pretreated Lignocellulosic Biomass
1 Dr. Chandra Kanth Bandi 2016 – 2020 Novel Protein Engineering Approaches for Chemoenzymatic Synthesis of Glycans

 

Master’s Thesis Primary Advisor at Rutgers

Name Graduation Year MS Thesis Title
10 Mr. Antonio De Chellis 2020 – 2022 Supercharging of a family-5 glycoside hydrolase Cel5A from Thermobifida fusca to improve cellulose hydrolysis
9 Mr. Antash Chaturvedi 2019 – 2022 Impact of additives on CHO cell culture for production of glycosylated Trastuzumab
8 Mr. Zachary Power 2019 – 2021 Optimizing sample immobilization methods to study protein-glycan interactions at the single-molecule level using acoustic force spectroscopy
7 Ms. Madhura Kasture 2017 – 2020 Impact of carbohydrate-binding modules on transglycosylation efficiency in the glycoside hydrolase family 5 proteins
6 Mr. Antonio Goncalves 2017 – 2019 Chemoenzymatic synthesis of multimodal glycoligands with bio-orthogonal aldehyde-based functional moiety
5 Ms. Ayushi Agrawal 2016 – 2019 Development of a cell-based screening methodology for the directed evolution of glycosynthases
4 Ms. Namratha Subhash 2016 – 2018 Selective growth of targeted bacteria using enzymatically synthesized oligosaccharides
3 Mr. Akash Dagia 2016 – 2018 Characterizing CBM1 Y5 mutants structure and its impact on binding affinity to cellulose
2 Ms. Yuxin Liu 2015 – 2017 Cell culture optimization, homologous expression, and purification of CAZymes from Thermobifida fusca
1 Ms. Vibha Narayanan 2015 – 2017 Binding interactions of Family 1 CBMs with cellulose allomorphs

 

Master’s Thesis Committee Member at Rutgers

Name Graduation Year MS Thesis Title
3 Mr. Aparajith Bhaskar 2018 Implementation of an Advanced Control Strategy into a Continuous Direct Compaction Pharmaceutical Tablet Manufacturing Process
2 Mr. Praneeth Annam 2017 Cellulase Engineering to Alleviate Non-Productive Enzyme Binding to Pretreated Lignocellulosic Biomass
1 Mr. Geetartha Uppaladadium 2015 Mesoscale modeling of biomimetic macromolecular aggregates

 

Postdoctoral Trainees at Rutgers

Name Duration Project Title / Comments
6 Dr. Chandra Kanth Bandi May 2021 – Jan 2023 CAZyme engineering for human milk oligosaccharides synthesis
5 Dr. Viki Chopda May 2019 – Dec 2020 Continuous biomanufacturing of glycosylated monoclonal antibodies
4 Dr. Mohammad Irfan Feb 2019 – Nov 2020 Heterologous expression of polysaccharide synthases in plant protoplasts
3 Dr. Chao Zhao Aug 2018 – July 2019 Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar from China; Currently a faculty
member at Zhejiang A&F University
2 Dr. Shyamal Roy July 2016 – June 2017 Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar from India; Currently a faculty
member at Jadavpur University
1 Dr. Yongling Qin Jan 2016 – Dec 2016 Visiting Postdoctoral Scholar from China; Currently a faculty
member at Hechi University

 

Graduate Students Supervised for Independent Studies at Rutgers

Name Duration Project Title
11 Ms. Nurulhuda Suaini Sept 2024 – Aug 2025 PAT for Advanced GlycoBiologics Manufacturing.
10 Mr. Rishabh Shah Aug 2021 – Dec 2022 Glycoproteins production and characterization to enable biologics manufacturing.
9 Mr. Robert Kearney Jr Dec 2021 – June 2022 Expression, Reconstitution, and Characterization of Hyaluronan Synthase Enzymes.
8 Ms. Erin K. Wilson Summer 2021 – Dec 2021 Recent Advances in Preparation Techniques and Analytical Methods to Support Rapid N-Glycan Analysis of Monoclonal Antibodies (mAbs).
7 Ms. Margaux Thiry Summer 2019 Operon Optimization for Bacterial Protein Expression.
6 Ms. Navya Sahithi 2016 – 2019 Characterizing binding and activity of supercharged CAZymes to lignocellulosic biomass.
5 Mr. Bolun Tan 2016 – 2018 A solid-liquid equilibrium based on eNRTL(electrolyte NRTL) model and evaluation of thermodynamic representation of NH4SCN/NH3/Ethanol system.
4 Ms. Shraddha Gupta 2016 – 2018 Submitted a final independent study report to CBE on glycoligand-beads based protein bioseparations.
3 Mr. Shashwat Gupta 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on ORAU Sponsored Project to characterize ammonia pretreated biomass and its enzymatic digestibility.
2 Mr. Satvik Sharma 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on NASA Sponsored Project (New Jersey Space Grant Consortium Graduate Student Fellowship) to test the activity of CAZymes under various mixing regimes.
1 Mr. Soumya Asthana 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1236120) to express supercharged CAZymes and characterize their binding affinity to lignin.

 

Undergraduate Students Supervised for Independent Studies at Rutgers

Name Duration Project Title
74 Ms. Kendra Marie Buffaloe 2024 – Present Training in lab and conducting research on NIIMBL Sponsored project focused on mammalian cell culture and glycobiologics characterization analytics.
73 Ms. Sophia Fernandez 2024 – Present Training in lab and conducting research on protein expression and characterization for NSF HMO project. Presented research work at SUPER summer program studying effect of CAZyme engineering to produce HMO synthesizing glycosynthases.
72 Ms. Arushi Biswas 2024 – Present Training in lab and conducting research on protein expression and characterization for NSF HMO project. Presented research work at SUPER summer program studying effect of CAZyme engineering to produce HMO synthesizing glycosynthases.
71 Ms. Mahati Salapu 2024 – Present Training in lab and conducting research on protein expression and characterization for NSF CAREER project. Presented research work at SUPER summer program studying effect of protein supercharging on binding to cellulose using acoustic force spectroscopy.
70 Ms. Shreya Dhillon 2024 – Present Training in lab and conducting research on protein expression and characterization for NSF CAREER project.
69 Ms. Iris Brody 2023 – Present Training in lab and conducting research on NIIMBL Sponsored project focused on mammalian cell culture and glycobiologics characterization analytics. Presented research work at SUPER summer program studying effect of mannose addition on CHO cell glycosylation pathways.
68 Mr. Samir Verma 2023 – 2024 Training in lab and conducting research on NIIMBL Sponsored project focused on mammalian cell culture and glycobiologics characterization analytics.
67 Ms. Parbeen Kaur Swaich 2023 – 2024 Training in lab and conducting research on NIIMBL Sponsored project focused on mammalian cell culture and glycobiologics characterization analytics.
66 Mr. Vincent Gambino 2023 – 2024 Trained in lab and conducted research to express, purify and characterize carbohydrate-active enzymes. Also, as part of CBE independent study, developed a granular solids mixing activity using a vibrating fluidizer for outreach events.
65 Ms. Nakeitha Brown 2023 – 2024 PRELS scholar is working on project focused on “Advanced Analytical Analysis of mAb N-Glycans” and is supported for a year-long fellowship by the GS-LAMP Program.
64 Mr. Gokulnath Ganesan Summer 2023 Internship Projects/Reports Titled “Rupture Force Determination of Single Point Mutant Carbohydrate-Binding Modules through the Lens of Acoustic Force Spectroscopy” and “Standardizing Automated Analysis of mAb-bound N-Glycans using Sequential Injection Analysis” was submitted to Khorana Scholar Program.
63 Mr. Tong Zhong 2022 – 2023 Trained in lab and conducted independent study research work as part of Rutgers SEBS Research Problems in Biochemistry Course (11:115:493/494). Submitted report titled “In vivo Biotinylation of Carbohydrate-Binding Proteins” to Rutgers SEBS Programs for Credit in Fall 2022/Spring 2023.
62 Mr. Yossef Fakry Fall 2022 Trained in lab and conducted independent study research work as part of Rutgers SEBS Research in Microbiology Course (11:680:497/498). Submitted report titled “Enzyme engineering for fucosylated human milk oligosaccharides biosynthesis” to Rutgers SEBS Programs for Credit in Fall 2022.
61 Ms. Brittany Burke Fall 2021 Trained in lab and conducted independent study research work as part of School of Environmental & Biological Sciences General (four-year) Honors Program Tutorial III Program. Submitted report on “Enzyme engineering for fucosylated human milk oligosaccharides biosynthesis” to Rutgers SEBS Honors Programs for Credit in Fall 2021.
60 Mr. Edward Contrada 2019 – 2021 Trained in lab and conducted research on Rutgers Sponsored project titled ‘Developing an Acoustic Force Spectroscopy Technique to Measure Carbohydrate Binding Module Interaction with Cellulose’. Research presented at 2020 Aresty Research Symposium. Submitted report on “Measuring DNA tether binding efficiency using Pico-Green dye” to Rutgers CBE Programs for Credit in Fall 2020-Spring 2021.
59 Mr. Khovesh Ramdin 2021 – 2022 Conducting research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1846797) to develop MATLAB code for single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments data analysis and simulation of Tethered Particle Motion for educational purposes.
58 Mr. Kishan Mehta 2020 – 2021 Received Aresty Undergraduate Research Award to conduct research on DOE-sponsored Project (Award No. DE-SC0019313) to engineer, express, and purify plant membrane proteins for imaging in vitro.
57 Mr. Shamanth Manjunatharao 2020 – 2021 Received Aresty Undergraduate Research Award to conduct research on DOE-sponsored Project (Award No. DE-SC0019313) to engineer, express, and purify plant membrane proteins for imaging in vitro.
56 Mr. Tan Ngo 2020 – 2021 Conduct research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1846797) to develop LabView code for single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments data analysis.
55 Mr. Kevin Zheng 2020 – 2021 Conduct research on NSF Sponsored project (Award No. 1904890) titled ‘Enzyme engineering for the synthesis of prebiotic human milk oligosaccharides’.
54 Mr. Igor Guranovic 2020 – 2023 Conducting research on NSF Sponsored project (Award No. 1904890) titled ‘Enzyme engineering for synthesis of prebiotic human milk oligosaccharides’.
53 Mr. Vrushabh Khot 2020 – 2021 Conducting research on FDA Sponsored project (Award No. 5R01FD006588) titled ‘Glycosylated monoclonal antibody production and mAbs characterization for enabling Quality-by-Control biomanufacturing’.
52 Mr. Rishabh Shah 2020 – 2023 Conducting research on FDA Sponsored project (Award No. 5R01FD006588) titled ‘Glycosylated monoclonal antibody production and mAbs characterization for enabling Quality-by-Control biomanufacturing’.
51 Ms. Vrinda Jain 2020 – 2021 Conducting research on NSF Sponsored project (Award No. 1904890) titled ‘Enzyme engineering for synthesis of prebiotic human milk oligosaccharides’.
50 Mr. Darin Mak 2020 – 2021 Conducting research on NSF Sponsored project (Award No. 1904890) titled ‘Enzyme engineering for synthesis of prebiotic human milk oligosaccharides’.
49 Ms. Shoili Banerjee 2020 – 2023 Conducted research on REI and DOE Sponsored Project (Award #DESC0019313) to express, purify, and characterize mutant CAZymes.
48 Ms. Vaneeza Abbas 2019 – 2020 Conducted research on development of reproducible surface modification procedures for the attachment of glycans and proteins to study protein-glycan interactions at the single molecule level.
47 Mr. Atharv Kulkarni 2019 – 2020 Developed LabView code for single-molecule force spectroscopy experiments data analysis relevant to NSF Sponsored Project.
46 Ms. Wen-Chen Chen 2019 – Ongoing Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1704679) to express, purify and characterize engineered proteins and synthesized glycans.
45 Mr. Varun Raghuraman 2017 – 2020 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1604421) to express, purify, and characterize mutant CAZymes and CBMs in 2017-2018.
44 Mr. Edward Contrada 2019 – 2020 Conducted research on Rutgers Sponsored project titled ‘Developing an Acoustic Force Spectroscopy Technique to Measure Carbohydrate Binding Module Interaction with Cellulose’.
43 Ms. Jenna Douglas 2019 – 2023 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1604421) to express, purify and characterize processive cellulase/CBMs.
42 Mr. Naven Sekhon 2019 – 2020 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1604421) to express, purify and characterize processive cellulase/CBMs.
41 Mr. Ahmed Abdelhamid 2019 – 2020 Received Aresty Undergraduate Research Award to conduct research on DOE Sponsored Project (Award No. DE-SC0019313) to engineer, express and purify plant membrane proteins for imaging in vitro.
40 Mr. Srivatsan Shankar 2019 – 2020 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1604421) to express, purify and characterize processive cellulase/CBMs.
39 Ms. Deepika Saravana 2019 – Ongoing Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1704679) to optimize column chromatography technique for preparative sugar separations and characterize enzymatic reaction for glycan synthesis.
38 Ms. Khushbu Patel 2019 – Ongoing Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1704679) to express, purify and characterize engineered proteins and synthesized glycans.
37 Mr. Jorge Gustavo Tapia 2019 – Ongoing Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1704679) to express, purify and characterize supercharged green fluorescent proteins (GFP) to test their binding characteristics to sugar ligands.
36 Mr. Akshay Thakur 2019 – 2020 Received Aresty Undergraduate Research Award to conduct research on DOE Sponsored Project (Award No. DE-SC0019313) to engineer, express and purify plant membrane proteins for imaging in vitro.
35 Mr. Ari Alter 2019 – 2020 Conducting research on FDA Sponsored project (Award No. 5R01FD006588) titled ‘Glycosylated monoclonal antibody production and mAbs characterization for enabling Quality-by-Control biomanufacturing’ developing models for Raman PAT data chemometrics.
34 Ms. Rana Said 2019 – Ongoing Conducting research on FDA Sponsored project (Award No. 5R01FD006588) titled ‘Glycosylated monoclonal antibody production and mAbs characterization for enabling Quality-by-Control biomanufacturing’ on PNGase enzyme heterologous expression.
33 Ms. Sarah Hussain 2019 – 2020 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1604421) to express, purify and characterize engineered proteins.
32 Mr. Jonathan Ash Summer/Fall 2019 Conducted independent study research work as part of School of Environmental & Biological Sciences General (four-year) Honors Program Tutorial III Program.
31 Ms. Lisa Poponne 2018 – 2019 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1604421) to express, purify and characterize processive cellulase/CBMs.
30 Mr. Mohamed Khan Spring 2019 Conducted independent study research work as part of Research in Biochemistry 11:115:494 Course. Submitted report titled “Impact of planar aromatic residues of CBM on endo-cellulase activity” to Rutgers Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology for Credit.
29 Ms. Orchid Poponne 2018 – 2019 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1604421) to express, purify and characterize processive cellulase/CBMs. Submitted CBE independent study report “The effect of aromatic residues on the activity of the Cel6B Catalytic Domain”.
28 Ms. Ruchi Pandya 2018 – 2019 Conducted independent study research work as part of School of Environmental & Biological Sciences Program. Submitted report titled “Studying the effect of CBM supercharging on binding to cellulose allomorphs” to Rutgers SEBS Research in Biotechnology Program in Fall 2018/Spring 2019 for credit.
27 Ms. Siqi Ma 2018 – 2019 Conducted research on Rutgers Sponsored Project titled ‘Developing an Acoustic Force Spectroscopy Technique to Measure Carbohydrate Binding Module Interaction with Cellulose’ and research presented at 2018 Aresty Research Symposium.
26 Mr. Mohamed Khan Fall 2018 Conducted independent study research work as part of Research in Biochemistry 11:115:493 Course. Submitted report titled “Impact of planar aromatic residues of CBM on exo-cellulase activity” to Rutgers Department of Biochemistry and Microbiology for Credit.
25 Ms. Jia-Mei Hong 2018 – 2019 Developed cellulosic bioenergy outreach protocol as part of NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1604421) and assisted Dr. Chundawat in a summer 2018 high-school students outreach event sponsored by the Rutgers SOE.
24 Mr. Allan Wang 2018 – 2020 Conducted research on REI and NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1604421) to express, purify, and characterize mutant CAZymes. Final student report on “Studying the effect of CBM supercharging on exo-cellulase activity: Optimization of supercharged mutant expression and purification” presented and submitted to REI.
23 Mr. Benjamin Esposito 2017 – 2018 Conducted research on cellulosic biomass composition analysis and enzymatic hydrolysis.
22 Mr. Patrick Doran 2016 – 2018 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1604421) to model protein structure using Rosetta/FoldIt software package.
21 Ms. Marissa Berger 2015 – 2018 Conducted research on NSF REU Sponsored Project (Award #1236120) to express, purify, and characterize CAZymes binding/activity.
20 Mr. Neelan Sivaneri 2017 – 2020 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Projects (Award #1604421 and #1704679) to express, purify and characterize CAZymes.
19 Mr. Zheyu Zhang 2016 – 2017 Conducted research on characterizing protein adsorption to oxidized polysaccharide surfaces.
18 Ms. Elizabeth McGinley 2016 – 2017 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1236120) to express and purify CAZymes.
17 Ms. Cindy Farino 2015 – 2017 Conducted research on NSF REU Sponsored Project (Award #1236120) to express, purify, and characterize CAZymes binding to cellulose allomorphs.
16 Ms. Jihyun Park 2015 – 2017 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1236120) to express and purify CAZymes.
15 Ms. Alina Thokkadam 2016 – 2019 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1704679) to characterize CAZymes involved in glycans synthesis.
14 Ms. Samantha Cobos Summer 2016 Conducted research on NSF-REU Sponsored Project to characterize protein adsorption to oxidized polysaccharide surfaces.
13 Ms. Jeong Eunsu 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on using Aspen Plus process simulation software to model cellulosic ethanol biorefinery using NREL base model as group project following completion of 155:324 design course.
12 Mr. Ashav Desai 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on using Aspen Plus process simulation software to model cellulosic ethanol biorefinery using NREL base model as group project following completion of 155:324 design course.
11 Mr. Alexander Pelham-Webb 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on using Aspen Plus process simulation software to model cellulosic ethanol biorefinery using NREL base model as group project following completion of 155:324 design course.
10 Ms. Sanchari Ghosh 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on using Aspen Plus process simulation software to model cellulosic ethanol biorefinery using NREL base model as group project following completion of 155:324 design course.
9 Mr. Raymond Bertram 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on using Aspen Plus process simulation software to model cellulosic ethanol biorefinery using NREL base model as group project following completion of 155:324 design course.
8 Mr. Jonathan Gerszberg 2015 – 2016 Developed basic hidden Markov type models for CAZymes.
7 Mr. Yianni Antonatos 2015 – 2016 Trained in lab on basics of microbiology, molecular biology, and enzymology.
6 Mr. Dylan McHugh 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on kinetic modeling of data generated via confocal fluorescence microscopy imaging of CAZyme desorption from cellulose microfibril surfaces.
5 Mr. Apurva Srivastav 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on using Aspen Plus process simulation software to model cellulosic biomass ammonia pretreatment.
4 Ms. Maytal Merhav 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1236120) to express supercharged CAZymes and characterize their binding affinity to lignin.
3 Ms. Danielle Mainardi 2015 – 2016 Conducted research on NSF Sponsored Project (Award #1236120) to express supercharged CAZymes and characterize their binding affinity to lignin.
2 Ms. Natália Dias Summer 2016 Conducted research on protein adsorption.
1 Mr. Ketley Alves Summer 2015 Conducted research on biomass pretreatment and its impact on cellulase digestibility.

 

Doctoral Dissertation Committee Member at Rutgers

Name Duration Thesis Proposal Title
4 Ms. Nanxia Zhao Jan 2022 Design of Amphiphilic Macromolecule and Antioxidant Based Nanoparticles for Microglia Targeted Therapy in Parkinson’s Disease
3 Ms. Ou Yang Mar 2021 Modeling and Optimization of Biopharmaceutical Manufacturing
2 Mr. Shashwat Gupta Sept 2020 Method Development and Application of High Resolution Vibrational Spectroscopic Techniques to Elucidate the Microstructure of Pharmaceutical Tablets
1 Mr. Abhay Athaley Dec 2019 “Integrated design, analysis, and optimization of chemical production from biomass feedstocks

 

High School Students at Rutgers

Name Duration Thesis Proposal Title
2 Ms. Genesis Martinez Summer 2024 ACS SEED Program
1 Ms. Nicole Onuoha Summer 2024 ACS SEED Program