Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India
स्वास्थ्य अनुसंधान विभाग, स्वास्थ्य और परिवार कल्याण मंत्रालय, भारत सरकार
Dr. Asish K. Mukhopadhyay is working as at National Institute of Cholera and enteric Diseases, Kolkata since March 2003. After finishing the Masters from University of Calcutta, he started research under Dr. G. Balakrish Nair at the division of Microbiology on the epidemiology, evolution and virulence of Vibrio cholerae, for his doctoral thesis. His thesis research focused on population and molecular analyses of Vibrio cholerae, to gain insights into the interplay between environmental and human disease reservoirs, and genetic factors that make certain lineages of this organism highly virulent to humans. This thesis research contributed to around 25 publications in peer-reviewed journals.
After completion the Ph.D., Dr. Mukhopadhyay moved to research with Dr. Douglas E. Berg, Professor of Molecular Microbiology and of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine at Saint Louis, USA and worked for five years as research associate. He was particularly interested on the genetic diversity, population genetics and genome evolution of Helicobacter pylori and also contributed importantly to our elucidation of mechanisms of susceptibility and resistance to metronidazole, a critical component of combination therapies that are used against Helicobacter pylori. His detailed analysis of virulence-associated genes and house-keeping genes that are under selective pressures showed that Indian H. pylori gene pool is distinct from the Hp gene pools of other parts of the world. His additional studies had contributed importantly to our understanding of the global population dynamics of transposable elements of H. pylori and how they may affect the vigor or virulence of pathogens and Hp genome evolution as well. In addition to the contributions to the Hp field, he performed detailed fundamentally important analysis of CTX prophages and pathogenicity islands in a subset of environmental strains of Vibrio cholerae.
Dr. Mukhopadhyay also received training under the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) project for 6 months in 2006 at the Department of Bacteriology, Nagasaki University, Japan with Prof. T. Hirayama on different aspects of vacuolating cytotoxin (VacA) of H. pylori. Under his supervision, four research students are working at present and one has already obtained the doctoral degree and he is the author of 72 research papers on several aspects of V. cholerae and H. pylori.
Current research interests of Dr. Mukhopadhyay include diversity, evolution and biology of H. pylori and V. cholerae in the context of molecular pathogenesis, strain evolution and prevention measures. Recently, he has been very successful in adapting Indian H. pylori strains to the murine infection model which will provide further insight into the biological activities of H. pylori virulence proteins and their contributions to bacterial fitness and this holds great promise for functional genomic anlyses of infection and disease processes. Another important pathogen of recent interest is Campylobacter, a significant cause of gastric illness world wide, where the research theme is molecular epidemiology including genomic analysis to provide protected public health.
Name | Dr. Asish Kumar Mukhopadhyay |
---|---|
Designation | Scientist F |
Date of joining ICMR | 4th March 2003 |
Date of joining present post | 1st September 2018 |
Discipline | Bacteriology |
Division | Bacteriology |
Specialization | Microbiologist |
mukhopadhyayak.niced@gov.in ; asish_mukhopadhyay@yahoo.com | |
Academic Qualification | |
Post Graduation | M.Sc. |
Doctoral | Ph.D. |
After finishing Masters from University of Calcutta, Dr. Mukhopadhyay started research for his doctoral thesis on molecular epidemiology, evolution and virulence of Vibrio cholerae under Dr. GB Nair at NICED. After completing the Ph.D, he moved to research with Dr. Douglas E. Berg, Professor of Molecular Microbiology and of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine at Saint Louis, USA and worked for five years as research associate on different aspects of Helicobacter pylori. He also worked for 6 months at the Department of Bacteriology, Nagasaki University, Japan with Prof. T. Hirayama on vacuolatingcytotoxin (VacA) of H. pylori during 2006. His analysis on different variant CTX prophages of V. cholerae O139 helped to predict the probable cause of their extinction. His research helped to unravel the genetic makeup of Vibrio cholerae, including hybrid and Haitian strains, which have been implicated in recent outbreaks of devastating proportions around the world. His pioneering research on Helicobacter pylori, causative agent for chronic gastritis and peptic ulcer, first time showed that Indian strains are genetically distinct, which is immensely important from the vaccine development point. His genomic studies helped to understand why metronidazole should be avoided for the treatment of H. pylori in the Indian subcontinent and other studies on curcumin and Elagic acid showed immense therapeutic potential against H. pylori infection, as they were highly effective in eradication of H. pylori from infected mice as well as in restoration of H. pylori-induced gastric damage.
Dr. Mukhopadhyay's laboratory has been exploring innovative ways of understanding the epidemiology of infectious diseases. As a member of an institution with an interdisciplinary research mandate, he has been able to push the borders of his comfort zone and collaborate with clinicians, epidemiologists and other public health researchers to develop a truly multidisciplinary working environment.
Current research interests of Dr. Mukhopadhyay include diversity, evolution and biology of H. pylori and V. cholerae in the context of molecular pathogenesis, strain evolution and prevention measures. He has been very successful in adapting Indian H. pylori strains to the murine infection model which will provide further insight into the biological activities of H. pylori virulence proteins and their contributions to bacterial fitness and this holds great promise for functional genomic anlyses of infection and disease processes. Another important pathogen of recent interest is Campylobacter, a significant cause of gastric illness worldwide, where the research theme is molecular epidemiology including genomic analysis to provide protected public health.
Fellowship awarded:
a) Junior Research Fellowship from Department of
Biotechnology, New Delhi (1993-95)
b) Senior Research Fellowship from Indian Council of
Medical Research (1995-1997)
c) Young Scientist Scholarship for International
Congress for Tropical Medicine and Malaria at Nagasaki,
Japan (1996).
Cholera organisms, vaccines and preparation thereof:
Inventors: Thungapathra, M., C. Sharma, N. Gupta,
R.K. Ghosh, A.K. Mukhopadhyay, H. Koley, G.B.
Nair and A. Ghosh. Patent No.97309957.5-2105, Issued May
1998 by European Patent Office.
Ongoing
Completed
Past Ph.D. students:
Present Ph.D. students:
Past Post-doctoral Students:
Present Post-doctoral Students: