Division of Environmental Health and Toxicology
The main research focus of the Division of Environmental Health and Toxicology (DEHT) is to understand the effects of contaminants and environmental stressors on human health and ecosystem function. The division pursues research on a broad range of topics such as biodegradation of toxic pollutants, developing novel molecular tools for the detection of pathogenic bacteria, microbial ecology of contaminated ecosystems, geo-microbiology, soil nutrient cycling, and developing sustainable waste management and agriculture practices. Conventional microbiological tools along with most advanced molecular tools (metagenomics and metatranscriptomics) are being employed to understand the diversity, distribution, and ecophysiology of archaea in the environment and their implications for public health. The research mission and goals of DEHT possibly identify and understand the key processes that affect public health and environment, and help the government agencies to evaluate the risk assessment of pollutants. Faculty and students of DEHT seek practical solutions to complex environmental problems by interdisciplinary and integrative approaches.
Dr. ANURAG SHARMA
- DesignationAssociate Professor G-I
- Email anuragsharma@nitte.edu.in
- Contact No..
- Joining date 17-05-2016
Anurag Sharm is working as Assistant Professor at NUCSER, Nitte University. During his Ph.D. he studied the stress response of endosulfan on D. melanogaster, a non-target organism, at sub-organismal as well as organismal level. Further, his studies also highlight the potential of D. melanogaster as an alternative animal model for in-vivo assessment of environmental chemical mediated toxicity, which might have relevance to higher organisms. Later, he joined CNRS-Centre de Biologie du Développement, Toulouse, France as a postdoctoral researcher and worked on deciphering the function of the Drosophila hematopoietic niche to maintain blood cell homeostasis. Presently, he is engaged in the following areas-a) Development of an in vivo Drosophila model to study toxicant/radiation induced hematopoietic perturbations and b) Host-Microbe interaction and environmental toxicants.
Doctor of Philosophy (Cellular and Molecular toxicology), CSIR-IITR Lucknow and Jamia Hamdard, 2012
Master of Science (Biotechnology), Jiwaji University, 2005
Assistant Professor, Nitte Centre for science education and research, Mangaluru (2016 – till date)
Postdoctoral Fellow (Developmental Biology), Centre de Biologie du Développement (CBD), Toulouse, France (2012 - 2016)
Cellular and Molecular toxicology
Cellular immune response
Cellular and molecular stress response
DST-SERB Young scientist start-up grant award, 2017
Japan-Asia Youth Exchange program in Science (SAKURA exchange) awardee, 2018
Member, Lab Resource Committee, NUCSER
Member Secretary, Institutional committee against sexual harassment, NUCSER
Member, Institutional committee against substance abuse, NUCSER
Undergraduate-
Principles of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Cancer Biology, Cell Based Assays in Biomedical Research, Methods in Ecotoxicology
Postgraduate-
Toxicology, Cell and Molecular Biology
PhD students: 03 (ongoing)
PG students: 05 (completed)
CSIR-RA: 01 (ongoing)
Journal publications-
D'Souza, L.C., Mishra, S., Chakraborty, A., Shekher, A., Sharma, A.,* Gupta, .SC.* (2020) Oxidative stress and cancer development: Are non-coding RNAs the missing links? Antioxidants & Redox Signaling [Epub ahead of print].
Sharma A, D'Souza C, Rai V, Gupta SC. (2019) Evaluation of Safety and Efficacy of Nutraceuticals Using Drosophila as an in Vivo Tool. In: Nutraceuticals in Veterinary Medicine. Gupta R, Srivastava A, Lall R. (eds). Springer, Cham. ISBN 978-3-030-04624- 8.
Louradour, I., Sharma, A., Morin-Poulard, I., Letourneau, M., Vincent, A., Vanzo, N., Crozatier, M. (2017). Reactive oxygen species-dependent Toll/NF-κB activation in the Drosophila hematopoietic niche confers resistance to wasp parasitism. Elife 6:e25496. doi: 10.7554/eLife.25496.
Morin-Poulard, I., Sharma, A., Louradour, I., Vanzo, N., Vincent, A., Crozatier, M. (2016). Vascular control of the Drosophila hematopoietic niche: role of Slit/Robo signaling. Nature Communications 7:11634.
Sharma, A., Mishra, M., Shukla, A.K., Kumar, R., Abdin, M.Z., Chowdhuri, D.K. (2012). Organochlorine pesticide, endosulfan induced cellular and organismal response in Drosophila melanogaster. Journal of Hazardous Materials 221-222, 275-287.
Sharma, A., Mishra, M., Ravi Ram, K., Kumar, R., Abdin, M.Z., Chowdhuri, D.K. (2011). Transcriptome analysis provides insights for understanding the adverse effects of endosulfan in Drosophila melanogaster. Chemosphere 82: 370-376.
Sharma, A., Shukla, A.K., Mishra, M., Chowdhuri, D.K. (2011). Validation and application of Drosophila melanogaster as an in vivo model for the detection of double strand breaks by neutral Comet assay. Mutation Research/ Genetic Toxicology and Environmental Mutagenesis 721: 142-146.
All Publications: Google Scholar-
https://scholar.google.fr/citations?user=-TpHINkAAAAJ&hl=en
As PI:
Decoding the molecular mechanism associated with ionizing radiation induced hematopoietic malignancy using Drosophila model system, funded by ICMR (Recommended), 2020-2022.
Deciphering the molecular mechanisms involved in hematopoietic perturbation induced by environmental chemical(s) using Drosophila as an animal model, funded by DST-SERB, 2017-2020 [Budget: 44.29 lakhs]
Elucidating the host-microbiome association in cadmium and/ nonyphenol exposed Drosophila melanogaster, funded by NitteDU, 2019-2021 [Bugget:1.9 lakhs]
Niche cues for stress hematopoiesis: insights from Drosophila, funded by NitteDU, 2019-2021 [3.0 lakhs]
Mrs. RAJESHWARI B VITTAL
- DesignationAssistant Professor G-I
- Email rajeshwari.vittal@nitte.edu.in
- Contact No..
- Joining date 14-08-2014
I am presently working as a Senior Lecturer in NUCSER, have 6 years of teaching experience and am pursuing my Ph.D. in Biological Science stream. In addition, my expertise is in analysis of water quality parameters, microbiological techniques (soil and water), molecular techniques and toxicological studies (acute and chronic toxicity tests). I have been guiding the PG students as a guide and a Co-guide. I am also involved in analyzing external samples of food and water, and also involved in providing training to the personnel form different parts of the country. I have few GenBank submission in my name.
Master of Science (Ecology & Environment), KVAFSU, 2009
- Senior Lecturer, Nitte University Centre for science education and research, Mangaluru, (2018-till date)
- Lecturer, Nitte University Centre for science education and research, Mangaluru (2014 – 2018 )
- Senior Research Fellow, Department of Microbiology, KVAFSU (2014 to 2014)
- Senior Research Fellow, Department of Ecology & Environment, KVAFSU, (2008 to 2010)
Microbiology
Infectious Disease
Environment &toxicology
- Japan- Asia Youth Exchange Program in Science (SAKURA exchange), awardee 2017
- Training workshop on Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing at PGIMER, Chandigarh, 2016
- Participant, Responsible Conduct of Science Research sponsored by US National Academy of Science, 2015
- Member, Student welfare committee, NUCSER
- Institutional Alumni (Coordinator)
- Institutional committee against substance abuse(member)
- Institutional women cell (member)
- Student grievance cell (member)
Member of The Society of Biological Chemists (SBC), India
Undergraduate-
Cell and Developmental Biology, General lab Practice
Postgraduate-
Food microbiology, Research Ethics & IPR, Food Processing and Preservation, Techniques in Biomedical Science, Food additives & adulterants, Techniques in Food Science
PG Students: 04 (completed), 02 (ongoing)
UG Students: 03 (completed)
- Journal publications-Das, A., Vittal, R., Raj, J.R., Akhila, D.S. (2019) Phenotypic and genotypic characterization of Listeria species isolated from ready-to-eat dairy products. Indian Journal of Comparative Microbiology, Immunology and Infectious Diseases 40(1):11-4.
- Shivakumaraswamy, S.K., Deekshit, V.K., Vittal, R., Akhila, D.S., Mundanda, D.M., Raj, J.R., Chakraborty, A., Karunasagar, I. (2019) Phenotypic & genotypic study of antimicrobial profile of bacteria isolates from environmental samples. Indian Journal of Medical Research 149(2):232.
- Shetty, S.S., Deekshit, V.K., Jazeela, K., Vittal, R., Rohit, A., Chakraborty, A., Karunasagar, I. (2019) Plasmid-mediated fluoroquinolone resistance associated with extra-intestinal Escherichia coli isolates from hospital samples. Indian Journal of Medical Research 149(2):192.
- Raj, J.R., Vittal, R., Shivakumaraswamy, S.K., Deekshit, V.K., Chakraborty, A., Karunasagar, I. (2019) Presence & mobility of antimicrobial resistance in Gram-negative bacteria from environmental samples in coastal Karnataka, India. Indian Journal of Medical Research 149(2):290.
- Raj, J.R., Vittal, R., Shivakumaraswamy, S.K., Deekshit, V.K., Karunasagar. I. (2017) Comparison of antimicrobial resistance in Gram negative bacteria isolated from effluents in coastal districts of Karnataka, India. Nitte University Journal of Health Sciences 7 (4): 2249-7110.
- Mohan Raj, J.R., Vittal, R., Huilgol, P., Bhat, U., Karunasagar, I. (2018) T4‐like Escherichia coli Phages from the Environment Carry bla CTX‐M. Letters in applied microbiology 67:9-14.
All Publications: Google scholar-https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=wMdbV4IAAAAJ&hl=en
Research projects
Intramural Funding
Intramural Funding
- Biocontrol of biofilm forming bacteria isolated from diabetic ulcers using phage, funded by NitteDU, 2018-2020 [Budget 1.7 lakhs]
- Detection of micro and nanoplastics in bottled water and devaluation of the associated health effects using the zebrafish model system" Principal Investigator, funded by Nitte DU, 2020.
