Professor, Department of Biotechnology
Director - Research (Sciences)
Director, CRPAS

Specialization: Professor, Department of Biotechnology, Animal Biotechnology, Cancer Biology

📞 +9180 43430400; Ext:116
✉️ kn.varalakshmi@jainuniversity.ac.in

Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=55579063200

ORCID: NA

Dr. Varalakshmi received her Master of Science in Zoology (with a specialization in Entomology) from Calicut University in 1986 and her Ph.D. in Zoology from Bangalore University, Bengaluru, in 1997. She joined the JAIN Group of Institutions in 2003 as a Lecturer in Biotechnology and later became Professor and Head of the Department. She is currently serving as the Director of the Centre for Research in Pure and Applied Sciences at JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), a position she has held for the past four years.

Her research interests include the discovery of natural compounds with anticancer activity from diverse sources such as microbes, plants, algae, lichens, and insects; their isolation, purification, and characterization; and the mechanistic evaluation of potential compounds for anticancer efficacy both in vitro and in vivo.

She has published over 68 research articles in peer-reviewed national and international journals and conferences (H-index: 17; Citations: 1173+), contributed two book chapters, and filed an Indian patent for an “Anticancer Enzyme Preparation.” She has successfully completed a research project funded by the DST (as Principal Investigator) and is currently a Co-Principal Investigator on a DBT-funded project. Under her guidance, 10 scholars have been awarded Ph.D. degrees, and 4 scholars are currently pursuing their doctoral studies.

She is the recipient of the “Best Guide and Researcher Award – 2025” from CRTA, JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), in recognition of her contributions to research and Ph.D. guidance. She also serves as a reviewer for several prestigious international journals in the fields of cancer biology and natural compounds. Dr. Varalakshmi is a life member of professional bodies such as ISCA, MSI, the Lichenological Society, and NABS.

Assistant Professor
Reproductive Genetics

Specialization: Microbial Genomics and Diagnostics

📞 +91-80-7849004441
✉️ deepali.mishra@jainuniversity.ac.in

Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=11340161400

ORCID: 0000-0002-3812-3669

Dr. Deepali Mishra holds a Ph.D. in Zoology from Aligarh Muslim University, with research conducted at the National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi, where she was also awarded the DST-WOS-A grant. She earned her Master’s in Life Sciences from Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya (DAVV), Indore, Madhya Pradesh. With over a decade of research experience, including prestigious postdoctoral fellowships at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, her work focuses on the molecular regulation of sex differentiation via Y chromosome-linked gene expression and environmental surveillance of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) using metagenomic approaches. She began her professional academic career as an Assistant Professor at JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) in November 2022 and currently leads research projects funded under the ANRF SERB-TARE and CSIR-ASPIRE schemes. Her 2024 study on Y chromosome variants using the Protamine 1 promoter was featured on the cover of DNA and Cell Biology. She has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications and a book chapter in the area of functional genomics.

Assistant Professor
Nanostructured Materials

Specialization: Energy Harvesting and Storage

📞 +91 9790380428
✉️ rajesh.g@jainuniversity.ac.in

Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=56686086900

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7546-1248

Dr. Rajesh Govindaraj is currently working as an Assistant Professor in the Center for Research in Pure and Applied Sciences (CRPAS) at JAIN (Deemed-to-be University), Bengaluru, India, since January 2023.

He completed his Ph.D. in Physics from Coimbatore Institute of Technology (Anna University), India, in 2018 under the Indo-Norwegian Cooperation Program (INCP), which included research visits at Western Norway University of Applied Sciences and Bergen University College, Norway. Following his Ph.D., Dr. Rajesh pursued postdoctoral research (Fondecyt -Investigator Post doc) at the University of Chile, santiago and the Millennium Nucleus Multimat Center, where he contributed to international projects involving advanced materials.

His research focuses on energy harvesting and nanostructured thin films for energy applications. He works extensively on thin-film solar cells, supercapacitors, and sustainable nanomaterials for energy storage and conversion technologies. He is a recipient of the Indian Academy of Sciences (IASc) Summer Research Faculty Fellowship (SRFP-2024) at CSIR-CECRI, Karaikudi. He is a Life Member of the Indian Society of Remote Sensing (ISRS) and the Society of Materials Chemistry (SMC), and has published around 20 research articles in reputed international journals.

Assistant Professor
Nanomedicine, Drug/Gene Delivery, Nanotheranostics

Specialization: Biomimetic Delivery System for Cancer Therapy

📞 +9180 43430400; Ext:116
✉️ ranjita.misra@jainuniversity.ac.in

Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=34971702600

ORCID: 0000-0002-3812-3669

Dr. Ranjita Misra is an enthusiastic and committed researcher at CRPAS, working in the field of nanomedicine, cancer biology and biotechnology. Her research primarily focuses on developing nanomaterial-based therapeutics for different types of cancer or other infectious diseases, targeted drug delivery, or theranostics.

She completed her Masters in Biotechnology in the year 2006 from Berhampur University. With a PhD in Biotechnology from Utkal University (Work place at Institute of Life Sciences), Bhubaneswar, Odisha in the year 2015, she has over 9 years of research experience, including postdoc at Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, Chennai and worked as a Scientist-C at Sathyabama Institute of Science and Technology, Chennai. Then she joined as an Assistant Professor at JAIN (Deemed-to-be University) in the year of 2022. Her work has contributed to the development of novel drug formulations leading to high-impact publications in peer reviewed journals.

She has authored/co-authored around 31 peer-reviewed publications, contributed to funded research projects by different agencies, such as DST, DBT, ANRF, CSIR, UGC-DAE, etc, and actively mentors young researchers. Her interdisciplinary approach combines nanotechnology, bioengineering, molecular biology to address unmet clinical needs.

Dr. Ranjita’s long-term research goal is to develop personalized therapies for different diseases such as cancer, infectious diseases, etc using innovative nano formulations, and her work strives to bridge lab discoveries with societal impact. Presently, she is the reviewer of some good journals from Elsevier, Scientific Reports, Advance Sciences, Dove, etc.

Assistant Professor

Specialization: Sustainable Biotechnology for Energy, Environment, and Economy

📞 +918336879856
✉️ samayita.chakraborty@jainuniversity.ac.in

Scopus: https://www.scopus.com/authid/detail.uri?authorId=57204138116

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5834-9385

Dr. Samayita Chakraborty is a dedicated professional with an unique experience of research in India and Europe and passionate in thriving and sharing knowledge to motivate young enthusiasts. She completed his B.Tech in Biotechnology in 2011, M.Tech from NIT Durgapur in 2013 as a GATE fellow. Then he went for higher study to Europe as a Marie Curie PhD Fellow and worked in IHE Delft, Netherlands, Tampere University Finland and University A Coruña Spain. She worked on a very new technology of syngas fermentation for production of alcoholic biofuel and consecutive recovery. Her postdoctoral experience in University of Southern Denmark on methanotrophic production of bioplastics from waste gases strengthened her portfolio of expertise in environmental sustainability. Apart from microbiological expertise, she also gained experience by working on extraction of nanocellulose from delipidified algae, a platform material for bioactive compounds. Her work is mostly focused on tapping unexplored microbial word to mitigate the environmental problems and produce both liquid biofuels like by alcohols or gaseous biofuels like H2/ CH4. She joined the institute in 2024 as an assistant professor. She has around 10 publications with 2 book chapters and 1 international book.

Assistant Professor

Specialization: Sustainable Biotechnology for Energy, Environment, and Economy

✉️ sharmistha.banerjee@jainuniversity.ac.in

Scopus: ID: 57212204809

Dr. Banerjee is a dedicated and passionate researcher in the field of intestinal inflammatory disease and associated neuroinflammatory responses. She completed her B.Sc in Microbiology (Hons) from Surendranath College affiliated to West Bengal State University in 2011, MSc in Biochemistry from University of Calcutta in 2013. After Master’s, she completed her PhD from Bose Institute, Kolkata registered under Jadavpur University in 2019. On completion of her PhD, she pursued her first postdoctoral study at National Institutes of Health (NIH), Maryland to study the effect of GPCR110 on alcohol exposed neuroinflammatory responses. In the year 2023, she moved to University of Connecticut, Health, Department of Neuroscience to pursue research in the field of Alzheimer’s disease to study plaque formation using microscopic techniques. She has been a member for the Society for Neuroscience (SfN) in the year 2022. Upon completion of her postdoctoral research studies, she returned to India and joined CRPAS, Jain university in the year 2025 to continue her passion in research and share knowledge with upcoming generation of students. In short, Dr. Banerjee is focused to target the intestinal inflammation and neuroinflammation by endogenously produced metabolites. Till date spanning from PhD to postdoc, she has 8 publications, 3 review articles and 3 book chapters that include some high impact factor journals. She has also reviewed papers from good journals.

Assistant Professor

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Rajalakshmi-Subramaniyam?ev=hdr_xprf

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0608-1959

Dr. Rajalakshmi joined CRPAS as a Research Faculty in November 2025. She completed her Master’s in Organic Chemistry from the University of Madras. After qualifying CSIR-NET, she joined the PhD program at CSIR–CLRI in 2009. Her research interests include the synthesis of organic and inorganic materials, nanoparticles, and hydrogels, with specialization in synthetic chemistry and biophysical/biochemical studies.

She later pursued postdoctoral research at FIBER, Konan University, Japan, where she worked on non-canonical DNA structures such as G-quadruplexes and G-triplexes, focusing on their roles in transcriptional inhibition. She received the DST-INSPIRE Faculty Award (2016) and subsequently joined the AU-KBC Research Centre, Anna University, as a Research Faculty, where she received funding to study the inhibition of amyloid aggregates in Alzheimer’s disease using small molecules. She was consultant for a hospital project from JIPMER (2020-2022) titled “Synthesis of Thiolated PEGs for Posterior Capsular Rent” funded by IDP-JIPMER, Puducherry.

Dr. Rajalakshmi later worked as Research Head in a Chennai-based startup, where she was responsible for grant writing and pitching to national and international investors. She has authored multiple peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and review papers, and holds patents to her credit. She is also a reviewer for several journals, including those under Dove, Food Chemistry Advances, and Elsevier.

Her broader research interests include bioinorganic chemistry, biochemistry, biophysical studies, G-quadruplex structures, and amyloid aggregation in Alzheimer's disease.