Kalpana Kumari is a Ph.D. student in the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati, India. She received her postgraduate degree in Biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Indore in 2019, where supramolecular chemistry and peptide chemistry captured her interest before she knew such a term existed. Her passion for research and curiosity to learn more about bio-nanotechnology led her to enroll in a Ph.D. after her postgraduation. She is a recipient of the prestigious Prime Minister's Research Fellowship (PMRF), awarded to the country's excellent doctoral candidates for pursuing their research.
Her research interests include Functional biomaterials, Hydrogels, Enzyme mimicry, and Bio-nanaocatalysis.
Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Guwahati
Course Work : Completed (Course Details)
Ranchi Women's College (Ranchi University)
ResearchGate , Google Scholar , Linkedin
Aim of Study:
Peptides have been a preferred choice for the design of bioinspired functional materials. Recent success in the design of novel peptide-based molecular systems that can catalyze reactions with comparable efficiency, yet with remarkable stereo-selectivity provides hope for such an attempt. Such bioinspired catalytic scaffolds or their nano-assemblies mimic the active sites of a natural enzyme, with the minimum number of amino acids in their sequences. In our study, we have focussed on mimicking the active site of two catalytic systems, Human carbonic anhydrase II and Serine protease. The designed peptides will be experimentally tested for their efficacy and selectivity in catalyzing reactions of industrial significance. The construction of ‘molecular mimics’ for all two molecular model systems for two distinct reactions is the core objective of this study.
Ph.D. Research Scholar
Molecular Informatics and Design Laboratory
N block (3rd Floor)
Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering
Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati
12-11-2021
