ESR10. Sovon Acharya (former member, 01/06/19-30/11/20)

Savon

Short biographic note

My urge to uncover the mysteries of biology started right from my school days with my boundless curiosity in discovering the vast world of invisible microbes to the multicellular planarian. Suddenly, an unfortunate death in our family, due to blood cancer (AML) provoked my initial curiosity towards cancer. The great complexity of the disease fascinates me & I am passionate about being a cancer researcher.

I completed my M.Sc. Biotechnology in August, 2017 from the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi. It is one of the most prestigious medical research institutes in India known for its highly diverse and challenging postgraduate courses. I got selected for Fellowship sponsored by Govt. of Japan to join Yamaguchi University School of Medicine as a visiting researcher for a period of five months (October 2017-February 2018). After returning from Japan, I started my work on oral cancer stem cells at DBT-Wellcome Trust funded lab as a research fellow, at National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, India.

I was former board member of an India based biotechnology company “Abiocis Biosciences”. In the next three years I will work as ESR10 (Dynamics of cell mechanics in healthy and diseased cells) within the Phy2Biomed project under the supervision of Professor Dr. Hermann Schillers at University of Muenster, Germany.

I believe in a quote by the late astronaut Mr. Carl Sagan, “Somewhere something incredible is waiting to be known”.

Email: sovonacharya@gmail.com

Skype: live:sovonacharya

Project Title

Dynamics of cell mechanics in healthy and diseased cells

Start date

1^st June 2019

End date

30th November 2020

Beneficiary

WWU

Objectives

Measuring mechanical dynamics of normal and diseased cells and tissue.

Expected results

Cells respond to repetitive and constant application of mechanical stress with periodic changes of their elasticity. We will develop protocols, instrumentation, sample preparation and analysis tools for measuring these mechanical dynamics (e.g. frequency and amplitude). Mechanical dynamics will allow differentiating between normal and diseased cells in a more complete and quantitative way. We wi ll apply this method to various cancer cells and tissue types in particular, emphasis on the cellular microenvironment (ECM, tissue, cytokines). ESR will participate in standardising procedures to prepare cells and tissues for shipping that preserves viability and mechanical properties during transport between nodes.

Planned secondments

1. CHUGR, A. Millet (3 months, month 12). Preparation and measurement of tissue. 2. IFJPAN, M. Lekka (3 months, month 20). Sample preparation, force spectroscopy. 3. UB, M. Radmacher (3 months, month 30). Dynamics of viscoelastic response, analysis tools.