Monika Saini
Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh| Grant Category: | Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellowships |
| Project Title: | Establishment of novel secretory organelles in Plasmodium falciparum infected red blood cells |
| Field of Study: | Bioengineering |
| Home Institution: | Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh |
| Host Institution: | California State University , Chico, CA |
| Grant Start Month: | February 2025 |
| Duration of Grant: | Twenty-four months |
Brief Bio:
Dr. Monika Saini is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Institute of Parasitology, Biology Centre CAS, Czech Republic. She pursued her bachelor’s in biomedical sciences from University of Delhi in the year 2012 and later completed her master’s in biotechnology from All India Institute of Sciences, New Delhi in 2014.
Dr. Saini joined Prof. Shailja Singh and Dr. Soumya Pati at Shiv Nadar University, Delhi-NCR for her PhD in Plasmodium falciparum where she evaluated functional roles of Prohibitin proteins in mitochondrial biology. During this period, she was also awarded the DAAD Sandwich Programme fellowship where she worked with her German collaborators on the PhD project. She is a recipient of various national and international travel awards to present her work at conferences. She has published several research articles in recognized international journals during her PhD.
Dr. Saini’s primary research focus is parasitology and studying organellar biology with special emphasis on their functional importance in parasite growth and development. As a Fulbright-Nehru Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the California State University, Chico, Dr. Saini is evaluating Maurer’s clefts establishment and function. More than a century after their discovery, the genesis and exact functions of Maurer’s clefts remain a mystery. Dr. Saini, therefore, wants to investigate the fundamental biological processes associated with these organelles’ establishment and function in Plasmodium falciparum-infected red blood cells which will be a significant step towards malaria elimination.