Joel P Joseph

Mr. Joel P Joseph is a Ph.D. candidate at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, Karnataka. His doctoral thesis aims to develop a 3D bioprinted T cell culture platform to screen for novel immunomodulatory compounds and validate them using an in vivo mouse model of an autoimmune disease.

Before starting his Ph.D., Mr. Joseph was Junior Research Fellow at Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Bengaluru. Here, he investigated the roles of intracellular protein degradation and mitochondrial dynamics in the development of midbrain dopaminergic neurons in mice. Some of his research has been published in peer-reviewed journals and presented at national and international conferences.

He holds a Bachelor of Engineering degree in biotechnology from Sir M Visvesvaraya Institute of Technology, Bengaluru, and a master of technology degree in genetic engineering from SRM Institute of Science and Technology, Kattankulathur, Tamil Nadu.

Mr. Joseph is particularly interested in science communication. His written words have appeared in several science media and education websites based in India. He loves to engage with people from diverse backgrounds and disciplines to exchange ideas on science, society, and culture. When he is not in the lab, he can be found reading, writing, listening to music, or watching stories based on real events.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow, Mr. Joseph is designing nanoparticulate drug delivery systems for immunomodulatory compounds. He is also comparing their efficacies with the free form of drugs using his 3D bioprinted T cell culture platform and validating them using a relevant in vivo mouse model.

Ajay Gogia

Dr Ajay Gogia is an Additional Professor in the Department of Medical Oncology at All India Institute of Medical Sciences. He received his M.B.B.S, M.D. (Internal Medicine) degree from Banaras Hindu University, D.M. (Medical Oncology) from AIIMS, New Delhi.

He has over 17 years of working and teaching experience in Medical Oncology and specializes in Breast Cancer and Non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. His research is well published with more than 400 peer-reviewed articles in National and International oncology journals He has received the Dronacharya Award for his excellence from the Health Minister of India.

Dr. Ajay Gogia’s Fulbright-Nehru project aims to understand the molecular pathogenesis of triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) and see the impact of Carboplatin and /or PARP inhibitor with standard dose-dense neoadjuvant chemotherapy on BRCA-associated triple-negative breast cancer. The precise stratification of TNBC is crucial for the development of potent standardized and targeted therapies, as it has a very poor prognosis. BRCA mutational status is the only clinically validated biomarker for personalized therapy in TNBC.