Our research interests includes investigation of molecular mechanisms of protein misfolding and amyloid formation that lead to devastating diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Huntington’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Our laboratory uses tools such as the yeast model, biochemistry and biophysics to investigate the misfolding of the implicated proteins into amyloid in these diseases. The ultimate goal is to understand the mechanisms by which cellular factors enhance or mitigate the amyloid formation that may lead to identifying therapeutic targets.

Our genome is continuously subjected to various harmful insults from nucleic-acid-modifying compounds. The persistent DNA damage induces genome instability associated with cancer. Alkylating agents are one of the significant sources of deleterious DNA damage. Current research focus of my lab is to understand the pathways of repairing these alkyl DNA adducts.

The focus of research is to biochemically characterize human proteins that influence integration of HIV-1 DNA into human genome. The interaction between viral and human proteins is analyzed in vitro using recombinant proteins. Findings of these studies are applied for designing small molecule inhibitors of the interaction.

Our overall focus is on exploring physical principles that govern biological phenomena by employing theoretical/computational, biochemical and structural techniques. Our research area includes, but not limited to, understanding molecular basis of trinucleotide repeat expansion disorders, multi drug resistance in Gram-negative bacteria and development of efficient theoretical methods to understand biomacromolecular structure, dynamics, function and interaction.

Structural, biochemical and computational characterization of modular proteins involved in epigenetic gene regulation, DNA repair and chromatin organization

Research in our lab focuses on the role of ion channels in health and disease. We use varied techniques like molecular biology, biochemistry, electrophysiology and microscopy to solve biological puzzles. We also have a Zebra-fish vertebrate animal model established in our lab which we use to understand molecular mechanisms of drug/pesticide/chemicals action.

Delineating Mechanisms Regulating Alternative Splicing Using Functional Genomics Screens.

Our research group is focusing on disease-clock biology, sleep, and circadian medicine using systems biology approaches. A comprehensive understanding of circadian physiology and body clocks has profound implications in translational healthcare research. We are using cutting-edge multi-omics approaches to decipher how circadian clocks regulate immune functions, and thereby the host responses towards infectious organisms (such as Plasmodium). We are also interested to study how targeting clock components could be used to prevent or treat chronic human diseases.

We aim to understand the mechanism of cell division/chromosome segregation and gene regulation using cutting-edge single-molecule imaging, fluorescence microscopy, genomics, proteomics, cell and molecular biology and yeast genetics. Our broad research interest lies in studying the functions of chromatin remodelers during meiotic chromosome segregation; understanding the single-molecule dynamics of the mitotic kinases such as aurora kinases, cyclin-dependent kinase 1, polo kinases, checkpoint regulators; exploring the mechanism of epigenetic transcription memory/mitotic bookmarking and understanding how the mitotic to meiotic transition is achieved at the level of 3D genome organization, kinetochore composition and transcriptome. Our basic science research efforts are tailored for developing therapeutics to treat infertility, genetic disorders and cancers in a long run.

We focus on deciphering the role of non-coding genome in the cancer progression. We would like to explore the non-coding genome of various cancer types with the lens of computational genomics and transcriptomics techniques to get higher resolution and its better understanding.

We use computer-aided modelling blended with statistical mechanics to understand and predict the biological form and function. Our group excels in the all-atom and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation methods. The idea is to harness the power of high-performance supercomputers to create advances in the area of nanobiotechnology. The overarching goal of our research group is to decipher the interaction that governs the behavior of biomolecules and rationally design next generation biosystems with nanoscale precision. Currently we are working on modelling functional DNA nanostructures, artificial water channels for water desalination, and Lipid DNA interactions.

We are interested in applied and product-oriented research. Our Lab is inclined towards developing low-cost green technologies with possible applications in agricultural, Medical, and Environmental sectors. We are exploring ways to transform linear economy to circular economy through multi-product approach.

SharmaG_omics lab focuses on two major research areas. In the first direction, we use genome sequencing data to understand the diversity and evolution of physiochemical properties within a few microbial model organisms i.e., myxobacteria, Vibrio, etc. In the second direction, we want to understand the medicinal plant-microbe interactions using genomics and metagenomics.

Our group is interested in asking questions that facilitate the understanding of design principles of various biological systems. We are specifically interested in projects related to metabolic adaptations of pathogenic organisms, interspecies interactions during infection and disease-specific changes in immunometabolism. We employ various computational techniques including constraint-based genome-scale modeling, graph theory, condition-specific statistical inference of biological networks and machine learning applications to discover new metabolic/regulatory pathway mechanisms from raw biological data