BS Osmania University, India, 1996 MS Andhra University, India, 1998 PhD University of South Florida, 2005 MS Georgia Institute of Technology, (2019)
Vasanta’s dissertation was involved in determining the population diversity of microbes, specifically the indicator organisms belonging to Enterobacteriaceae members, enteroviruses and coliphages, in water and sediment samples from various anthropogenically impacted environments. With the background in microbial techniques, she collaborated with Dr. Iyer’s lab at the Center for diagnostics and Therapeutics in Georgia State University where she developed assays to determine the efficacy of substrates (synthesized by Iyer’s lab) in the detection of influenza viruses and other bacterial members such as Streptococcus pneumoniae and E. coli. Currently, she is pursuing her Masters at GaTech and working on evolutionary pathways of proteins within the ribosomes. This will possibly provide us with insights into the pre-LUCA environment.
Amrita Das, Xikai Cui, Vasanta Chivukula, and Suri S. Iyer. “Detection of Enzymes, Viruses, and Bacteria Using Glucose Meters”, Analytical Chemistry, 90 (19), 11589-11598 DOI: 10.1021/acs.analchem.8b02960y (2018)
Xikai Cui, Amrita Das, Abasaheb N. Dhawane, Joyce Sweeney, Xiaohu Zhang, Vasanta Chivukula, and Suri S. Iyer. “Highly Specific and Rapid Glycan based Amperometric Detection of Influenza Viruses”, Chemical Science, 8, 3628-3634 (2017)