Mr Naren Babu N
Lecturer
Manipal Institute of Virology
CURRENT ACADEMIC ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES
- Teaching Virology, Medical entomology and Geographical Information system (GIS) subjects and practicals for master students of MIV.
- Resource person for short courses/workshops on Basic and advanced medical entomology, Clinical and medical virology, and biosafety & biosecurity.
- Guiding MSc. students at MIV. Subject expert for doctoral students at MAHE.
- Actively involved in organising workshops and trainings at MIV Manipal.
SUBJECTS CURRENTLY TEACHING
| Subject | Semester / Year |
|---|---|
| Insect vectors of Viral diseases | III |
| Analytical Tools (Application of GIS and Biostatistics) | II |
ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS
| Degree | Specialisation | Institute | Year of passing |
|---|---|---|---|
| PhD* | Virology/ Entomology | Manipal Institute of Virology (MIV), MAHE Manipal | Ongoing (Since 2021) |
| M.Sc. | Public Health Entomology | ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC), Puducherry (Affiliated to Pondicherry University) | 2015 |
| B.Sc. | Medical Laboratory Technology | Jawaharlal Institute of Postgraduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), Puducherry | 2013 |
Experience
| Institution / Organisation | Designation | Role | Tenure |
|---|---|---|---|
| Manipal Institute of Virology (MIV), MAHE Manipal | Lecturer | 2024-Present | |
| Manipal Institute of Virology (MIV), MAHE Manipal | Research Officer | 2018-2024 | |
| Manipal Centre for Virus Research (MCVR), MAHE Manipal | Specialist Entomologist | 2016-2018 | |
| ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC), Puducherry | Intern | 2015-2016 |
AREAS OF INTEREST, EXPERTISE AND RESEARCH
Area of Interest
Public-health Entomology, Vector-borne disease diagnosis, Surveillance, Outbreak-investigation, Spatial analysis, Immune profiling and Anti-viral developement
Area of Expertise
Specialization in Entomology and Virology. Trained in Techniques and tools used for public-health entomological activities, Application of Geographical information system in Public Health, Rickettsiae and Rickettsioses including scrub-typhus, Luminex Technology, Flow-cytometry Experimental Designing and Data analysis, Computational Drug Design Approaches, Development and Evaluation of Biopharmaceutical Products, and Public Health Pesticides.
Area of Research
Involved in a wide range of projects to improve public health and understand vector-borne diseases. Served as a Specialist and later as a Research Officer on the "Hospital-Based Acute Febrile Illness (AFI) Surveillance in India" project, funded by the Global Health Security Agenda (GHSA) through the CDC, Atlanta, focusing on monitoring febrile illnesses in hospitals. Additionally, as a Research Officer for the "Translational Research Consortia (TRC) for Chikungunya Virus," funded by the National Biopharma Mission (NBM)-BIRAC and managed by the DBT, Government of India, worked on bridging the gap between research and clinical applications for Chikungunya. Independent research includes investigating vectors such as mosquitoes (Aedes & Culex), ticks, mites, and flies across southern India, essential for understanding vector-borne disease dynamics. Furthermore, doctoral research explores the "Modulatory Effects of Aedes aegypti Salivary Proteins on Chikungunya Virus Infection and Immunopathogenesis," examining how mosquito salivary proteins influence Chikungunya virus infection and immune responses.
Professional Affiliations & Contributions
1. Internship at ICMR-Vector Control Research Centre (VCRC), Puducherry (Sep 2015 - Apr 2016)
2. Presenter during the Global Health and Humanitarian course 2018-2019 hosted by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), UK and India. The course has been recognised by the Royal College of Physicians, United Kingdom as a preparatory programme for undertaking the Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Hygiene examination. (2018-2019)
3. Stakeholder in the Global Health Symposium conducted by Manipal Academy of Higher Education in collaboration with Maastricht University, McMaster University, Ahfad University for Women, Thammasat University and Universidad del Rosario (Since 2021)
4. Global Outreach - Contributing Member of the American Society for Microbiology (ASM) (Since, 2024)
1. Naren Babu, Shakuntala Mahilkar, Anup Jayaram, Sylvester Agha Ibemgbo, Garvita Mathur, Ujwal Shetty, Robin Sudandiradas, P Sanjai Kumar, Sharad Singh, Sweta Smita Pani, Piya Paul Mudgal, Jayanthi S. Shastri, Sachee Agarwal, P. K. Ratho, Baijayantimala Mishra, Soma Chattopadhyay, Anitha Jagadesh, and Sujatha Suni. Cytokine profile, neutralisation potential and viral replication dynamics in sera of chikungunya patients in India: a cross-sectional study. The Lancet Regional Health - Southeast Asia. 2023 Sept; 100269; DOI: 10.1016/j.lansea.2023.100269.
2. N Naren Babu, Anup Jayaram, Amogh Milind Auti, Yuvraj Bhandari, Ujwal Shetty, Govindakarnavar Arunkumar. Rickettsia africae and other unclassified Rickettsia species of the spotted fever group in ticks of the Western Ghats, India. Exp Appl Acarol. 2023 Jun; Doi: 10.1007/s10493-023-00814-2. genes. 2021 Dec;57(6):489-501 (Corresponding author)
3. Naren Babu N, Jayaram A, Hemanth Kumar H, Pareet P, Pattanaik S, Auti AM, Abdulmajeed J, Maity H, Devadiga S, Bhandari Y, Agre Deepchand H, Shakir M, Kumar N, Arunkumar G. Spatial distribution of Haemaphysalis species ticks and human Kyasanur Forest Disease cases along the Western Ghats of India, 2017-2018. Exp Appl Acarol. 2019 Mar;77(3):435-447. doi: 10.1007/s10493-019-00345-9.
4. Puneet Bhatt, Muralidhar Varma, Vikas Sood, Anoop Ambikan, Anup Jayaram, Naren Babu, Soham Gupta, Chiranjay Mukhopadhyay, Ujjwal Neogi. Temporal cytokine storm dynamics in dengue infection predicts severity. Virus Res. 2024 Jan 2:199306. doi: 10.1016/j.virusres.2023.199306.
5. Translational Research Consortia (TRC) for Chikungunya Virus in India (Anitha Jagadesh, Anup Jayaram, Naren Babu, Piya Paul Mudgal, Robin Sudandiradas, Shahin Sheik, Ujwal Shetty, Dileep Kumar Verma, Shakuntala Mahilkar, Sujatha Sunil, Sylvester Agha Ibemgbo, Prabhudutta Mamidi, Sharad Singh, Soma Chattopadhyay, Sweta Smita Pani, Bijayanthimala Mishra, R K Ratho, Jayanthi S Shastri, Sachee Agarwal). Current Status of Chikungunya in India. Front Microbiol. 2021 Jun; 12:695173. Doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2021.695173.
1. Detection and Molecular characterization of rickettsia in hard-ticks of Kerala state, India(Srilatha Marate, 2019)
2. Assessment of the inhibitory potential of Ribavirin (RBV) and Chloroquine phosphate (CQP) against Chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection in Vero cells. (Simran Bajaj, 2022)
3. Prevalence of Dengue Serotypes in Southern India during 2019-2022 (Basim Ameen, 2023)
4. Genotypic analysis of Orientia tsutsugamushi isolated from Indian patients (2014-2018), for multiplex Realtime PCR assay development (Ankita Saha, 2024)
5. Cytokine modulations in the serum samples of dengue-infected patients in India (2019-2022) (Ishika Nepali, 2024)