Dr. Uttara Chakraborty

Assistant Professor

Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine

Qualification: PhD

CURRENT ACADEMIC ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES

    Assistant Professor in Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine MAHE, Bengaluru.

    1. Coordinator for the MIRM Cultural Committee

    2. Chief Editor MIRM Newsletter

    3. Coordinator for MIRM social media and platforms

    4. Post Graduate Research Coordinator from MIRM

SUBJECTS CURRENTLY TEACHING

Subject Semester / Year
Hematopoietic stem cell niche Second Semester
Ex vivo generation of stem cell niches Second Semester
Extracellular matrix ECM regulated signaling Second Semester
Autoimmune disorder and application of stem cells Second Semester
Hematopoietic stem cells: concepts, definitions Second Semester
Scientific imaging techniques in cardiovascular disease models Second Semester

ACADEMIC QUALIFICATIONS

Degree Specialisation Institute Year of passing
PhD Fungal Biotechnology Bose Institute, Kolkata, WB 2008
MSc Botany Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, WB 2001
BSc Botany (Life Sciences) Visva Bharati, Santiniketan, WB 1999

Experience

Institution / Organisation Designation Role Tenure
Manipal of Regenerative Medicine, Bengaluru Assistant Professor
Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru Senior Research Scientist Facility In-charge for Bioimaging and Flow cytometry (FCM) facilities, teaching and training, data analyses and facility operations 2014-2018
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bengaluru BD Biosciences consultant Core manager, cell sorting 2013-2014
Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore DBT Research Associate Post doctoral research on molecular mycology, Candida sp. correlation between ploidy and pathogenicity of human commensals 2008-2012

Research Focus:

Dr. Uttara Chakraborty is an Assistant Professor in the Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine since 2019. She has established the Stem cell Cytometry and Imaging lab at MIRM, which is committed towards interdisciplinary research where she uses stem cells as ideal research models integrating with the concepts of computational biology, molecular mycology and clinical research to understand the potential of these cells in immunotherapy. She is also active in developing protocols for developing shared resource laboratory of Flow cytometry, Cell sorting and Cell imaging in association with the International Society of Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC), a dedicated International Association of cell cytometry. Her lab is working on 4 important areas of research:

A. In search of exploring mesenchymal stem cell morphometric and immuno-heterogeneity using the imaging cytometry approach

B. Towards developing a single cell image-based tool to understand the correlation of plots to pixels

C. Translate a novel technology to develop an efficient, cost-effective diagnostic tool for sensitive and concurrent phenotypic/genotypic classification of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) malignancies in Indian patients

D. Establishment of a new in vitro infection model using mesenchymal stem cells to understand the role of MSCs in clearance of bacterial and fungal pathogens of the body.

AREAS OF INTEREST, EXPERTISE AND RESEARCH

Area of Interest

Facility management and setting up shared resource laboratory in Flow cytometry and Light Microscopy

Area of Expertise

Flow cytometry (FCM) and cell sorting for rare population detection and cellular proliferation studies, single cell sorting, circulating tumor cell detection, multicolor immunophenotyping panel designing, confocal and super-resolution microscopy technologies

Area of Research

Immune cell and stem cell subset identification by flow cytometry

Professional Affiliations & Contributions

Professional contributions and affiliations

Task Force member of sub-committee SRL Outreach activities of the International Society for Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC).

Publications:

1. Kewal Asosingh, Alice Bayiyana, Michele C. Black, Uttara Chakraborty, Michael J. Clemente, Amy C. Graham, Michael D. Gregory, Karen G. Hogg 8, Gert Van Isterdael, ChunChun Liu, Lola Martínez, Charlotte C. Petersen, Ziv Porat, Kylie M. Price, Laura B Prickett, Aja M. Rieger, Caroline E. Roe, Erica Smit. (2024) Best Practices for User Consultation in Flow Cytometry Shared Resource Laboratories. Cytometry A Q1 journal

2. Risani Mukhopadhyay, Pulkit Chandel, Keerthana Prasad, Uttara Chakraborty. (2024) Machine learning aided single cell image analysis improves understanding of morphometric heterogeneity of human mesenchymal stem cells. Methods. Mar 13; 225:62-73. doi: 10.1016/j.ymeth.2024.03.005. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38490594. Q1 journal

3. Caroline E. Roel, Vera A. Tang, Jessica B. Back, Anna C. Belkina, Claudia Bispo, Alexis Conway, Uttara Chakraborty, Kathleen T. Daniels, Gelo de la Cruz, Laura Ferrer-Font, Andrew Filby, David M. Gravano, Michael D. Gregory, Christopher Hall, Christian Kukat, André Mozes, Diana Ordoñez-Rueda, Eva Orlowski- Oliver, Isabella Pesce, Ziv Porat, Nicole J. Poulton, Kristen M. Reifel, Aja M. Rieger, Rachael T.C. Sheridan, Gert Van Isterdael & Rachael V. Walker. (2023) Guidelines for Establishing a Cytometry Laboratory. Cytometry A. DOI: 10.1002/cyto.a.24807. Q1 journal

4. Ayona Gupta, Safia.K. Shaik, Lakshmi Balasubramanian, Uttara Chakraborty (2023) MSCProfiler: An image processing workflow to investigate Mesenchymal Stem Cell heterogeneity using imaging flow cytometry data. Biotechniques. DOI:10.2144/btn-2023-0048 Q2 journal

*Outcome of the Luminex Corp. (now Cytek Biosciences) contract with MIRM for the Amnis Imagestream Imaging Cytometer.

5. Ayona Gupta, Risani Mukhopadhyay, Himanshi Khandelwal, Narendra Nala, Uttara Chakraborty (2023). Single cell sorting of immunophenotyped mesenchymal stem cells from human exfoliated deciduous teeth. J. of Visualized Experiments. DOI:10.3791/65723. Q3 journal

*Supported by the Intramural MAHE grant 2022-2025.

6. Aishwarya Nagarajan; Nasera Rizwana; Michelle Abraham; Mahima Bhat; Aakanksha Vetekar; Goutam Thakur; Uttara Chakraborty; Vipul Agarwal; Manasa Nune. (2023). Polycaprolactone/graphene oxide/acellular matrix nanofibrous scaffolds with antioxidant and promyelinating features for the treatment of peripheral demyelinating diseases. Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, 34:49. DOI: 10.1007/s10856-023-06750-2 Q1 journal

7. Mukhopadhyay, R., Varshitha, D., Telford, W. G., Sanders, C. K., & Chakraborty, U. (2023). Mammalian chromosome analysis and sorting by flow cytometry. Current Protocols, 3, e785. DOI: 10.1002/cpz1.78 Q1 journal

8. Gravano DM, Chakraborty U, Pesce I, Thomson M. (2021) Solutions for Shared Resource Lab Remote Quality Control and Instrument Troubleshooting during a Pandemic. Cytometry Part A. Jan; 99(1):51-59. doi: 10.1002/cyto.a.24266. Q1 journal

9. Chakraborty, U. 2019. Mycotechnology: Advancement with the Application of Modern Technique, In: Fundamentals of Biodiversity, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, Ed. Samit Ray, New Central Book Agency, Kolkata, New Delhi (accepted). Book Chapter

10. Chakraborty U, Mohamed A, Kakade P, Mugasimangalam RC, Sadhale PP, Sanyal K (2013) A stable hybrid containing haploid genomes of two obligate diploid Candida species. Euk Cell 12: 1061-1071

11. Chakraborty U, Sikdar SR (2010) Intergeneric protoplast fusion between Calocybe indica (milky mushroom) and Pleurotus florida aids in the qualitative and quantitative improvement of sporophore of the milky mushroom. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 26: 213–225 (DOI 10.1007/s11274-009-0162-8)

12. Chakraborty U, Sikdar SR (2008) Production and characterization of somatic hybrids raised through protoplast fusion between edible mushroom strains Volvariella volvacea and Pleurotus florida. World J Microbiol Biotechnol 24:1481–1492 (DOI 10.1007/s11274-007-9630-1)

13. Chakraborty U, Sikdar SR (2007) Breaking the barriers of conventional mushroom breeding- Protoplast Fusion can bring revolution in the Mushworld. Mushroom Biol and Biotechnol 89- 113

Scopus link https://researcher.manipal.edu/en/persons/uttara-chakraborty