She is currently an
Assistant Professor in SRM University and has her own research laboratory, which is funded by agencies like
DBT. She is the author to many papers in reputed international journals.
Having a PhD
inZoology, what triggered your decision to pursue research in cancer and stem cell biology?
I completed my Ph.D. in Zoology, Madras
University following which I was able to have an exposure to all the avenues in science amongst which Stem cell biol- ogy
struck my cord when I completed post doctoral fellowship from University of
Alberta, Canada. I
further worked for over 2 years in MIOT hospital research centre where
I studied the
‘Use of fat pads adopted
from patients with
knee replacement surgeries
to cure orthopedic
non-disjunctions, by selectively dif- ferentiating adipose
stem cells to osteoblast cells
for bone repair’. Currently, my lab focuses on a stem cells marker-
Nucleostemin, Breast milk derived stem cells, cancer biology
and inter-correlation
between stem cells and phospholipids.
When you first
started research, the field of stem
cells was still at nascent stage, what
were the hardships /challenges that you came across?
Lack of diversification in stem cell research
and only a handful of people
really working with stem
cells, the start-up of my research
laboratory was not easy.
Mastering the culture of stem cells is the key to prolific results in stem
cells research. I would say, contamina-
tion was the biggest hurdle. Maintenance of a sterile environment with a
responsibility of guiding scholars working takes time and practice.
Despite these hardships what has been your constant motivation that has helped you to achieve so many accolades in this
field?
Well, my family is the constant motivation I have ever had. Professionally, the
co-operation of clinicians needed for collection of human sample
for studies is worth mentioning.
I am grateful
to all the hospitals especially SRM medical College.
How has research in
stem cells improved in last couple of
years? Further, where do you see the face of stem cells in the coming years?
During the last couple of years, a lot of focus on stem cell
research has opened up new areas of interest
in this field. Researchers are looking for new sources from which we can
avail continuous supply of stem cells by
procedures that are less invasive and painful. Research on identification of stem
cell markers and character-
ization of the different types
of stem cells has been the important part of stem
cell research during the last decade. However, use of stem cells
for therapeutic approaches against
various diseases like
Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, diabetes and cancer
would be the centre of research
in the near future. A time would certainly come, when we can think of
stem cell treatments than other treatments.
Could you please elaborate on the current work being done in
the field of stem cells worldwide as
well as in India?
Research
institutions and many
private companies are involved in
stem cell research worldwide including
India. BiorestorativeTherapies’, a life sciences
com- pany, has newly identified human adult brown fat cells and developed a cell-based treatment for diabetes. Their results have
been published in the journal Stem Cells. The Stem Cell Center
(Danstem), University of
Copenhagen, has recently shown the impact of phys- ical environment on
embryonic and embryonic
stem cells (ESCs) on its specialization to different cell types. This
understanding is an important step
toward stem cell-based cell therapies for conditions like diabetes and liver diseases. Work on
cancer stem cells has also gained
momentum in the recent years
as it is well known that these
cells play an important role in metas- tasis.
Recently, T cells with stem cell
like properties have been detected to play a role in resistance of HIV patients
to antiviral treatment. In addition to
these,innumerable
studies are being conducted worldwide to identify new gene targets for patients with differ- ent disease
conditions like Alzheimer’s and
stem cell replacement therapies for age
related blindness. Work on the design of biomaterials for bone
formation has been studied in
detail for bone defects and bone met-
abolic disorders.
In India, stem cell
banking has established itself as a
booming industry, and a lot of private
companies are extending their service
throughout India. The Council of Medical Research has given guidelines for
clinical tri- als involving stem cells. Research laboratories of both private
and governmental institutions are also actively involved in stem cell research.
We have heard a lot about
Application of Stem cells in Medical field, e.g.stem cells was used for
the treatment of legs of a 26/11 victim in
a Mumbai based hospital who was
completely paralyzed in the attack , so
is there such other application that has hap- pened in Medical
field?
Talking about stem
cell therapy treatments, they have
been used in treating
heart diseases using patient’s own stem cells; fetal brain stem cells for Parkinson’s disease have all been
carried out with mixed results.
Stem cells have also been used
to promote regener- ation in
various organs such
as the brain and bone. Stem
cell therapy has also been tried for Type I dia- betes using
hESCs, MSC (mesenchymal stem
cells) in which the cells are
stimulated to grow into β cells outside
the body and are returned back to the patient. Recently, human embryonic stem
cells have been used to target and destroy
cancer cells especially leukemia and
lymphomas. Beside cancer,
human embryonic stem cells have also been used
as tool for the treat- ment of
various diseases such as diabetes,
Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease
and heart failure. Repair of the
cornea using stem cell therapy has been highly successful. Research in NIH
has tried treating eye dis- eases by
replacing the RPE (retinal
pigmented epi- thelium) cells and has developed a method to convert human embryonic
stem cells (hESCs) to
differentiate into RPE cells. Bone disorders have been treated using
osteoblasts derived from mesenchymal stem cells. However, though some of these
have been successful, there is still a dilemma among researchers whether to continue research on stem cells or to use it directly on
patients. Of course, more insights would
increase our knowledge on stem cells and
surely help in better stem cell therapy
treatments. Many hospitals in
India also have success stories
in stem cell therapy treatments for diseases such as thalassemia, but
unless the lay- man is able to
gain the benefits of the treatment it can- not be accepted as a successful mode
of treatment.
Besides SRM, what are
the premier orga- nizations/institutions/companies
in India & Abroad that are working in Stem Cells? Please shed light.
In India, almost every renowned private hospital boasts of a
stem cell research laboratory, which in
future will play a pivot role in
stem cell therapy treatment for the patients.
Private organizations like Life
Cell are involved in stem cell banking in India, Manipal Institute of Stem
cells and Regenerative Medicine, The Centre for Stem Cell Research in CMC, Vellore supported by DBT,
Government of India, Vellore and The
Institute for Stem Cell Biology (inStem), Bangalore, Nichi-In Centre for
Regenerative Medicine (NCRM) is an institute affil- iated with the Tamilnadu Dr. MGR Medical
University, Madras Medical Mission Hospital and
Frontier Life Line Hospitals, The
Nitte University Centre for Stem Cell
Research and Regenerative Medicine (NUCSReM) has set up a Stem Cell
Research Centre in KS Hedge Medical Academy, Mangalore.
Internationally, a lot of government and private organi-
zations are involved in stem cell research. A few import- ant ones are as
follows—The International Society for
Stem Cell Research (ICCSR), The International Stem Cell Forum (ISCF) The International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), Medical Research Council (MRC). The UK Medical Research
Council sponsors the UK Stem Cell,
Canadian Institutes of Health Research
(CIHR), EuroStemCell Eleven academic
institutes and enterprises,
Institute for Frontier Medical Sciences
Kyoto University, Centre for Stem Cell Biology as a part of the University of
Sheffield.
What are your words
of advice for the young minds aspiring to pick a career in stem cell biology?
Understanding the
basics of Stem
Cell Biology, its importance in
the scientific field and
an interest in developmental biology would
surely be an
asset to the students who want to
pursue their career in stem cell biology. For those students, who
want to work and
contribute in research areas like cancer,
diabe- tes, heart diseases, stem
cell biology would prove to be a
right choice. Stem Cell Banking and counseling on stem cells would be the other option for students who want to pursue their interest in areas
other than research. All students should make it a point to read
research articles regularly and try to
analyze and dis- cuss the papers
with their friends and
teachers and interact in a
Journal Club to kindle their
interest not only in Stem Cell Biology
but also other research areas of their interest. This interaction will only help them to gain knowledge and improve
their analytical skills to kindle their young minds.
From a student’s
point of view, what are the career
prospects in stem cells?
Research would be the first option. For
those not interested in research, now-a-days counseling and
stem cell banking centers also
serve as a career point and they can
actively develop a career in counseling on stem cells and banking to the common people. Since, stem cell research is a part and parcel of all hospitals;
students may opt for a career in stem
cell laboratories serving as a bridge between the patients and the
doctors. Students can involve in culturing of stem cells for therapy treatments in hospitals after taking proper
training in animal cell culture techniques.
