Drexel University College of Medicine

Microbiology and Immunology Graduate Program

B.S., University of Pune
PGDBI (Bioinformatics), Sikkim Manipal University
M.S., University of Pune

Email: swagata.kar@drexel.edu

First Year Student

Thesis Research Summary:

My strong research interests are in the field of Infectious disease, studying the complexities involved in the progression of a disease and its biological mechanisms. I did my B.S. and M.S. in Pune, India and thereafter started my carrier in this field at National Institute of Virology, Pune, India. I was involved in two successful projects  focusing on: 1) The expression profiling of the host during Chandipura virus (causing encephalopathy in humans) infection and correlating the changes that take place inside the host in response to the disease, and 2) Studying the role of immunomodulatory cytokines involved in Japanese Encephalitis virus infection in the mouse brain .

On a different track I also worked on human clinical epidemic and sporadic samples collected over a period of 25 years for the genomic characterization of Hepatitis A and E viruses.  The best part of my research career was when I got an opportunity to work in the Malaria Immunology Section at NIH, on different aspects involving malarial antigens and also expressed, purified Plasmodium recombinant proteins which can be vital molecules in answering various questions pertaining to malaria.  The different exposures that I received at different level raised my curiosity towards and interest in the study of human diseases and thus in my coming years I would like to pursue a career in the field of infectious disease.