Smriti Arora

Assistant Professor

Ph.D in Microbiology and Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, 2006 – 2013
M. Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, 2004 – 2006
BSc. (Hons), Microbiology - University of Delhi, 2001 – 2004

Career Graph

Year	Role
2014-15	Holistic International testing Services FZ LLC, Dubai
2015-15	Research Scientist Epygen Labs FZ LLC, Dubai
2017-18	Research Associate
2018-19	DST-Women Scientist A
2019-20	Post-doctoral trainee Ben Gurion University of Negev, Israel

Papers published in journals: 3 published

Papers presented in conferences: 4

Citations: 36

Research

1. Contribution: Antibody dependent enhancement is a phenomenon observed in flaviviruses esp. Dengue and WNV where subsequent infections are more severe. At the Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, she was involved in developing an Antigen microarray as a diagnostic kit for ADE. Another aim was to prove ADE of ZIKA in mouse model. She successfully used swiss cohort to show vaccination of Tick borne encephalitis was successful and due to which cross-reactive antibodies were formed in the subjects we were given to study. ADE in mouse model was also observed in a small group of mice (20 mice). Wild type mice (n = 60) were also used to prove in vivo ADE of ZIKA.

2. Proteins are work horses of the cell. Protein folding is central to key processes of the cell. At CSIR-IGIB, she along with her team aimed to understand the process of adaptive thermotolerance in lab adaptedcoli. They created knock-outs of molecular chaperones and learnt that chaperones are not the only determinants of protein folding at high temperature but also certain metabolites of 1-carbon metabolism as assessed by mass spectrometry.

3.Translation is a basic process of the cell wherein the genetic code/message in form of codons of mRNA is decoded into proteins - the functional entity of the cell. The process of Translation is divided into four steps – Initiation, Elongation, Termination and Recycling in prokaryotes. A deep understanding of this process in the light of structural and biochemical data with integration of genetics is was our objective. They uncovered the finer details of the process of initiation using insights from structural and biochemical data on selection and passage of tRNA at the P site of the ribosome (initiator and peptidyl tRNA). They showed that post-transcriptional modifications of rRNA i.e. the methylations of G966 and C967 near the vicinity of initiator tRNA binding site and the conserved residues of tail of S9 protein (SKR) of the ribosome are involved in fidelity of translation at the step of initiation as well as elongation.

Interests:Virology, Bacteriology, Immunology, Diagnostics, Host-pathogen interaction

Recent Publications

Arora, Smriti, Gajiram Murmu, Koel Mukherjee, Sumit Saha, and Dipak Maity. "A Comprehensive Overview of Nanotechnology in Sustainable Agriculture." Journal of Biotechnology (2022).
Smriti Arora, Samikshha Puri, Nitika Bhambri, “A designer diet layout for astronauts using a microbiome mediated approach.”, FEMS Microbiology Letters, 2022;, fnac049, https://academic.oup.com/femsle/article/369/1/fnac049/6604380
Singh, Deepanmol, Ashish Mathur, Smriti Arora, Souradeep Roy, and Neeraj Mahindroo. "Journey of organ on a chip technology and its role in future healthcare scenario." Applied Surface Science Advances 9 (2022): 100246.
Arora, Smriti, and Jeevan Patra. "Molecular Dynamics Simulations Studies On The Effects Of Mutations On The Binding Affinities Between SARS-CoV-2 Spike RBD And Human ACE2." bioRxiv (2022).
Smriti Arora, Nitika Bhambri, Samikshha Puri, Anamika, Nandini Dasgupta, Shradha Khater, Gautam Das. Microbiome, Immunity, Digestive Health and Nutrition, Chapter 07 Benefical Role of Healthy Microbiome in Metabolic Syndrome, Obesity and Cardiovascular Health, ISBN 9780128222386. Ist edition March 22.
Divya Singh and Smriti Arora. Positive and Negative Impacts of COVID-19 on Environment (Paper No.2) HSFEA, 2020, Springer (accepted to be published).
Smriti Arora, Ananya Bishnoi, Gunjan Vasant Bonde and Ashish Mathur. Chapter 07 “Advances in nanotechnology in the treatment of women specific cancers”, Latest Advances in Diagnosis and Treatment of Women-associated Cancers”, CRC Press, Taylor & Francis Group, U.S.A, (accepted to be published).
Ahmad Rabbani, Akhilesh Mishra, Nishu Goyal and Smriti Arora. Bioremediation and biodegradation of pesticides from contaminated soil and water. Green Technologies for Sustainable Production: Biotechnology advances for value added products and sustainable environments, SP Wiley publication (accepted to be published).
Shetty, S., Nadimpalli, H., Shah, R.A., Arora, S., Das, G. and Varshney, U., 2014. An extended Shine–Dalgarno sequence in mRNA functionally bypasses a vital defect in initiator tRNA. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(40), pp.E4224-E4233.
Arora, S., Bhamidimarri, S.P., Weber, M.H. and Varshney, U., 2013. Role of the ribosomal P-site elements of m2G966, m5C967, and the S9 C-terminal tail in maintenance of the reading frame during translational elongation in Escherichia coli. Journal of bacteriology, 195(16), pp.3524-3530.
Arora, S., Bhamidimarri, S.P., Bhattacharyya, M., Govindan, A., Weber, M.H., Vishveshwara, S. and Varshney, U., 2013. Distinctive contributions of the ribosomal P-site elements m 2 G966, m 5 C967 and the C-terminal tail of the S9 protein in the fidelity of initiation of translation in Escherichia coli. Nucleic acids research, 41(9), pp.4963-4975.

Projects or Ph.D.s guided:

Name of student: Sathya Prathyusha B, Ph.D student, Germany
Program: Research Assistant at IISc.
Name of student: Poorani Nanda Kumar
Program: Research Assistant at IISc.
Name of student: Umika Vohra, Dentistry course Gulf Medical College, Ajman, UAE
Program: Internship at Epygen labs.
Name of student: Shivani Nasta, Pharmacology course, UK
Program: Internship at Epygen labs.

Conferences and talks :

2022 ACS Spring Conference 2022
2021 Recent Advances in Applied Sciences, Technology & Health" - RASTH, 2021
2021 The 24 Annual International Mars society convention.
2021 Space Habitat Event, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte, Brazil and MARS society.
2021 HSFEA’ 2021 international conference.
2021 Applied biology research & innovation conference – 2021.
2021 Sustainable Approaches in Food Engineering and Technology conference organized by Tezpur university in collaboration with Georgia university, USA
2021 Speaker at UPES ETalks Series 2
2018 Invited for a scientific talk at ICMR-JALMA
2012 VI RNA group meeting, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.
2011 Poster presentation at ‘From Innovations in Nucleic Acids Research to Regulation of Biological Processes, IISc., Bangalore.
2010 Poster presentation at the 79th SBC (I) meeting, Bangalore.

Work Experience :

Aug, 2020 – Current Assistant Professor; Senior Scale, University of Petroleum and Energy Studies
Main duties performed: Teaching, Project based learning and research in Microbiology/Biotechnology.
May, 2019 – July, 2020 Post-doctoral fellow, Hertz lab, Ben Gurion University of the Negev.
Main duties performed: Clinical virology - Antibody Dependent Enhancement (ADE) of ZIKV virus in TBE vaccinated individuals in vitro and in vivo.
Development of preclinical mouse model of ADE and Antigen microarray based diagnostic for ADE.
Jan, 2017 – April, 2019 DSTWomen Scientist - A at CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, New Delhi.
April, 2015 – Oct, 2015 Research Scientist,Epygen labs FZ LLC, Dubiotech, Dubai.
Main duties performed: Industrial microbiology, Enzyme testing in drilling mud formulations, standardizing new enzyme activity assays, QC of enzyme formulations, and their stability.
Sept, 2014 - March, 2015 Biologist,Holistic International Testing Services, FZ, LLC.
Main duties performed: FMCG product testing using microbiology tools, biodegradability testing of polythene using Rhodococcus spp., Moisture content estimation etc.

Honours and Achievements:

Honours :

2019 Post-doctoral fellowship of Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel
2017 DST Women Scientist Award 2017, Govt. of India.
2014 Recipient of incentive awards for publications 2014, DBT, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India.
2012 Won 1st prize in oral presentation VI RNA group meeting.
2006 Recipient of CSIR-UGC NET fellowship for research (Ranked in top 20%).
2006 Recipient of ICMR (Indian Council for Medical Research) fellowship for research.
2006 Recipient of fellowship for research from DBT, Govt. of India.
2004 Recipient of merit scholarship from the DBT, Govt. of India during M. Biotechnology

Achievements :

Appreciation prize in Pharmathon conducted at MIT-WPU, Pune.
2021 – External member, Biosafety committee, Government Doon Medical College, Dehradun.
2021 – II award by Sustainable Approaches in Food Engineering and Technology conference organized by Tezpur university in collaboration with Georgia university, USA as a corresponding author on Ice cream remade: a sustainable, cruelty free approach. Puri, S.1, Bhambri, N.1* and Arora, S.1.
2019 – Post-doctoral fellowship of Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Israel.
2018-19 – Teaching Assistance during PM skill India program for masters students, CSIR-IGIB, New Delhi
2017 – DST Women Scientist Award, 2017, Govt. of India.
2014 – Recipient of incentive awards for publications 2014, DBT, Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India.
2012 – Ist prize on oral presentation at VI RNA group meeting.
2006 – Recipient of CSIR-UGC NET fellowship for research (amongst top 20%)
2006 – Recipient of Indian Council of Medical Research fellowship for research.
2006 – Recipient DBT, GOI fellowship for research.
2004 – Recipient merit scholarship for masters from DBT, GOI during M. Biotechnology, AIIMS, New Delhi.