Biomedical - Liver Diseases - Laboratory

The Basic Research Unit at JCMLRI supports the scientific activities of the Centre through its primary focus on the molecular understanding of diseases associated with liver, bile ducts, and the gastrointestinal system. This ranges to wide variety of diseases like fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, inflammatory bowel disease, viral hepatitis, and several forms of gastrointestinal and hepato-biliary cancers. The Centre pursues basic research endeavors aiming to close the gap between a scientific enquiry and a clinical application. The department has a wide array of advanced technologies used in molecular biology, genetics, genomics, cell biology and immunology, with state-of-the-art research laboratories.  The main objective is to determine the fundamental cellular and molecular mechanisms of disease pathophysiology and to improve the precision of diagnosis and recommendations pertaining to therapy.

Research interests and ongoing projects: 

Prof. Amal K. Santra: Prof. Santra is the present and founding Director of JCMLRI. His laboratory investigates fundamental mechanisms of hepatic fibrosis, focusing on cellular and molecular pathways, examination of how oxidative stress impacts liver cell damage and fibrotic progression while exploring drug-induced liver injury (DILI) pathophysiology. Using advanced cell biology techniques, the lab studies interactions between hepatocytes, stellate cells, and immune cells during fibrogenesis, particularly cellular responses to fibrogenic stimuli and oxidative stress cascades. 

Prof. Partha P. Majumder: Prof. Partha Majumder’sscientific interests and contributions have been on human-, statistical- and population genetics and genomics.His current interests are in understanding the genetics and epidemiology of non-communicable diseases, with special focus on liver diseases.

Dr. Shalini Datta: Cancer biology lab focuses on genomic, transcriptomic, and proteomic changes in gastro-intestinal cancer.Her lab works on identification of early non-invasive biomarkers in gastro-intestinal cancers using deep sequencing of cell free DNA and circulatory tumor DNA.

Dr. Ankita Chatterjee: Genomics lab specializes in studying genomic alterations associated with complex disorders of liver like MASLD and HCC. At JCMLRI, the lab is focused on genomic understanding of metabolic deregulations among hepatitis patients using single-cell genomics. 

Dr. Debashree Bishnu: Cell Biology lab investigates cellular mechanisms in liver diseases, focusing on interactions between liver cells and their microenvironment. Using advanced cell culture, imaging, immunology, and molecular biology techniques, we identify novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets. The lab specializes in deep functionalization studies through in-vitro models and immune-phenotyping, aiming to translate findings into innovative diagnostics and treatments that improve patient outcomes.