Prof. Shiladitya Sengupta

The laboratory is focused on developing engineering solutions for complex diseases and for regenerative medicine. Research lies at the interfaces of fundamental biology, medical applications and nano- and micro-scale engineering, where basic understanding of biology inspires the development of novel technology for medical applications. We value interdisciplinary approaches to problem solving. We believe innovation happens only through the seamless integration of scientific fields, and that is why our team includes members from diverse professional backgrounds. The unifying thread is our passion for our work and the fact that we all get excited by challenging problems.

Current work is on the integration of extracellular and intracellular signals in elucidating neovascularisation at a fundamental level. Additionally, studies are deciphering cues from the above studies that will enable us to tailor drug therapy using a nanotechnology-based approach. Research spans across the cell and molecular biology to the organismal level.

Sengupta Laboratory at Harvard Medical School and MIT:
At a fundamental level, we are currently working on three different themes:
(1) The early events of metastasis;
(2) Understanding the mechanisms (such as phenotypic plasticity) that allow cancer cells to tolerate chemotherapy;
(3) Developing next generation therapeutics, including nanomedicines, that can modulate the tumor stromal contexture, including the immune cells.

That being said, we love exciting and hard problems that will have an impact on patient's lives, and hence often take up projects that are beyond the scope of the above projects. This could range from mathematical simulations of biological events (for example, we have used mathematical models to design optimal combiation therapy), design of computational algorithms, to design and testing of novel antibiotics that retard the development of resistance. We provide students and fellows the freedom to explore beyonds boundaries set by grants.

The laboratory is fully equipped with most chemistry (such as hoods, analytical and prep HPLCs with multiple detectors, FTIR, nanozetasizer, rotavaps, uv-vis spectrophotometer, fluorimeter, etc), biology (PCR/RT-PCR, Gel-Doc system, deconvolution microscopes, cell culture facility, ultracentrifuge, plate reader, in vivo studies, etc) resources. We also have access to core facilities at MIT and Harvard (we are members of Harvard Nanoscience Center and Dana Farber Cancer Institute)