Dr. Sushil Kumar Email & Phone Number

In my doctoral research, I focused on drug discovery and developments to combat emerging drug resistance in cancer and human pathogens. For that, I worked on both natural and synthetic bioactive molecules. I extracted natural bioactive molecules from plants, bacteria, and fungi. We employed a multidisciplinary approach, combining techniques from microbiology, organic chemistry, pharmacology, bioinformatics, and molecular biology. From natural sources, we isolated 64 bacterial isolates and 70 isolates of filamentous fungi. All the isolates were screened for bioactive molecules using bioassay-guided fractionation and isolation techniques such as column chromatography, HPLC, mass spectrometry, and NMR. The antimicrobial activity of bioactive molecules was evaluated using standard microbiological assays, including the determination of minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) and biofilm inhibition assays, spot assays, disc diffusion, and well diffusion assays. In vivo anti-Candida activity of bioactive molecules was evaluated using a BALB/c mouse model. We also designed and synthesised synthetic bioactive molecules based on pre-existing pharmacophores for better efficacy and selectivity against cancer. The cytotoxic effects of bioactive molecules on cancer cells were assessed using cell viability assays, apoptosis assays, ROS assays, MMP assays, RT-PCR, western blotting, immunofluorescence microscopy, cell cycle analysis, wound healing assays, and 3D spheroid culture. In vivo antitumor responses of compounds were tested using balb/C. The mechanistic studies elucidated the molecular targets and pathways affected by bioactive molecules using techniques such as gene expression analysis and molecular docking studies. Overall, my work contributes to advancing the development of drugs against colon cancer and human pathogens such as Candida albicans.