Biography

Dr. Priyanka Bajaj, PhD, is a young passionate researcher, teacher and an Assistant Professor at Department of Chemical Sciences (Process Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technology) at National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Hyderabad. She has a deep interest in protein biopharmaceuticals and green chemistry to make our medicine and societal development environment friendly and affordable for everyone. Her research group is working on the cutting edge field of Biopharmaceutical Enzymes and Biocatalysis based green chemistry which is highly interdisciplinary area encompassing chemical biology, biochemistry, synthetic organic chemistry and process chemistry. The biocatalysts (enzymes) are studied in detail for their structure activity relationship (SAR) and are engineered to develop them as efficient therapeutical enzymes and for catalyzing the important pharmaceutical reactions using the techniques of directed evolution. The libraries of various substrates and enzymes are synthesized and are further screened in high throughput mode using LC/MS, GC/MS and UV-Vis spectrophotometry and upscale and downscale synthetic processes are optimized. The group is exploring wide range of industrially important enzymes including Aldehyde dehydrogenases (ALDHs), Myoglobin, P450s, Ketoreductases (KREDs), Transaminases and others.                                                                                             

She has 13 years of experience in the field from working in the same area in her two postdoctorates at University of Rochester, New York and University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA as well as in her PhD from NIPER, Mohali. She is author and co-author of multiple reputed international research articles and patents and has been awarded with several National and International academic awards. She believes that “Evolution is the ultimate force of the Universe which has the power to change the world for better and that’s why evolving and discovering new biocatalysts by following nature’s footsteps will ultimately lead to sustainable industrial development and healthy environment”.

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