Susmita Mondal

Assistant Professor

B.Sc: Microbiology, Calcutta University.

M.Sc:  Microbiology, Calcutta University.

PhD: Biotechnology, CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology (CSIR-IICB)

Post-doctoral Research:  Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology, Mayo Clinic, MN, USA.

Fellowships and Awards 

2003: National Scholarship by Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

2003: Surendranath College Prize for securing 2nd highest Marks in Microbiology in Surendranath College, Kolkata. 

2005: Qualified National Eligibility Test (NET-CSIR) in Life Science, jointly organized by UGC and CSIR.

2013: Mayo Clinic Ovarian Cancer SPORE fellowship awarded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), USA.

2019: Early Career Research Award in Life Science by Science and Engineering Research  Board (SERB -DST), Government of India.    

From the very first day in the school curriculum when ‘Cell’ has been introduced to me, to till date, ‘Cell’ has always fascinated me. It fascinates me how a tiny cell knows that ‘when to do and what to do’ and the coordination and delegation of work among the organelles. In parallel, I have developed an interest towards the biology of microbes during my graduation and post-graduation. Particularly, how microbes associate with the host and how their interactions alter and regulate cellular functions. And with that, I have two avenues open in front of me for my research endeavor. During the summer project of M.Sc curricula in Bose Institute on cancer immunomodulation and therapeutics, I again inclined towards cell biology and developed a strong connection towards cell biology of cancer and its therapeutics.

After completion of my Masters's, I joined CSIR-IICB as CSIR-JRF. My doctoral work involves the identification of new molecular targets and the development of new herbal drugs in the context of cancer. Later, I joined the Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology at Mayo Clinic, MN, USA  as a Post-doctoral Research Associate where I have worked with Dr. Viji Shridhar on altered cancer metabolism in Ovarian Cancer.

In  April 2019, I joined Presidency University.    

Interest in cancer metabolism is keen because metabolic re-programming has recently emerged as a new hallmark of cancer. Along with that our understanding of new technology, discoveries of new metabolic pathways, and our deeper mechanistic understanding of the interconnected signaling cascades have also been enhanced. These molecular insights now offer the possibility of developing novel anticancer treatments targeting tumor dependence on altered metabolic pathways. With this understanding and training in cancer biology, currently, I am trying to establish my laboratory here in the Presidency University with the DST-SERB funding and intend to work independently as well as in a collaborative approach.  

I did my graduation and post-graduation in Microbiology, while my research work mainly involves cancer cell biology, cellular signaling, and metabolism. These backgrounds provide me the opportunity to work, explore and teach new vistas of biology, from the microbial world and their association to the new discoveries of cancer biology. 

As a teacher, I always try to develop love and interest in the subject and provide students the platform to question and analyze what they have been taught in traditional classrooms. I enjoy teaching because it gives me the opportunity to connect with young minds and share my love for biology with them. Each classroom and discussion with students always enrich me and challenge me to expand my definition of teacher.

I have been teaching for more than 10 years now and the syllabus covered are General Microbiology, Microbial Physiology, Microbial Genetics, Cell biology, cellular signaling, and Immunology.

After joining Presidency University, I have taught Microbial Biotechnology for one year (Sem I and Sem II).

Junior Research Fellow :

1. Ms. Mehnaz Ahmed (UGC-JRF)

2. Ms. Tannishtha Biswas (SERB-JRF)

Dissertation Students:

2021-22

1. Ms. Chetana Mandal
2. Mr. Pritam Debnath

2020-21

1. Ms. Sramana Bhowmick
2. Ms. Noiranjana Dasgupta 

Research Articles (In the last 5 years):

1.   Mondal S, Roy D, Sarkar Bhattacharya S, Jin L, Jung D, Zhang S, Kalogera E, Staub J, Wang Y, Xuyang W, Khurana A, Chien J, Telang S, Chesney J, Tapolsky G, Petras D, Shridhar V. Therapeutic targeting of PFKFB3 with a novel glycolytic inhibitor PFK158 promotes lipophagy and chemosensitivity in gynecologic cancers. Int J Cancer. 2019 Jan 1;144(1):178-189. IF: 7.360

2.   Chowdhury S, Bhattacharya K, Mandal C, Mondal S, Sarkar S, Chandra S, Banerjee S, Mandal C. A Glycomic Approach Towards Identification of Signature Molecules in CD34 + Haematopoietic Stem Cells from Umbilical Cord Blood. Adv Exp Med Biol 2018; 1112: 309-318. IF: 2.126

3. Kalogera E, Roy D, Khurana A, Mondal S, Weaver AL, He X, Dowdy SC, Shridhar V. Quinacrine in endometrial cancer: Repurposing an old antimalarial drug. Gynecol Oncol. 2017 Jul;146(1):187-195. IF: 4.540.

4.  Roy D, Mondal S, Khurana A, Jung DB, Hoffmann R, He X, Kalogera E, Dierks T, Hammond E, Dredge K, Shridhar V.  Loss of HSulf-1: The Missing Link between Autophagy and Lipid Droplets in Ovarian Cancer. Scientific Reports 2017 Feb 7;7:41977.   IF: 3.998      

5.   Khurana A, Roy D, Kalogera E, Mondal S, Wen X, He X, Dowdy S, Shridhar V. Quinacrine promotes autophagic cell death and chemosensitivity in ovarian cancer and attenuates tumor growth. Oncotarget. 2015 Nov 3;6(34):36354-69. IF: 6.359

6.  Mondal S, Roy D, Camacho-Pereira J, Khurana A, Chini E, Yang L, Baddour J, Stilles K, Padmabandu S, Leung S, Kalloger S, Gilks B, Lowe V, Dierks T, Hammond E, Dredge K, Nagrath D, Shridhar V. HSulf-1 deficiency dictates a metabolic reprograming of glycolysis and TCA cycle in ovarian cancer. Oncotarget. 2015 Oct 20;6(32):33705-19.  IF: 6.359    

7.   Winterhoff B, Freyer L, Hammond E, Giri S, Mondal S, Roy D, Teoman A, Mullany SA, Hoffmann R, von Bismarck A, Chien J, Block MS, Millward M, Bampton D, Dredge K, Shridhar V. PG545 enhances anti-cancer activity of chemotherapy in ovarian models and increases surrogate biomarkers such as VEGF in preclinical and clinical plasma samples. Eur J Cancer. 2015 May;51(7):879-92. IF: 7.275

8.   Roy D*, Mondal S*, Wang C, He X et al. Loss of HSulf-1 promotes altered lipid metabolism in ovarian cancer. Cancer Metab. 2014 Aug 18;2:13. (* Equal authorship) IF: 5.033.