Sajitha Sasidharan was attracted to AMBER because of its interdisciplinary nature
Sajitha Sasidharan is a postdoc at Physical Chemistry, at the Department of Chemistry at Lund University.
Sajitha Sasidharan has recently started her postdoctoral project as part of the AMBER programme at Lund University, focusing on the impact of nanoparticle binding on lipid redistribution and membrane deformation in cellular membranes. She works at Physical Chemistry, at the Department of Chemistry at Lund University.
In this interview, you can read about her background and what made her apply for the AMBER programme.
What attracted you to AMBER?
One key reason is the interdisciplinary nature of the project, which involves PIs and co-researchers from diverse backgrounds. The opportunity through the project to use advanced, state-of-the-art neutron-based techniques along with other techniques to decipher the dynamics of biological processes at the spatiotemporal resolution.
What is your background?
I trained as a biotechnologist, and during my doctoral research, I explored the field of supramolecular chemistry. I studied the susceptibility of pH and external field conditions influencing the dynamics and self-assembly in peptides and small organic molecules. Among the characterization techniques utilized to understand the self-assembly process and the resulting nanoarchitectures, I was fascinated by atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM allows imaging of the biological systems at a nanoscale resolution in physiological conditions. I investigated the role of the conserved phenomenon of vesicular communication in cellular evolution from a biophysical aspect as oLife postdoctoral fellow.
We tried to understand the role of the microenvironment influencing the production, proteomics, lipidomics, and mechanics of the extracellular vesicles (EVs). The mechanical properties of extracellular vesicles and synthetic systems such as polymersomes and liposomes were characterized using AFM. Mechanical characterization and fingerprinting can reveal information on biogenesis, intercellular communication, and pathologies, allowing engineering EVs for therapeutic purposes.
What will your research within the programme?
By integrating my research experience in the field of peptides and vesicles, through this project, I will try to understand the interaction of different types of nanoparticles with the cellular membrane. To unravel the complexity of the interactions and follow the sequential events, we will be utilizing neutron-scattering techniques to resolve the nature of the interactions at the sub-nm scale. The knowledge obtained in understanding the events such as membrane deformation, lipid redistribution, etc., can be employed to enhance the biological and chemical stability of the drugs and, hence, their therapeutic utility.
What is your motivation and drive in your personal and professional life?
The constant process of learning, exploring new things and pushing the boundaries of existing knowledge motivates me.
Where did you hear from AMBER?
The advertisement was forwarded by one of my colleagues whose PI happened to be an alumni PhD from Lund University.
Read more about the AMBER programme
Read more about the postdoctoral researchers hired in AMBER