Dr. Rashmi VirkarAssistant Professor
Bharati Vidyapeeth, Pune
Date of Birth : 03-01-1985
Department : Communicable Diseases
Phone : +91-9860702836
Educational Qualification : Ph.D. (Biotechnology), Assistant Professor, Interactive Research School for Health Affairs
Professional Experience
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February 2019 onwards: Working as Assistant Professor in Department of Communicable Diseases (Laboratory Manger from April 2022 at National Immunogenicity & Biologics Evaluation Center, Department of Communicable Diseases) at Interactive Research School for Health Affairs.
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June 2017 –February 2019: Postdoctoral Fellow at National AIDS Research Institute, Pune
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July 2016-May 2017: Research Scientist at National AIDS Research Institute, Pune
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April 2016-June 2016: Research Associate at National AIDS Research Institute, Pune
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June 2011 to January 2016: Senior Research Fellow at National Institute of Virology, Pune (Ph.D.)
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January 2008 to May 2011: Research Assistant at National Institute of Virology, Pune.
Research Interests
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Development of viral vaccine and antiviral drug candidates against respiratory viruses (especially Influenza and SARS-CoV-2)
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Assessment of immune responses against circulating respiratory viruses
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Virus isolation and characterization of circulating SARS-CoV-2 variants
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Identification of correlates of protection against respiratory viruses
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Standardization of bio analytical assays based on techniques like ELISA, Neutralization assay, QPCR, Flow Cytometry for qualitative /quantitative assessment of vaccine immunogenicity or responses in naturally infected subjects against respiratory viruses
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Development of challenge model against respiratory viruses
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Expansion of vaccine immunogenicity and antiviral assessment facility (NIBEC) by managing laboratory as ‘Laboratory Manager’, by handling key clinical trials as ‘Analytical Project Manager’, by assessment of antiviral products and development/ standardization of new tests as ‘Technical Manager’ in both regulatory (NABL) and non-regulatory (Non-NABL) testing.
Publications
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Shrivastava S, Mhaske ST, Modak MS, Virkar RG, Pisal SS, Mishra AC, Arankalle VA. Emergence of two distinct variants of SARS-CoV-2 and an explosive second wave of COVID-19: the experience of a tertiary care hospital in Pune, India. Arch Virol. 2022 Feb;167(2):393-403. doi: 10.1007/s00705-021-05320-7 Epub 2022 Jan 9. PMID: 35000004; PMCID: PMC8742689.?
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Rakshit S, Hingankar N, Alampalli SV, Adiga V, Sundararaj BK, Sahoo PN, Finak G, Uday Kumar J AJ, Dhar C, D'Souza G, Virkar RG, Ghate M, Thakar MR, Paranjape RS, De Rosa SC, Ottenhoff THM, Vyakarnam A. HIV Skews a Balanced Mtb-Specific Th17 Response in Latent Tuberculosis Subjects to a Pro-inflammatory Profile Independent of Viral Load. Cell Rep. 2020 Dec 1;33(9):108451. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.108451. PMID: 33264614.?
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Shete A, Bichare S, Pujari V, Virkar R, Thakar M, Ghate M, Patil S, Vyakarnam A, Gangakhedkar R, Bai G, Niki T, Hattori T. Elevated Levels of Galectin-9 but Not Osteopontin in HIV and Tuberculosis Infections Indicate Their Roles in Detecting MTB Infection in HIV Infected Individuals. Front Microbiol. 2020 Jul 17;11:1685. doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.01685. PMID: 32765475; PMCID: PMC7380070.?
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Ingle NB, Virkar RG, Arankalle VA. Inter-Clade Protection Offered by Mw-Adjuvanted Recombinant HA, NP Proteins, and M2e Peptide Combination Vaccine in Mice Correlates with Cellular Immune Response. Front Immunol. 2017 Jan 9;7:674. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2016.00674. PMID: 28119689; PMCID: PMC5220098.?
For additional details https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=ckqVnOsAAAAJ&hl=en
Honors And Awards
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Awarded ‘Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Travel Award’ to attend conference on Immunological Assays and correlates of protection for Next Generation Influenza Vaccines and for poster presentation in 2019 in Italy?
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Awarded ISIRV membership for the year 2019-2020
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Awarded National Postdoctoral Fellowship by DST-SERB during 2017-2019
Additional Information
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NABL Certified Internal Auditor
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Member, Cultural and Sports Committee, Interactive Research School for Health Affairs
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Member, Environment Health and Safety (EHC) cell, Interactive Research School for Health Affairs
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Laboratory Manager, National Immunogenicity and Biologics
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Evaluation Center (NIBEC), Interactive Research School for Health Affairs
Completed Research project: 1
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Project: T cell profiling of HIV-1 infected Long Term Non Progressors, a model for functional cure.
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Funding: Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), Department of Science and Technology under National Postdoctoral Fellowship program (PDF/2016/002970)
Contract Research projects (NIBEC):
|
Sr No. |
Project category |
Completed |
Ongoing |
Funding received (INR) |
|
1 |
Clinical Trials |
1 |
2 |
~4.3 Cr |
|
2 |
Antiviral drug/products development and assessment |
38 |
- |
- ~1.7 Cr |
|
3 |
Academic |
- |
1 |
~4.9 Cr |