Curriculum Vitae

Manisit Das, M.Sc. | (919)537.5503 | manisit@email.unc.edu |

Chapel Hill, NC 27516 | https://www.linkedin.com/in/manisitdas/

Education

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, US (All but Dissertation, Anticipated May 2020), Ph.D. Thesis advisor: Dr. Leaf Huang
    • Evaluation of lipid nanoparticle formulations of immuno-oncology drugs in preclinical models of cancer
  • Integrated Master of Science (B.Sc., M.Sc.) in Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Kharagpur, India (July 2015)

Scholarly Publications and Patents

  • Guo J, Zhuo Y, Das M, Huang L. Nano Co-Delivery of Oxaliplatin and Folinic Acid Achieves Synergistic Chemo-Immunotherapy with 5-Fluorouracil: A Next-Generation FOLFOX for Colorectal Cancer and Liver Metastasis. Submitted
  • Song W, Das M, Chen X. Nano-therapeutics for Immuno-Oncology: A Crossroad for New Paradigms. In Review
  • Song W, Das M, Xu Y, Si X, Zhang Y, Tang Z, Chen X. Leveraging biomaterials for cancer immunotherapy: targeting pattern recognition receptors. Materials Today Nano. 2019.
  • Das M, Musetti S, Huang L. RNA Interference-Based Cancer Drugs: The Roadblocks, and the “Delivery” of the Promise. Nucleic acid therapeutics. 2018.
  • Das M, Huang L. Liposomal nanostructures for drug delivery in gastrointestinal cancers. The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics. 2018.
  • Das M, Shen L, Liu Q, Goodwin TJ, Huang L. Nanoparticle Delivery of RIG-I Agonist Enables Effective and Safe Adjuvant Therapy in Pancreatic Cancer. Molecular therapy. 2018.
    • Commentary: Zillinger T, Hartmann G. Targeted Nanoparticle Delivery of Bifunctional RIG-I Agonists to Pancreatic Cancer. Molecular therapy. 2019.
  • Shen L, Li J, Liu Q, Song W, Zhang X, Tiruthani K, Hu H, Das M, Goodwin TJ, Liu R, Huang L. Local Blockade of Interleukin 10 and C-X-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 12 with Nano-Delivery Promotes Antitumor Response in Murine Cancers. ACS nano. 2018.
  • Liu Q, Das M, Liu Y, Huang L. Targeted drug delivery to melanoma. Advanced drug delivery reviews. 2018.
  • Miao L, Li J, Liu Q, Feng R, Das M, Lin CM, Goodwin TJ, Dorosheva O, Liu R, Huang L. Transient and Local Expression of Chemokine and Immune Checkpoint Traps To Treat Pancreatic Cancer. ACS nano. 2017.
  • Das M, Senapati K, Panda SS, Bhattacharya P, Jana S, Mandal SM, Basak A. pi-Stacking assisted redox active peptide-gallol conjugate: synthesis of a new generation of low-toxicity antimicrobial silver nanoparticles. Rsc Adv. 2016.
  • Cho I-H, Das M, Bhandari P, Irudayaraj J. High performance immunochromatographic assay combined with surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy. Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical. 2015.
  • Ghosh P, Das M, Rameshbabu AP, Das D, Datta S, Pal S, Panda AB, Dhara S. Chitosan Derivatives Cross-Linked with Iodinated 2,5-Dimethoxy-2,5-dihydrofuran for Non-Invasive Imaging. ACS applied materials & interfaces. 2014.
  • Ghosh P, Das M, Dhara S, Chitosan based biodegradable materials for biomedical applications, Indian Patent – 566/KOL/2013, 2014

Honors & Awards

  • 2019: Inducted to Frank Porter Graham Honor Society for outstanding service provided to the UNC at Chapel Hill and community
  • 2018: Inducted as a full member of Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Honor Society for demonstrating noteworthy achievements in research
  • 2018: Research Triangle Park (RTP) Drug Metabolism & Discussion Group (DMDG) Winter Symposium Podium Presentation Award: $250 Travel award to support participation in a scientific meeting
  • 2017: American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Travelship to attend AAPS Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA, November 2017
  • 2017: Khalid Ishaq Graduate Travel Fund from UNC Eshelman School of Pharmacy to attend AAPS Annual Meeting
  • 2015: Institute Silver Medal for highest cumulative GPA in Class of 2015, Department of Chemistry, IIT Kharagpur
  • 2014: N. Bose Scholars Program fellowship by University of Wisconsin- Madison & Indo-U.S. Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF) for pursuing summer research in the Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, US
  • 2014: MITACS Globalink Research Internship fellowship 2014 for pursuing summer research in the Department of Chemistry at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • 2013: NCTU Taiwan Elite Internship Program fellowship at the Department of Biological Science and Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
  • 2013: Indian Academy of Science Summer Research Fellowship at Indian Institute of Science (IISc.) Bangalore
  • 2012: Indian Institute of Scientific Education and Research (IISER) Mohali’s Summer Research Fellowship
  • 2010: Inspire SHE scholarship from Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India for being in top 1% in 10th and 12th-grade board exams among 700,000+ and 400,000+ examinees

Ad Hoc Reviewer for Scientific Journals

  • 2019-present Molecular Therapy
  • 2019-present Analytical Chemistry

Selected Scientific Presentations

  • OncoBites: The Latest in Cancer Research simplified, Poster Presentation at ComSciCon-The Communicating Science workshop for graduate students 2019 in San Diego, CA
  • Nanoparticle loaded RIG-I agonist enables effective and safer adjuvant therapy in cancer, Podium Presentation at Research Triangle Park Drug Metabolism & Discussion Group 2018 Winter Symposium in Durham, NC (2nd prize)
  • Nanoparticle loaded RIG-I agonist enables effective and safer adjuvant therapy in cancer, Poster at AAPS 2017 Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA (AAPS Travelship Award)

Research Experience

  • Treatment of pancreatic cancer via induction of immunostimulatory signaling by nanoparticle-mediated delivery of therapeutics (March 2016 – ongoing, Ph.D. thesis), Mentor: Dr. Leaf Huang, Division of Pharmacoengineering & Molecular Pharmaceutics (DPMP), UNC-Chapel Hill, US
  • Remote actuation of Magnetic Nanoparticles for Cancer cell disruption (Nov 2015 –Feb 2016), Mentor: Dr. Alexander Kabanov, DPMP, UNC-Chapel Hill, US
  • Co-delivery of Cisplatin and Paclitaxel with nanoformulations (Aug-Nov 2015), Mentor: Dr. Andrew Wang, Radiation Oncology, UNC-Chapel Hill, US
  • Redox-active peptide-gallol conjugate: Synthesis and application in the generation of antimicrobial silver nanoparticles (July 2014 – May 2015, M.Sc. thesis research), Mentor: Dr. Amit Basak, Department of Chemistry, IIT Kharagpur, India
  • Design of a high-performance Surface-enhanced Raman Spectroscopy integrated lateral flow immunoassay for biomolecular detection (June-July 2014), Mentor: Dr. Joseph Irudayaraj, Agriculture and Biological Engineering, Purdue University, US
  • Computer simulation studies of the binding mechanism of N-succinyldiaminopimelic acid with dapE-encoded Nsuccinyl-L,L-diaminopimelic acid desuccinylase (December 2013), Mentor: Dr. Sabyasachi Mishra, Department of Chemistry, IIT Kharagpur, India
  • Design of a Macrophage Based Superparamagnetic Iron Oxide Nanoparticle Platform for Theranostic Application (May-July 2013), Mentor: Dr. Yun Min Wang, College of Biological Science and Technology, National Chiao Tung University, Taiwan
  • Synthesis and Characterization of Chitosan-based Radio Opaque Biopolymer for Biomedical Applications (May-July 2012), Mentor: Dr. Santanu Dhara, School of Medical Science and Technology, IIT Kharagpur, India

Technical skills

  • Formulation:  Gold, Silver, Iron Oxide, Polymeric, Liposomal, and Solid lipid nanoparticle synthesis
    • Utilized formulation development to encapsulate and deliver small molecule and biologic cargo
  • Physicochemical Characterization: UV-Vis spectroscopy, DLS, NMR, FTIR, TEM, HPLC, Mass spectrometry, Raman spectrometry
    • Exploited physicochemical characterization and analytical techniques to quantify drug encapsulation, determine size, shape, and distribution of formulations, analyze synthesized compounds and develop semi-quantitative Point-of-care diagnostics
  • Bioanalytical techniques: Flow cytometry, Immunohistochemistry, Immunofluorescence, RT-PCR, qPCR, Western Blot, Gel Electrophoresis
    • Used bioanalytical assays to study immune and cancer cells and cytokine changes in cancer tissue samples after immuno-oncology therapy
  • Genetic Engineering: Plasmid Cloning by PCR, Primer Design, Bacterial Transformation, Sanger Sequencing, Site-Directed Mutagenesis
    • Used plasmid cloning techniques to generate mutated oncogene constructs for mechanistic studies in cancer cells
  • Cell culture:  In vitro 2D & 3D spheroid culture, Subculture of Adherent and Suspension cells
    • Used cell culture to screen drugs and perform molecular biology analyses
  • Radioactive Materials: Short and long half-life radioisotopes handling, Lab Safety Management
    • Used radioisotopes for pharmacokinetic (PK) and biodistribution studies in animal models
    • Supervised radioactive material uses for a team of 20 researchers and managed laboratory safety
  • Animal models: Subcutaneous and intravenous therapeutics administration, Mouse models of cancer, Survival surgery, Aseptic techniques
    • Used in vivo animal models to test oncology and immuno-oncology drugs

Course Work

  • Ph.D. Nanomedicine, Advanced Pharmaceutics, Advances in Drug Delivery, Quantitative Methods in Clinical Research, Pharmacokinetics & Drug Metabolism, Introduction to Molecular Pharmacology, Immunobiology, Cancer Pathobiology
  • B.Sc., M.Sc. Structural Analysis by Spectroscopic & Crystallographic Studies, Drug Design & Development, Downstream Processing, Structure & Function of Biomolecules, Polymer Chemistry, Computational Chemistry

Professional Development

  • 2019- Industry Skills Advanced Certificate, Training Initiatives in Biomedical and Biological Sciences (TIBBS) at UNC, Workshop Series
  • 2019- Business Concepts for Life Scientists, iBiology, Online Course
  • 2018- Science Communication Program, American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), 8 Professional Development Hour
  • 2018- UNC Science Writing and Communication Club Science Communication Series
  • 2016- Making Medicines: The Process of Drug Development, Eli Lilly, Online Course

Professional Services and Leadership Roles

  • Chair of ComSciCon-Triangle 2019 and co-organizer in the 2018 edition, a science communication workshop to train STEM graduate students in Research Triangle of NC to communicate the concepts in their field and beyond to diverse audiences
    • Managed a team of 7 graduate students from UNC at Chapel Hill, Duke University, and North Carolina State University, raising $11000 in funding for the 2019 workshop
    • Organized Career Networking and Expert Review sessions, and Science Communication expert panels in 2018-19
    • Reviewed science writing pieces from attendees and coordinated with editorial teams of popular science outlets to facilitate publication in magazines like Scientific American and American Scientist
  • Vice President of UNC AAPS Student Chapter, 2018-19
    • Received 2018 AAPS Student Chapter of the Year Award in recognition of exceptional service and outreach
    • Organized a Science Communication Boot Camp event in collaboration with 3 student groups at UNC in 2019, attended by 50+ students
    • Organized Mock Interview sessions for 16 PharmD and Ph.D. students with Syneos Health
  • Co-Founder of OncoBites, a cancer research communication blog
    • Over 30 researchers contributed more than 100 popular science articles with over 25,000 website views in more than 100 nations, April 2018-Present
  • Graduate and Professional Students Federation (GPSF) Senator for Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2018-19
    • Participated in a delegation of 4 graduate students representing UNC-Chapel Hill’s research efforts before Congressman David Price, Representative (NC 4th District) in March 2019
  • Member of the Advisory Board of TIBBS at UNC, 2018-Present
    • Co-organized 2019 TIBBS Industry Skills Workshop Series, an eight-part career skills series for industry careers such as R&D, regulatory affairs, entrepreneurship, business development, project management
    • Co-organized Career Blitz 2018, a career exploration event for graduate students and postdocs, facilitated by 14 professionals from the Research Triangle Park area
  • Facilitated a Cross-Cultural Leadership Development workshop, for incoming Biological and Biomedical Science Ph.D. students at UNC-Chapel Hill, in August 2016
  • Executive & Strategic Team Member of Child Rights & You (CRY) IIT Kharagpur Chapter (2011-2015).
    • Worked on implementation of the provisions of Right to Education (RTE) Act by Government of India in rural public schools
    • Drafted regulations with the University administration to eliminate child labor from IIT Kharagpur campus eateries

Lab Management

  • 2017- Present:
    • Controlled and oversaw procurement of laboratory supplies and research animals for a group of 20 researchers, valued at about $84,000 annually at UNC-Chapel Hill
    • Leveraged technical expertise to reduce overall laboratory expenses by 30% by switching to competitive alternative supplies
    • Initiated recycling program for nitrile gloves in the laboratory, reducing expenses by 25%

Mentorship

  • Served as a judge and offered feedback at Sigma Xi Student Research Showcase – an online science communication competition for undergraduate, graduate, and high school students in April 2019
  • Served as a judge and offered feedback at NC Student Academy of Science Competition for high school and middle school students in March 2019
  • Mentored a high school student, who was named as one of the scholars in the Regeneron Science Talent Search 2018, a science and mathematics competition for high school seniors in the US, for a summer project conducted under my supervision
  • Served as a judge and offered feedback at Summer Undergraduate Pipeline (SUP) symposium, organized by Diversity and Student Success Program in UNC Graduate School, in July 2017

Scientific and Community Services

  • Invited Public Talks
    • Making Medicines: From the Lab Bench to Your Bedside at TRU Deli and Wine Bar in June 2019
    • Immune System and Cancer at North Carolina (NC) Museum of Natural Sciences in November 2018
  • Conducted classroom science outreach sessions with K-12 students at Grossmont High School (CA), Salisbury High School (NC), Providence Grove High School (NC), Seventy-First High School (NC), Mary Scroggs Elementary School (NC), and Sunrise Ridge Elementary School (BC, Canada) in 2018-19
  • Writer and Editor for OncoBites, a cancer research science communication blog since April 2018
  • Writer and Editor for UNC Scientific Writing & Communication Club’s blog Pipettepen from 2016-18
  • Volunteered for HoStErs, a program for Homeschool Student Experimenters around middle school education level in Chapel Hill to exercise their scientific and creative minds by performing science experiments, in Sep 2016
  • Volunteering with Triangle Land Conservancy (TLC) in the Research Triangle area of NC assisting with photography, stewardship, and facilitating the restoration of the ecological balance of TLC’s nature preserves since January 2018
  • Science Outreach Writing:
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