Balaram Mukhopadhyay ( Bengali: বলরাম মুখোপাধ্যায়; born 12 January 1973)[ citation needed] is an Indian Bengali carbohydrate chemist and a professor of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata. [1] Balaram is mainly known for his work in the field of synthetic carbohydrate chemistry. [2] He was given the Excellence in Carbohydrate Research Award by the Association of Carbohydrate Chemists and Technologists India (ACCTI) in 2018 for his contribution towards field of carbohydrates.
Mukhopadhyay, born on 12 January, 1973, in Bankura in the Indian state West Bengal,[ citation needed] graduated with honours in chemistry from the Bankura Christian College in 1994 and followed it up with a master's degree from the Burdwan university in 1996. His journey with the world of carbohydrates is started when he enrolled for doctoral studies at the Indian Association For The Cultivation Of Science (IACS), Kolkata, under the guidance of Prof. Nirmolendu Roy and after securing a Ph.D. in 2001, he moved to the UK for the post-doctoral studies, under the supervision of Robert A Field of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK (2001–2005). [3] After 4 years of Post-doctoral studies, Balaram joined as a Scientist-C at the Medicinal and Process Chemistry Division in Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow. He left CDRI at 2008 and joined as an assistant professor at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata (IISER Kolkata), where he now holds a position as a Professor. [4] At IISER, he heads a laboratory named Sweet Lab, where he hosts several researchers. [5]
Balaram focuses his research mainly in oligosaccharide synthesis and published a number of articles. Later he also explored the fields like Glyco-nanoparticles, Supramolecular chemistry of carbohydrate gels and crystals, Carbohydrate protein interaction. [6]
He became a member of the editorial board of the international peer reviewed scientific journal Carbohydrate Research in 2017. [7]
The prime research focus of Balaram is to develop strategies for the chemical synthesis of biologically relevant oligosaccharides from bacterial or plant origin. He and his group synthesized several bacterial O-antigen repeating units of E. Coli, Shigella, Salmonella and Pseudomonas to name a few. En route to the total synthesis of this complex oligosaccharides, he along with his group is developing methodologies for the rational protecting group manipulations to prepare suitable monosaccharides building blocks and stereo/regioselective glycosylation. Depending on the carbohydrate-lectin interaction, Balaram's group is developing carbohydrate decorated multivalent dendrimers as lectin sensors. Also looking at the scopes of developing multifunctional gel materials through the supramolecular architecture of carbohydrate small molecules.
Balaram Mukhopadhyay ( Bengali: বলরাম মুখোপাধ্যায়; born 12 January 1973)[ citation needed] is an Indian Bengali carbohydrate chemist and a professor of the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata. [1] Balaram is mainly known for his work in the field of synthetic carbohydrate chemistry. [2] He was given the Excellence in Carbohydrate Research Award by the Association of Carbohydrate Chemists and Technologists India (ACCTI) in 2018 for his contribution towards field of carbohydrates.
Mukhopadhyay, born on 12 January, 1973, in Bankura in the Indian state West Bengal,[ citation needed] graduated with honours in chemistry from the Bankura Christian College in 1994 and followed it up with a master's degree from the Burdwan university in 1996. His journey with the world of carbohydrates is started when he enrolled for doctoral studies at the Indian Association For The Cultivation Of Science (IACS), Kolkata, under the guidance of Prof. Nirmolendu Roy and after securing a Ph.D. in 2001, he moved to the UK for the post-doctoral studies, under the supervision of Robert A Field of the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK (2001–2005). [3] After 4 years of Post-doctoral studies, Balaram joined as a Scientist-C at the Medicinal and Process Chemistry Division in Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow. He left CDRI at 2008 and joined as an assistant professor at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata (IISER Kolkata), where he now holds a position as a Professor. [4] At IISER, he heads a laboratory named Sweet Lab, where he hosts several researchers. [5]
Balaram focuses his research mainly in oligosaccharide synthesis and published a number of articles. Later he also explored the fields like Glyco-nanoparticles, Supramolecular chemistry of carbohydrate gels and crystals, Carbohydrate protein interaction. [6]
He became a member of the editorial board of the international peer reviewed scientific journal Carbohydrate Research in 2017. [7]
The prime research focus of Balaram is to develop strategies for the chemical synthesis of biologically relevant oligosaccharides from bacterial or plant origin. He and his group synthesized several bacterial O-antigen repeating units of E. Coli, Shigella, Salmonella and Pseudomonas to name a few. En route to the total synthesis of this complex oligosaccharides, he along with his group is developing methodologies for the rational protecting group manipulations to prepare suitable monosaccharides building blocks and stereo/regioselective glycosylation. Depending on the carbohydrate-lectin interaction, Balaram's group is developing carbohydrate decorated multivalent dendrimers as lectin sensors. Also looking at the scopes of developing multifunctional gel materials through the supramolecular architecture of carbohydrate small molecules.