ICMR - NIRBI


ICMR - National Institute for Research
in Bacterial Infections

आईसीएमआर - राष्ट्रीय जीवाणु संक्रमण अनुसंधान संस्थान

Department of Health Research, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India
स्वास्थ्य अनुसंधान विभाग, स्वास्थ्य और परिवार कल्याण मंत्रालय, भारत सरकार
WHO Collaborating Centre For Research and Training On Diarrhoeal Diseases

BETI BACHAO BETI PADHAO
G20

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NICED : Scientists

  1. NICED
  2. Scientists
Dr. Abhik Sen

Dr. Abhik Sen

 

General Information
Name Dr. Abhik Sen
Designation Scientist E
Date of joining ICMR 3rd June 2019
Date of joining present post 1st September 2023
Discipline Pathophysiology
Specialization Molecular Biology
Email : abhik.sen@icmr.gov.in , abhiksen78@gmail.com
Academic Qualification:
 
Graduation B.Sc. Zoology (Hons), University of Calcutta
Post Graduation M.Sc. Zoology, University of Calcutta
Doctoral Zoology, University of Calcutta
   

Profile

Research Experience

Dr. Abhik Sen possesses over two decades of research experience, specializing in molecular biology, neurodegeneration, and infectious diseases.
Doctoral Research (2002-2009): Conducted research at the ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Disease (NICED), focusing on Leishmania and Entamoeba.
Post-Doctoral (2009 - 2013-2017): Research focused on role of PKC in Alzheimer's disease at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute in West Virginia.
Assistant Professor (Research) (2013 -2016): Investigated role of ApoE isoforms in neurodegenerative diseases at the Blanchette Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute in West Virginia.
Research Scientist (2017-2018): Investigated neurodegenerative diseases at the Rockefeller Neuroscience Institute, West Virginia University.
Assistant Professor (Research) (2018-2019): Conducted research on neuroinflammation at the George & Anne Ryan Institute for Neuroscience, University of Rhode Island.
Scientist D at ICMR-RMRIMS (2019-2023): Conducted and managed research on host-pathogen interaction in Leishmaniasis at the ICMR-Rajendra Memorial Research Institute of Medical Sciences, focusing on infectious diseases.
Scientist E at ICMR-RMRIMS (2023-2025): Continued research on host-pathogen interaction in Leishmaniasis.
Scientist E at ICMR-NIRBI (2026-Present): Currently the research focus at the ICMR-National Institute for Research in Bacterial Infections, Kolkata is on host pathogen interaction in bacterial infections and AMR.


Projects: (Title, Duration)


Ongoing

  1. Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis: Role of genetic and epigenetic predisposition in VL to PKDL conversion (INTR-IM-2024-00090). Role: Principal Investigator. Sponsor: ICMR. Funding amount: 2.35 Cores. (10.10.2025 - 09.10. 2028)


Completed:

Extramural:

  1. Standardised protocol for school-based, follow-up survey of soil transmitted helminth infections in school-age children in Bihar. Role: Principal Investigator
    Sponsor: Evidence Action. Funding amount: 56 lakhs
  2. A phase 2/3, observer-blind, randomized, controlled study to determine the safety and immunogenicity of covishield (covid-19 vaccine) in healthy indian adults Role: Sub investigator. Sponsor: SII & ICMR. Funding amount: 56 lakhs. (2020-2021)
  3. To explore the host genetic factors influencing the visceral leishmaniasis relapse in India by NGS-exome analysis (2020-4238). Role: Principal Investigator.
    Sponsor: ICMR. Funding amount: 35.64 lakhs. (3yrs: 1.10. 2020 - 30.9. 2023)
  4. Transcriptome analysis of blood cells and skin biopsies from healthy control, VL and PKDL cases to identify PKDL specific biomarker and disease mechanism. (SRG/2020/001637) Role: Principal Investigator. Sponsor: SERB Startup Grant. Funding amount: 28 lakhs. (2 yrs: 30.12.2020 - 29.12.2022)
  5. COVID-19 vaccine acceptance among parents of 6-12 years old children in India: A mixed method study. Role: Site Principal Investigator. Sponsor: ICMR. Funding amount: 4.43 lakhs. (1.03.2023 - 31.08. 2023).
  6. Elucidation of skin microbiome and its cross talk with site specific immune cells during PKDL pathogenesis. (2021-14318) Role: Principal Investigator.
  7. Sponsor: ICMR. Funding amount: 53.89 lakhs. (3 yrs: 1.03.2023 - 28.02.2026)

 

Students:

PhD Students:

Current

Anil Kumar
Dr. Gopal Vishwas

Past

Dr. Sneha Singh (2019- 2025)
Dr. Rimi Mukherjee (2019 -2025)


Postdoctoral:

Past

Dr. Kumar Abhishek (ICMR-RA)
Dr. Vinod Kumar (DHR- young scientist)
Dr. Manjay Kumar (ICMR-SRF)
Dr. Sunita Yadav (CSIR- Senior Research Associate)

 

Publications

2025

  1. Vikash Kumar, Dayakar Alti, Shobha Kumari, Ravi Ranjan, Divya Prasad, Veer Singh, Abhik Sen, Pradeep Das, Krishna Pandey, Ashish Kumar. ApoA1-driven cholesterol efflux and macrophage polarization orchestrate T-cell differentiation towards controlling Leishmania donovani pathogenesis. Scientific Reports 16, 586 (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-30130-1
  2. Priyanka Guha, Meenakshi Abbagouni, Maturu Ashok, Rajat Kumar Mishra, Tukaram Kendre, Gulshan Singh Rana, Abhik Sen, Krishna Pandey, Sameer Dhingra. Unveiling the hidden burden of malnutrition in tuberculosis: A multifaceted evaluation using malnutrition universal screening tool and patient-generated subjective global assessment. Clinical Epidemiology and Global Health. 37, (2026) doi.org/10.1016/j.cegh.2025.102253.
  3. Anakha Saji, Priyanka Guha, M.S. Revathy, Abhik Sen, Krishna Pandey, Sameer Dhingra, Bridging the gap in tuberculosis care: a mixed-methods analysis of patient safety challenges and solutions in India. Indian Journal of Tuberculosis. (2025). doi.org/10.1016/j.ijtb.2025.07.003.
  4. Manisha Ghate, Kangjam Rekhadevi, Abhik Sen, Saurabh Sharma, Pallavi Shidhaye, Saritha Nair, Ashish Kumar, Pournami Jayesh, Sandip Patil, Shraddha Gurav and Sumit Aggarwal. COVID-19 vaccine acceptance and associated factors among parents of children between 6 and 12 years: a multicenter mixed method study in India. Frontiers in Public Health. Volume 13: 1513419. (2025) doi:10.3389/fpubh.2025.1513419
  5. Subhrajeet Banerjee, Saptarshi Mandal, Sneha Singh, Abhik Sen, Prolay Das. Machine learning-guided fabrication of carbon dot-pepsin nano-conjugates for enhanced bioimaging, synergistic drug delivery, and visible light-induced photosensitization.Nanoscale. May 23 (2025). doi: 10.1039/d5nr00752f
  6. Supratim Pradhan, Dhruba Dhar, Debolina Manna, Shubhangi Chakraborty, Arkapriya Bhattacharyya, Khushi Chauhan, Rimi Mukherjee, Abhik Sen, Krishna Pandey, Soumen Das, Budhaditya Mukherjee.Scrutinized lipid utilization disrupts Amphotericin-B responsiveness in clinical isolates of Leishmania donovani.eLife14:RP102857 (2025).
  7. Manas R Dikhit, A Pranav, Ajay Kumar, Abhik Sen. Designing a Multi-Epitope Vaccine Candidate for Visceral Leishmaniasis Targeting Leishmania and Sand Fly Vector Antigens: An In Silico Approach. Acta Tropica. 264: 107600 (2025).
  8. Rimi Mukherjee, Sneha Singh, Kumar Abhishek, Manas R Dikhit, Abhik Sen. Whole-exome sequencing identifies EP300 variants associated with visceral leishmaniasis relapse. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules.306:141533 (2025)

2024

  1. Prasad S. Kulkarni et al. Seropersistence of SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (COVID-19 vaccine): 6-month follow-up of a randomized, controlled, observer-blind, phase 2/3 immuno-bridging study inIndian adults. Human Vaccines & Immunotherapeutics 20(1), 2304974. (2024)

2023

  1. Kavita Pal, Sahil Lala, Priyanka Agarwal, Tarosh S Patel, Jenny Legac, MAtaur Rahman, Saiema Ahmedi, Nida Shahid, Sneha Singh, Kajal Kumari, Hari Madhav, Abhik Sen, Nikat Manzoor, Bharat C Dixit, Robyn Van Zyl, Philip J Rosenthal, Nasimul. Hoda.Naphthyl bearing 1,3,4-thiadiazoleacetamides targeting the parasitic folate pathway as anti-infectious agents: in silico, synthesis, and biological approach. RSC Medicinal Chemistry. doi.org/10.1039/D3MD00423F (2023).
  2. Manas Ranjan Dikhit, Abhik Sen*. Elucidation of conserved multi-epitope vaccine against Leishmania donovani using reverse vaccinology. Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics. :1-14. doi: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2201630. (2023).
  3. Ravi Shankar, Suman Nayak, Sneha Singh, Abhik Sen, Nitesh Kumar, Rashmi Bhushan, Maansi Aggarwal , Prolay Das. Simultaneous Sustained Drug Delivery, Tracking, and On-Demand Photoactivation of DNA-Hydrogel Formulated from a Biomass-Derived DNA Nanoparticle. ACS Applied Bio Materials. 6, 4, 1556-1565. (2023).
  4. Sneha Singh, (Major) Madhukar, Manas R Dikhit, Vidya N Ravidas, Krishna Pandey, Abhik Sen. Transcriptome analysis of dermal fibroblasts derived from VL and PKDL patients reveal disease specific gene expression and pathological regulation. The Journal of Infectious Diseases 227,(10): 1132-1142 (2023)
  5. Suman Nayak, Kanika Guleria, Abhik Sen, Subhrajeet Banerjee, Ranga Subramanian , Prolay Das. Chemically induced crosslinked enhanced emission of carbon polymer dots discerning healthy and cancer cells through pH-dependent tunable photoluminescence. Journal of Material Chemistry B. 11: 594-605. (2023).

2022

  1. Harmanmeet Kaur, Labanya Mukhopadhyay, Neeraj Aggarwal, Nivedita Gupta, Jitendra Narayan, Neetu Vijay, Swati Gupta, Salaj Rana, Jasmine Kaur, Vinit Kumar, Harpreet Singh &Regional Quality Control Laboratories (Abhik Sen). Inter-laboratory testing as a strategy for external quality assessment for qualitative detection of SARS-CoV-2 by real-time RT-PCR testing in India. Indian Journal of Medical Research. 155, (1):86-90 (2022).
  2. Mukesh Kumar Singh, Rittika Panday, Chandra Shekhar Lal, Abhik Sen, Kumar Abhishek, Ashish Kumar, Ajmal Hussan, O. Gopi Krishna, Abhiman Ballyaya, Auroshree Biswal, Uday Kumar Udit and Nirmala Tripathi. Analysis of impact of mild dose of monocrotophos on biochemical parameters and histological structure of different organs of fish, Channa punctatus (BLOCH). J. Exp. Zool. India. 25(1): 691-701.(2022)

2021

  1. Prasad S Kulkarni et. al. A phase 2/3, participant-blind, observer-blind, randomised, controlled study to assess the safety and immunogenicity of SII-ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (COVID-19 vaccine) in adults in India.eClinicalMedicine. 42; 101218 (2021).
  2. Md Taj Shafi, Tanvir Bamra, Sushmita Das, Ashish Kumar, Kumar Abhishek, Manjay Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Ajay Kumar, Rimi Mukherjee, Abhik Sen, Pradeep Das. Mevalonate kinase of Leishmania donovani protects parasite against oxidative stress by modulating ergosterol biosynthesis. Microbiological Research. 251;126837 (2021).
  3. Manjay Kumar, Sushmita Das, Abhik Sen, Kumar Abhishek, Md Taj Shafi, Tanvir Bamra, Ajay Kumar, Vinod Kumar, Ashish Kumar, Rimi Mukharjee, Manas R Dikhit, Krishna Pandey, Pradeep Das. Oxidant activated soluble adenylate cyclase of Leishmania donovani regulates the cAMP-PKA signaling axis for its intra‐macrophage survival during infection. Journal of Cellular Biochemistry. 1-15. (2021).
  4. Jaclyn Iannucci, Abhik Sen, and Paula Grammas. Isoform-Specific Effects of Apolipoprotein E on Markers of Inflammation and Toxicity in Brain Glia and Neuronal Cells In Vitro. Current Issues in Molecular Biology. 43: 215-225. (2021).
  5. Syed Waseem Bihaqi, Haripriya Vittal Rao, Abhik Sen, Paula Grammas. Dabigatran Reduces Thrombin-induced Neuroinflammation and AD Markers in vitro: Therapeutic Relevance for Alzheimer's Disease. Cerebral Circulation - Cognition and Behavior. 2: 100014. (2021).
  6. Tanvir Bamra , Taj Shafi, Sushmita Das, Manjay Kumar, Manas Ranjan Dikhit , Ajay Kumar, Ashish Kumar, Kumar Abhishek , Krishna Pandey, Abhik Sen, Pradeep Das.Leishmania donovani Secretory Mevalonate Kinase Regulates Host Immune Response and Facilitates Phagocytosis.Frontiers in Cellular and Infection Microbiology. 11:641985. (2021).
  7. Abhishek Mandal, Manish Kumar, Ashish Kumar, Abhik Sen, Pradeep Das, Sushmita Das. TLR4 and TLR9 polymorphism: probable role in susceptibility among population of Bihar for Indian Visceral Leishmaniasis. Innate Immunity. 10.1177/1753425920965658.(2021).
  8. Haripriya Vittal Rao, Syed Waseem Bihaqi, Jaclyn Iannucci, Abhik Sen and Paula Grammas. Thrombin signaling contributes to high glucose-induced injury of human brain microvascular endothelial cells. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 79 (1): 211-224 (2021).

2020

  1. Jaclyn Iannucci, Shelby L. Johnson , Mark Majchrzak , Benjamin J. Barlock, Fatemeh Akhlaghi, Navindra P. Seeram, Abhik Sen, Paula Grammas. Short-term treatment with dabigatran alters protein expression patterns in a late-stage tau-based Alzheimer's disease mouse model. Biochemistry and Biophysics Reports.24: 100862 (2020).
  2. Ashish Kumar, Sarvanan Vijayakumar, Manas R. Dikhit, Kumar Abhishek, Rimi Mukherjee, Abhik Sen, Pradeep Das and Sushmita Das.Differential regulation of miRNA profiles of human cells experimentally infected by Leishmania donovani isolated from Indian Visceral Leishmaniasis and Post Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis. Frontiers in Microbiology.11, 1716 (2020).
  3. Vinod Kumar, Sushmita Das, Ajay Kumar, Neeraj Tiwari, Ashish Kumar, Kumar Abhishek, Abhishek Mandal, Manjay Kumar, Taj Shafi, Tanvir Bamra, Rakesh Kumar Singh, Vijayakumar Sarvanan, Abhik Sen, Pradeep Das. Leishmania donovani infection induces differential miRNA expression in CD4+ T cells. Scientific Reports. 10: 3523 (2020).

2019

  1. Thomas J Nelson and Abhik Sen. Apolipoprotein E particle size is increased in Alzheimer's disease. Alzheimer's & Dementia: Diagnosis, Assessment & Disease Monitoring. 11: 10 -18 (2019).

2018

  1. Abhik Sen, Thomas J Nelson, Daniel L. Alkon and Jarin Hongpaisan. Loss in PKC epsilon causes downregulation of MnSOD and BDNF expression in neurons of Alzheimer's disease hippocampus. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 63(3):1173-1189 (2018).
  2. Abhik Sen and Jarin Hongpaisan. Hippocampal microvasculature changes in association with oxidative stress in Alzheimer's disease. Free Radical Biology & Medicine. 120: 192-203. (2018).

2017

  1. Abhik Sen*, Thomas J Nelson and Daniel L. Alkon. ApoE isoforms differentially regulates cleavage and secretion of BDNF. Molecular Brain. 10(1):19. (2017).*Corresponding author.
  2. Thomas J. Nelson, Miao-Kun Sun, Chol Lim, Abhik Sen, Tapan Khan , Florin V. Chirila, Daniel L. Alkon. Bryostatin Effects on Cognitive Function and PKCε in Alzheimer's disease Phase IIa and Expanded Access Trials. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 58 (2):521-535. (2017).

2016

  1. Abhik Sen*, Jarin Hongpaisan, Desheng Wang, Thomas J Nelsonand Daniel L. Alkon. PKC epsilon Promotes Synaptogenesis through Membrane Accumulation of the Postsynaptic Density Protein PSD-95.The Journal of Biological Chemistry.291 (32):16462-16476. (2016). *Corresponding author.

2015

  1. Abhik Sen*, Thomas J Nelsonand Daniel L. Alkon. ApoE4 and Aβ-oligomers reduce BDNF expression via HDAC nuclear translocation. The Journal of Neuroscience. 35(19):7538 -7551. (2015). *Corresponding author.
  2. Tapan K. Khan, Abhik Sen, Jarin Hongpaisan, Chol S. Lim, Thomas J. Nelson and Daniel L. Alkon. PKCε deficits in Alzheimer's disease brains and skin fibroblasts. Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. 43 (2): 491-509 (2015).

2014

  1.  Thomas J. Nelson, Abhik Sen, Daniel L. Alkon, Miao-Kun Sun. Adduct formation in liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometric measurement of bryostatin 1. Journal of Chromatography B. 944: 55-62. (2014).

2013

  1. Jarin Hongpaisan, Changqing Xu, Abhik Sen, Thomas Nelson and Daniel Alkon. PKC activation during training restores mushroom spine synapses and memory in the aged rat. Neurobiology of Disease 55: 44-62. (2013).
  2. Abul Hasan Sardar, Sudeep Kumar, Ashish Kumar, BidyutPurkait, Sushmita Das, Abhik Sen, Manish Kumar, Kislay Kumar Sinha, Dharmendra Singh, Asif Equbal, Vahab Ali, Pradeep Das. Proteome changes associated with Leishmania donovanipromastigote adaptation to oxidative and nitrosative stresses. Journal of Proteomics. 81: 185-199. (2013).

2012

  1. Abhik Sen, Daniel L. Alkon and Thomas J. Nelson. ApoE3 but not ApoE4 protects against synaptic loss through increased expression of PKCε. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 287(19):15947-58. (2012).

2011

  1. Rajdeep Banerjee, Sudeep Kumar, Abhik Sen, Ananda Mookerjee, Syamal Roy, Subrata Pal and Pradeep Das. TGF-β-regulated tyrosine phosphatases induce lymphocyte apoptosis in Leishmania donovani-infected hamsters. Immunology & Cell Biology. 89(3): 466-74 (2011).

2010

  1. Nilay Nandi, Abhik Sen, Rajdeep Banerjee, Sudeep Kumar, Vikash Kumar and Pradeep Das. Hydrogen Peroxide Induces Apoptosis like Death in Entamoeba histolytica Trophozoites. Microbiology.156:1926 -1941 (2010).
  2. Awanish Kumar, Abhik Sen, Pradeep Das. Microarray based gene expression: a novel approach for identification and development of potential drug and effective vaccine against visceral Leishmaniasis. International Journal of Advances in Pharmaceutical Sciences.1(1):01-14 (2010).

2007

  1. Abhik Sen, Nabendu Sekhar Chatterjee, Md. Akbar Ali, Nilay Nandi, and Pradeep Das. The 29-Kilodalton Thiol-Dependent Peroxidase of Entamoeba histolytica Is a Factor Involved in Pathogenesis and Survival of the Parasite during Oxidative Stress. Eukaryotic Cell. 6(4): 664-673. (2007).
  2. Wangeci Gatei, Pradeep Das, Phalguni Dutta, Abhik Sen, Vitaliano Cama, Altaf A. Lal, Lihua Xiao. Multilocus sequence typing and genetic structure of Cryptosporidium hominis from children in Kolkata, India. Infection, Genetics and Evolution. 7(2): 197-205. (2007).

2006

  1. Pradeep Das, Seuli Saha Roy, Kakali Mitra Dhar, Phalguni Dutta, Mihir. K. Bhattacharya, Abhik Sen, Sandipan Ganguly, Sujit. K. Bhattacharya, Altaf. A. Lal and Lihua Xiao. Molecular Characterization of Cryptosporidium spp. in children in Kolkata, India. Journal of Clinical Microbiology. 44(11): 4246-9. (2006).
  2. Tanmoy Bera, Nilay Nandi, D. Sudhahar, Md. AliAkbar, Abhik Sen, Pradeep Das. Preliminary evidence on existence of transplasma membrane electron transport in Entamoeba histolytica trophozoites: a key mechanism for maintaining optimal redox balance. Journal of Bioenergetics Biomembrane. 38(5-6):299-308.(2006).
  3. Sampali Banerjee, Abhik Sen, Pradeep Das and Partha Saha. Leishmania donovani cyclin 1 (LdCyc1) forms complex with cell cycle kinase subunit CRK3 (LdCRK3) and is possibly involved in S-phase related activities. FEMS Microbiology Letters. 256:75-82 (2006).

2005

  1. S. Bimal, V.N.R. Das, P.K. Sinha, A.K. Gupta, N. Verma, A. Ranjan, S.K. Sinha, Abhik Sen, S.K. Bhattacharya and P. Das. Usefulness of direct agglutination test in the early detection of subclinical Leishmania donovani infection: a community-based study. Annals of Tropical Medicine and Parasitology. 99 (8) 743-749 (2005).
  2. Debabani Chakraborty, Subha Banerjee, Abhik Sen, Kalyan K. Banerjee, Pradip Das, and Syamal Roy. Leishmania donovani Affects Antigen Presentation of Macrophage by Disrupting Lipid Rafts. The Journal of Immunology. 175: 3214-3224. (2005).

2004

  1. Anjan Debnath, Abhik Sen, James H. Mckerrow and Pradeep Das. Role of DNA Microarray for understanding differential gene expression in Parasitic Diseases. Journal of Parasitic Diseases. 28(1): 5-16 (2004).

Book Chapters:

  1. Sreeparna Chakraborty and Abhik Sen. Cell Cycle Checkpoints in Cancer Rediscovering Cancer: From Mechanism to Therapy by Apple Academic Press (May 15, 2018).