Arusha Acharyya

Experience

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  Indian association for the cultivation of science

  May 2013 - Jun 2013

  INSPIRE Summer Fellow

  Advisor: Dr. Tapas Chakrabarty• Determined intramolecular interactions and probable structures of naphthalene complexes in gas phase under supersonic jet cooled condition using dispersed fluorescence technique.

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  Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur

  Jun 2013 - Apr 2015

  M.Sc. Student

  Advisor: Dr. Pratik Sen• Developed a novel blue fluorescent label to elucidate the local dynamics of domain-III of human serum albumin protein using steady state (FRET), time-resolved and single molecular level fluorescence techniques.

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  Indian Institute of Science

  May 2014 - Jun 2014

  Kaushal Kishore Memorial & Royal Society of Chemistry (Deccan Section) Summer Research Fellow

  Advisor: Dr. P. K. Das• Designed and synthesized functionalized gold nanoparticles as drug delivery agents to study the effect of surface charge on their interactions with serum albumin protein using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy.

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  University of Pennsylvania

  Aug 2015 - May 2021

  Advisor: Dr. Feng GaiPh.D. Thesis: Development and use of spectroscopic and microscopic methods and probes to elucidate the structure, dynamics, and functions of bio-macromoleculesResearch Experience:• Development and Application of Amino Acid Based Fluorescence and Vibrational Infrared Probes- Developed and utilized 4-cyanoindole nucleoside as a dual fluorescence and IR probe to study interactions in nucleic acids- Developed fluorophores 4-cyanotryptophan and 4-nitrotryptophan as a novel FRET pair to probe structure and interactions in proteins• Probing Folding and Conformational Dynamics of Peptides and Proteins- 1st to demonstrate the directionality of α-helix folding in proteins using site-specific peptide crosslinking and laser-induced temperature jump FTIR technique- Probed the mechanism of interactions of M2 membrane proton channel from Influenza-A virus with amantadine class of drug using single-molecule fluorescence correlation spectroscopy• Elucidating the Effect of Co-solvents and Ionic Liquids Interactions on the Structure and Dynamics of Proteins- 1st to show that osmolyte glycine betaine can act as a denaturant with direct interactions for β-hairpin peptides stabilized by cation-π interactions using calorimetry and 5-cyanotryptophan as a site-specific CD probe- Studied the denaturation of copper-binding multidomain Azurin protein by ionic liquids based on charge and hydrophobicity, using temperature jump time-resolved infrared and CD spectroscopyTechnical Skills:• Physicochemical characterization: UV-Vis, CD, FTIR, Fluorescence, DLS, ITC, ICP-OES, AFM• Microscopy: Confocal fluorescence, Super-resolution PAINT• Specialized spectroscopic techniques: T-jump IR, Stopped-Flow, FRET, TCSPC, Transient IR, Single-molecule, FCS• Chromatography: HPLC, ESI-LC, MALDI-TOF• Solid-phase peptide synthesis, fluorophore labeling• Protein expression, purification: SDS-PAGE, Western Blot• Software: MATLAB, LabVIEW, Gaussian, PyMol, Python Show less

  • Ph.D. Candidate

    Jun 2015 - May 2021

  • Teaching Assistant

    Aug 2018 - May 2019

  • Teaching Assistant

    Aug 2015 - May 2016
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  MIT Postdoctoral Association

  Aug 2021 - Feb 2023

  Advocacy Committee Chair

  • Communicating to the administration on behalf of ~1500 postdocs regarding careers, health care, benefits, and salary• Working with MIT HR to unify postdoc onboarding workshops across 32 departments in 6 schools• Prepared survey report of ~500 postdocs for optimal guidance for relocation and to negotiate housing policies with MIT administration• Organizing committee member of PDA-Buddy program, matching ~350 postdocs for networking

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  MIT Biotech Group

  Aug 2021 - Apr 2022

  Associate

  Conducted the Mentorship Program under Industry Initiative at MIT Biotech Group. Connected ~35 undergrad, grad and postdocs with expert professionals in the biotech field through regular meetings and feedbacks.

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  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Aug 2021 - Feb 2023

  Postdoctoral Research Associate

  Advisor: Dr. Gabriela S. Schlau-Cohen• Probing non-photochemical quenching (NPQ) pathways in energy-harvesting proteins inside membrane environment such as liposomes and nanodiscs using time-resolved single-molecule fluorescence microscopy• Identified membrane-protein and pigment-protein interaction-dependent energy states in a minor light-harvesting protein CP29 in detergent and lipid nanodiscs

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  MIT Biotech Group

  Aug 2022 - Jan 2023

  Industry Initiative Co-director
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  Merck

  Feb 2023 - now

  Senior Scientist