Apoorva Sastry

Experience

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  CSIR - Central Leather Research Institute

  Jul 2015 - Jul 2015

  Research Intern

  Fabrication of Graphene-chitosan nanomaterials into films, sponges and hydrogels and tested for hemocompatibility andmechanical properties

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  Defence Bio-Engineering & Electro Medical Laboratory (DEBEL)

  Jan 2016 - May 2016

  Research Intern

  Films of Interpenetrating Polymer Network (IPN) of chitosan and glucomannan were synthesized and their nature was investigatedby measuring physical (swelling tests), chemical (FTIR) and biological characteristics (hemostatic properties by testing whole bloodclotting time, anti-microbial properties by testing with E.coli cultures)

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  Columbia University

  Jan 2018 - Sept 2018

  Graduate Research Assistant

  Projects:o Failure in microtubule and kinesin system: Analyzed the raw data from microscope on ImageJ and extracted different patternsof failure (leaving and breaking events of microtubules) and statistical analysis on MATLAB.o pH-controlled glucose oxidase and catalase system: Characterized enzyme activity using spectrophotometer, performed theconjugation reaction of glucose oxidase and catalase after individually modifying them with molecular linkers, purified it bychromatography and ran SDS PAGE gel electrophoresis to visualize the conjugated protein Show less

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  Sia Lab, Columbia University in the City of New York

  Nov 2018 - Jan 2021

  Research Assistant

  Projects:o Lateral Flow Assay (LFA) for COVID-19 rapid detection: Contributed in assay development including the setting up (generalworkflow, material selection and usage of Biodot machine), development (custom conjugation of secondary antibodies with gold,ultrafiltration for concentrating reagents, desalting and buffer exchange) and optimization (concentration of capture antigens, bufferselection, determination of ideal pH and ionic strength) of the LFA.o Miniaturized qPCR device: Optimized preparation and reconstitution of lyophilized reagents which are used in the detection ofCOVID-19 RNA in saliva samples. Tested the reagent’s stability by running PCR (on QuantStudio) and analyzing on the microplatespectrophotometer.o Rapid Diagnostics using mChip Platform: mChip is a Microfluidic Point-of-Care device which replicates ELISA for detection ofvarious diseases with their unique Antigen-Antibody sandwiches. Worked in the optimization of the dilution of the serum sample(Zika), initial functionalization on buffer matrix followed by proof of concept and validation on clinical samples (Lyme disease andCancer with MMP-9 protein detection), optimization of reagents, buffers and comparison with ELISA assay (Leptospirosis).o LASER Speckle imaging: LASER Speckle imagining was used to visualize blood flow patterns in mice treated with surgery in thecollaborative regeneration therapy research. Worked in setting up of the LASER speckle imaging device, mice handling duringimage collection and streamlining the data analysis of the images using MATLAB. Show less

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  MESO SCALE DIAGNOSTICS, LLC.

  Jan 2021 - now

  Research Associate II