SCIENTIST of National Institute for Research in Environmental Health

Dr. Rajesh Ahirwar

Scientist-D
Biochemistry

DATE OF JOINING: 26th December, 2016

E-MAIL: r.ahirwar.nireh@gov.in

EDUCATION QUALIFICATIONS

• Ph.D. (Biological Sciences), AcSIR (CSIR-Institute of Genomics & Integrative Biology, Delhi)
• M.Sc. (Biotechnology), Himachal Pradesh University, Shimla
• B.Sc. (Biotechnology), Barkatullah University, Bhopal

AWARDS

Early Career Research Award, SERB, India (2018)
SERB International Travel Support for symposium "Aptamer-2016" at Oxford, UK
Best Poster Award at International Symposium on Bioengineering 2012, IITG, India
Senior Research Fellowship (2013-2016), CSIR, India
Junior Research Fellowship (2011-2013), CSIR, India
Junior Research Fellowship, DBT- 2011
Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE- 2010 & 2011)

FOREIGN VISIT

Speaker in the 3rd Annual Meeting of the International Society on Aptamers (ISOA) "Aptamer-2016" March 4-5, 2016, held at St. Hilda's College, Oxford, UK

THRUST AREA

• Environmental monitoring and exposure assessment
• Aptamer-based biosensing

PUBLICATIONS

1. Atlani, M., Kumar, A., Ahirwar, R. et al. Heavy metal association with chronic kidney disease of unknown cause in central India-results from a case-control study. BMC Nephrol 25, 120 (2024). DOI: 10.1186/s12882-024-03564-4.

2. Atlani M., Kumar A., Vallamchetla S.K., Reddy S.T., Anirudhan A., Meenu M.N., Sharma R., Ahirwar R. Association of Chromium with CKDand CKDu-Results from case control study from India.. WCN23-0895 (abstract). Kidney International Reports, 2023, 8(3): S179.

3. Ahirwar R, Bhattacharya A, Kumar S. Unveiling the underpinnings of various non-conventional ELISA variants: a review article, Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 2022, 22:7, 761-774, DOI: 10.1080/14737159.2022.2117615.

4. Trushna T, Dhiman V, Bhagwatrao AS, Raj D, Ahirwar R, Shubham S, Nandi SS, Tiwari RR. Environmental monitoring and health assessment in an industrial town in central India: A cross-sectional study protocol. PLoS ONE, 2022, 17(6): e0264154. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0264154.

5. Ahirwar, R. Recent advances in nanomaterials-based electrochemical immunosensors and aptasensors for HER2 assessment in breast cancer. Microchimica Acta, 2021, 188, 317. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00604-021-04963-2.

6. Rani R, Kela A, Dhaniya G, Arya K, Tripathi AK, Ahirwar R*. Circulating microRNAs as biomarkers of environmental exposure to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons: potential and prospects. Environmental Science and Pollution Research. 2021. DOI: 10.1007/s11356-021-15810-5.

7. Ahirwar R, Gandhi S, Komal K, Dhaniya G, Tripathi PP, Shingatgeri VM, Kumar K, Sharma JG, Kumar S. Biochemical composition, transmission and diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2. Bioscience Reports, 2021, 41 (8): BSR20211238. DOI: 10.1042/BSR20211238

8. Ahirwar R*, Khan N, Kumar S. Aptamer-based sensing of breast cancer biomarkers: a comprehensive review of analytical figures of merit. Expert Review of Molecular Diagnostics, 2021, 21:7, 703-721. doi: 10.1080/14737159.2021.1920397.

9. Ahirwar R*, Tripathi AK. E-waste management: A review of recycling process, environmental and occupational health hazards, and potential solutions. Environmental Nanotechnology, Monitoring & Management, 2021, 15: 100409. DOI: 10.1016/j.enmm.2020.100409.

10. Rajasekar N, Sivanantham A, Kar A, Mahapatra SK, Ahirwar R, Thimmulappa RK, Paramasivam SG, Subbiah R. Tannic acid alleviates experimental pulmonary fibrosis in mice by inhibiting inflammatory response and fibrotic process. Inflammopharmacology, 2020, doi: 10.1007/s10787-020-00707-5.

11. Ahirwar R, Dalal A, Sharma JG, Yadav BK, Nahar P, Kumar A, Kumar S. An aptasensor for rapid and sensitive detection of ERα in human breast cancer. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2019, 116: 227–233.

12. Ahirwar R, Sharma JG, Nahar P, Kumar S. Immobilization studies of cellulase on three engineered polymer surfaces. Biocatal Agric Biotechnol, 2017, 11: 248-251.

13. Ahirwar R, Sharma JG, Singh B, Kumar K, Nahar P, Kumar S. A Simple and Efficient Method for Removal of Phenolic Contaminants in Wastewater Using Covalent Immobilized Horseradish Peroxidase. Journal of Materials Science and Engineering B, 2017, 7 (1-2): 27-38.

14. Kumar S†, Ahirwar R†, Rehman I, Nahar P. Moderate reagent mixing on an orbital shaker reduces the incubation time of enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Anal Biochem, 2017, 528: 53-56.

15. Kumar S†, Kumar D†, Ahirwar R†, Nahar P. Exploring the flexible chemistry of 4-fluoro-3-nitrophenyl azide for biomolecule immobilization and bioconjugation. Anal Bioanal Chem., 2016, 408(25):6945-56.

16. Ahirwar R, Vellarikkal SK, Sett A, Sivasubbu S, Scaria V et. al., Aptamer-Assisted Detection of the Altered Expression of Estrogen Receptor Alpha in Human Breast Cancer. PLoS One, 2016, 11(4):e0153001.

17. Das R H, Ahirwar R, Kumar S, Nahar P. Abstract: Microwave-Assisted Rapid Enzymatic Synthesis of Nucleic Acids, ChemInform, 2016, 47 (36), 36(185).

18. Das R H, Ahirwar R, Kumar S, Nahar P. Microwave-Assisted Rapid Enzymatic Synthesis of Nucleic Acids. Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids, 2016, 35(7): 363-9.

19. Ahirwar R, Nahar S, Aggarwal S, Ramachandran S, Maiti S, Nahar P. In silico selection of an aptamer to estrogen receptor alpha using computational docking employing estrogen response elements as aptamer-alike molecules. Sci. Rep. 2016, 6:21285.

20. Ahirwar R, Tanwar S, Bora U, Nahar P. Microwave non-thermal effect reduces ELISA timing to less than 5 minutes. RSC Adv. 2016, 6: 20850-20857.

21. Ahirwar R, Nahar P. Development of a label-free gold nanoparticle-based colorimetric aptasensor for detection of human estrogen receptor alpha. Anal Bioanal Chem. 2016, 408(1):327-32.

22. Ahirwar R, Nahar P. Development of an aptamer-affinity chromatography for efficient single step purification of Concanavalin A from Canavalia ensiformis. Journal of Chromatography B, 2015, 997: 105-9.

23. Ahirwar R, Nahar P. Screening and identification of a DNA aptamer to Concanavalin A and its application in food analysis. J. Agric. Food Chem. 2015, 63(16): 4104-4111.

24. Ahirwar R, Bariar S, Balakrishnan A, Nahar P. BSA blocking in enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays is a non-mandatory step: A perspective study on mechanism of BSA blocking in common ELISA protocols. RSC Adv. 2015, 5: 100077-100083.

25. Das R H, Ahirwar R, Kumar S, Nahar P. Microwave-mediated enzymatic modifications of DNA. Anal Biochem, 2015, 471: 26-28.

26. Ahirwar R, Tanwar S, Parween S, Kumar A, Nahar P. Image-based detection of oligonucleotides -a low cost alternative to spectrophotometric or fluorometric methods. Analyst, 2014, 139(9): 2186-2192.

(Book chapters)

27. Tripathi AK, Rana S, Devika S, Nafees S, Ahirwar R. Gene-Environment Interactions: Implications for Environmental Health. pp. 313-332. In Recent Trends and Advances in Environmental Health, 2019. ISBN: 978-1-53615-662-1 (ebook). Nova Publishers, New York, NY, USA.

28. Ahirwar R, Khan N. Smart wireless nanosensor systems for human healthcare. In Nanosensors for Futuristic Smart and Intelligent Healthcare Systems. Kaushik S, Soni V, Skotti E (Eds). 2022, CRC Press Taylor & Francis Group, Boca Raton, Florida, US. ISBN: 978-1-003-09353-4 (ebk) DOI: 10.1201/9781003093534, pp 265-292.

29. Ahirwar R, Khan N. Aptamer-based point-of-care testing: an overview from past to future. In Aptasensors for Point-of-Care Diagnostics of Cancer: From lab to clinics. Eds. Parihar A, Ranjan P, Khan R. 2023, IOP Publications, United Kingdom. pp. 1-1 – 1-19. DOI: 10.1088/978-0-7503-5012-9.

30. Rani R, Ahirwar R. Management of E-waste. In Waste Technology for Emerging Economies. CRC Press, Taylor & Francis. DOI: 10.1201/9781003132349-4, pp 49-78.