Dr. Ashwini Chauhan

 

Google scholar profile.    Citation: 2022     h-index: 18   i10-index: 19

https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=bAoGugoAAAAJ&hl=en

 

RESEARCH SPECIALIZATION

Bacterial physiology and genetics, infectious microbiology, biofilms and animal models, anti-bacterial & anti-persister strategies, vaccines, and drug discovery against infectious diseases, biomedical devices.

Immediate Research Interests:

1. - Biofilms as virulence and AMR mechanism
2. - Bacterial biofilms (tissue as well as device-associated)
3. - Antifouling coatings for medical Devices
4. - Phase variation in bacteria and its role in the pathogenesis
5. - Anti-biofilm and anti-persister strategies
6. - Anti-biofilm vaccines
7. - Host-biofilm interactions (Immunology of biofilm)

FUNDINGS

1. UGC-FRP STARTUP      2019-2021      Rs.10 Lakhs
2. Central Venous Catheter (CVC) associated bacterial biofilm infections: Novel Antibiotic Lock Therapy (ALT) using adjuvants
3. DST/Nanomission          2020-2024     Rs. 89.9 Lakhs
4. In vivo Central Venous Catheters associated biofilm infections: surface treatment using nanomaterials (NMs) to decrease the thrombotic and infection risks3.
5. ICMR                  2021-2024  Rs. 56.6 Lakhs

Devising Multi-Characteristic Surface Coatings for Central Venous Catheters to prevent biofilm colonization and associated infections

SERB-CRG      2022 - 2024       Rs. 29 Lakhs

Bacteriophages and their products for controlling the biofilms of drug resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae

 

Professional Experience

 

Education/Training

 

Memberships In Professional Societies

 

Publications

Research Articles

Published (Total Impact Factor > 220)

1. 1. F. Stressmann, E. Couvé-Deacon, D. Chainier, Ashwini Chauhan, A. Wessel, S. DurandFontanier, M.-C. Escande, I. Kriegel, B. François, M.-C. Ploy, C Beloin, J.-M. Ghigo, Comparative Analysis of Bacterial Community Composition and Structure in Clinically Symptomatic and Asymptomatic Central Venous Catheter., mSphere 2017 Sep 27;2(5). pii: e00146-17. (1)
2. 2. Ashwini Chauhan, J.M. Ghigo and C. Beloin. Study of in vivo catheter biofilm infections using pediatric central venous catheter implanted in rat. Nature protocols 2016 Mar; 11(3): 525- 541 (7)
3. 3. Chalabaev, S. Chauhan Ashwini, Novikov, A., Iyer, P. Beloin, C. Carroff, M. and J.M. Ghigo. Biofilms formed by Gram-negative bacterial pathogens undergo lipid A palmitoylation increasing their in vivo survival. mBio 2014 Aug 19;5(4):e01116-14. (27)
4. 4. D. Lebeaux, Ashwini Chauhan, S. Létoffé, F. Fischer, H. Reuse, C. Beloin and J. M. Ghigo. pH-mediated potentiation of aminoglycosides kills bacterial persisters and eradicates in vivo biofilms. The Journal of Infectious diseases 2014 Nov(1); 210(9):1357-66 (41)
5. 5. Ashwini Chauhan, Bernardin, A.; Mussard, W.; Kriegel, I.; Esteve, M. Ghigo, J.M.; Beloin, C. and V. Semetey. In vivo inhibition of bacterial biofilm development on totally implantable venous catheters by biomimetic glycocalyx-like polymers. The Journal of Infectious diseases. 2014 Nov 1;210(9):1347-56 (21)
6. 6. Chauhan Ashwini, Sakamoto C, Ghigo J-M, Beloin C (2013) Did I Pick the Right Colony? Pitfalls in the Study of Regulation of the Phase Variable Antigen 43 Adhesin. PLoS ONE 8(9): e73568. (19)
7. 7. Chauhan, Ashwini ; D. Lebeaux, J.M. Ghigo, C. Beloin. Full and broad-spectrum eradication of catheter-associated biofilms using gentamicin-EDTA antibiotic lock therapy. Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, 2012 Dec; 56 (12):6310-8. (63)
8. 8. Chauhan, Ashwini; D. Lebeaux, B. Decante, I. Kriegel, M. Escande, J.M. Ghigo and C. Beloin. A rat model of central venous catheter to study establishment of long-term bacterial biofilm and related acute and chronic infections. PloS One, 2012; 7(5):e37281. (50)
9. 9. M. Kiran, Chauhan Ashwini, E. Maloney, R. Dziedzic, S. K. Mukherjee, M. Madiraju and M. Rajagopalan. Mycobacterium tuberculosis ftsH expression in response to stress and viability. Tuberculosis. 2009, 89(suppl1) S70-73 (17)
10. 10. M. Kiran, E. Maloney, H. Lofton, Ashwini Chauhan, R. Jensen, R. Dziedzic, M. V.V.S. Madiraju and M. Rajagopalan. Mycobacterium tuberculosis FtsZ expression and minimal promoter activity. Tuberculosis, 2009 Dec;89 Suppl 1:S60-4 (9)
11. 11. Chauhan, Ashwini, H. Lofton, E. Maloney, J. Moore, M. Fol, M. V.V. S. Madiraju and M. Rajagopalan. Interference of Mycobacterium tuberculosis cell division by Rv2719c, a cell wall hydrolase. Molecular Microbiology. 2006, 62(1); 132-147. (92)
12. 12. M. Fol, Ashwini Chauhan, N. K. Nair, E. Maloney, M. Moomey, C. jagannath, M. V. V. S. Madiraju and M. Rajagopalan. Modulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis proliferation by MtrA, an essential two-component response regulator. Molecular Microbiology. 2006, 60(3); 643-657. (116)
13. 13. Chauhan, Ashwini ; M. V V S Madiraju, M. Fol, H. Lofton, E. Maloney, R. Reynolds, M. Rajagopalan. Mycobacterium tuberculosis cells growing in macrophages are filamentous and deficient in FtsZ rings. Journal of Bacteriology. 2006 March; 188:1856-65. (137)
14. 14. M. Rajagopalan, E. Maloney, J. Dziadek, M. Poplawska, H. Lofton, Ashwini Chauhan, M. V V S Madiraju. Genetic evidence that mycobacterial FtsZ and FtsW proteins interact, and co localize to the division site in Mycobacterium smegmatis. FEMS Microbiol Lett. 2005 Sep 1;250:9-17. (37)
15. 15. M. Rajagopalan, M. A L Atkinson, H. Lofton, Ashwini Chauhan, M. V Madiraju Mutations in the GTP-binding and synergy loop domains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis ftsZ compromise its function in vitro and in vivo. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2005 Jun 17;331:1171. (25)
16. 16. V. C. Kalia, Ashwini Chauhan, G. Bhattacharyya & Rashmi. Genomic databases yield novel bioplastic producers. Nature Biotechnology 2003, 21, 845 - 846 (63).
17. 17. Chauhan, Ashwini ;S . Bhatia and D.K. Maheshwari. A preliminary study on decolarization of triphenyl methane dyes by Coriolus hirsutus. Journal of Indian Botanical Society (2000) 295-297. (0)

 

Reviews

1.   BP Singh, S Ghosh, A Chauhan. Development, dynamics and control of antimocrobial-resistant bacterial biofilms: a                 review. Environmental Chemistry Letters, 1-11 
2. Lebeaux, D. Fernández-Hidalgo, N. Chauhan, Ashwini, Lee, S. Ghigo, J.M. Almirante, B. and C.Beloin (2013) Management of totally implantable venous access port-related infections: challenges and perspectives. Lancet Infect Dis. 2014 Feb; 14(2): 146-59 (78).
3. D. Lebeaux, Chauhan, Ashwini, O. Rendueles and C. Beloin. From in vitro to in vivo Models of Bacterial Biofilm-Related Infections. Pathogens 2013, 2(2), 288-356 (174).
4. Kalia, V. C.; Lal, S.; Ghai, R.; Mandal, M.; Chauhan, Ashwini. Mining genomic databases to identify novel hydrogen producers Trends in Biotechnology. 2003 Vol. 21 (4). (65)

 

Book Chapter(s)

1.  Bhowmik A., Malhotra A., Jana S., Chauhan A. (2021) Biofilm Formation and Pathogenesis. In: Nag M., Lahiri D. (eds) Analytical Methodologies for Biofilm Research. Springer Protocols Handbooks. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-0716-1378-8_1
2. Brij Pal Singh, Sougata Ghosh, Ashwini Chauhan. Control of Bacterial Biofilms for Mitigating Antimicrobial Resistance. Accepted, springers Ltd. 2020
3. Kalia VC, Lal S, Rashmi, Chauhan Ashwini, Bhattacharyya G. In silico reconstitution of novel routes for microbial plastic Microbial Factories: Biofuels, Waste Treatment: volume 2 Springers Ltd. 2015. pp 299-315 Online ISBN 978-81-322-2595-9

 

Progression/Development of my Career

• Assistant Professor - Department of Microbiology, Tripura University 21st Dec 2017 - Present

Research Focus and Responsibilities :

• Teaching M.Sc. students
• In charge, Departmental Journal Club
• Research focus: Understanding Biofilms using animals, Biofilm-immune system interactions. Anti-biofilm strategies.
• Training and mentoring M.Sc. students (1yr research project; 4 students (Class of 2019))

 

Associate Professor - Area of Biotechnology and Bioinformatics, NIIT University 2nd August 2016- Dec 2017

Research Focus and Responsibilities

• Teaching B.Tech students
• Member of Academic council and communication workshop
• Research focus: Understanding Biofilms using animals, Biofilm-immune system interactions. Anti-biofilm strategies.
• Training and mentoring B.Tech students (15 months research project; 4 students)

Key Achievements :

• Mentored Mr. Harshit Jindal, Class 12th 2017-18 to represent his school at India's largest pre-college National Science Fair (Intel-IRIS 2017). He won GOLD MEDAL and represented Team India at Intel-ISEF 2018 (USA).
• Lab student Ms. Yagika Kaushik won Second prize for Poster presentation at ETAMS 2018

 

Chargé de Recherche – R & NCS (Discovery) Bioaster, France 21st Feb 2015 - 20th Feb 2016

Research Focus and Responsibilities :

• Anti-biofilm strategies (Vaccines and Drug Targets: Discovery and Preclinical) Carrying out experimental designs, data analysis and presentations.
• Managing and training a team of 7-8 scientists. Interdisciplinary collaborations
• Writing scientific reports and papers for journals based on observations and experiments.

Key Achievements :

• Preclinical demonstration of potential of UV inactivated S. aureus whole cells obtained from in vivo biofilms as vaccine candidate against Staphylococcus infections using clinically relevant in vivo central venous catheter model.
• Demonstrated the role of specific immune cells in central venous implant associated S. aureus biofilm colonization and infections using a preclinical animal model.
• Preclinical evaluation of S. aureus anti-persister molecules in collaboration with chemists.

 

Researcher - Genetics of Biofilms Unit, Institute Pasteur, France   17th Oct 2008 – 20th Feb2015

Research Focus and Responsibilities :

• Creation and management of original R&D project: Medical device associated complications (infections and thrombosis) and associated mechanisms. Development of a preclinical animal model to study biofilm mechanisms and anti-biofilm strategies.
• Animal study protocol development and approval.
• Responsible for scientific communication, oral/written, at international level Training Ph.D. students and technicians.
• Stock and budget management

Key Achievements :

• Developed a clinically relevant animal model to screen anti-biofilm compounds and anti-biofilm vaccines. Technology transferred to Sanofi Pasteur, France.
• Successfully conducted pre-clinical evaluation of novel approaches to treat persister bacterial cells grown on medical devices — currently under clinical trial in Hospital Neckar (in collaboration with Dr. David Lebeaux)
• Evaluated the preventive efficacy of methylcellulose coatings on commercial central venous catheter using implant animal model in collaboration with Institute Curie, Paris, France.

 

Postdoctoral Researcher - Dept. of Pulmonary Research, University of Rochester Medical Centre, NY, USA      Nov 2007 – Aug 2008

Research Focus and Responsibilities :

• Creation and management of original R&D project: Investigating the role of oxidative stress and Nrf2 in regulation of innate immune response and pathogenesis of major obstructive lung diseases such as COPD and Asthma.

 

Postdoctoral Researcher Biomedical Research Centre, UTHCT, Tyler, TX, USA 1st March 2007 – 30th Oct 2007

Research Focus and Responsibilities:

• Creation and management projects: Conducting studies on cell division of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using molecular and biochemical approaches
• Responsible for the scientific communication, oral/written, at an international level Representing the team in national & international medical/scientific conferences Training & supervision of technical & scientific personnel

Key Achievements

• Constructed and characterized an FtsZ-gfp fusion protein strain to study the Mycobacterium tuberculosis FtsZ (important drug target) inhibitors developed by collaborators at SRI, Alabama, USA.
• Demonstrated that ChiZ (Rv2719) is a hydrolase that inhibits FtsZ in Mycobacterium tuberculosis using molecular and biochemical techniques. Work carried out in BSL3 laboratory

 

Visiting Scientist / PhD Candidate Biomedical Research Centre, UTHCT, Tyler, TX, USA Oct 2003 – Feb 2007

Research Focus and Responsibilities:

1. Creation and management projects: Conducting studies on cell division of Mycobacterium tuberculosis using molecular and biochemical approaches
2. Responsible for the scientific communication, oral/written, at an international level Representing the team in national & international medical/scientific conferences Training & supervision of technical & scientific personnel

Key Achievements :

1. Constructed and characterized an FtsZ-gfp fusion protein strain to study the Mycobacterium tuberculosis FtsZ (important drug target) inhibitors developed by collaborators at SRI, Alabama, USA.
2. Demonstrated that ChiZ (Rv2719) is a hydrolase that inhibits FtsZ in Mycobacterium tuberculosis using molecular and biochemical techniques. Work carried out in BSL3 laboratory
3. Showed FtsH is a protease that degrades the cell division protein ftsZ in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Obtained a Ph.D. degree.

 

Scientific Meetings

2020

1. Surface modifications of Central Venous Catheters to inhibit bacterial biofilm infections. National Conference on Emerging Trends in Applied Materials Science and Surface Engineering-2, BML Munjal University, Gurgaon, India. ( Invited Speaker).
2. Biosafe Ni_1-xZn_xFe₂O ₄ (x = 0, 0.5 and 1) nanoparticle-based gas sensors for diagnosis of medically relevant biofilms. National Conference on Emerging Trends in Applied Materials Science and Surface Engineering-2, BML Munjal University, Gurgaon, India. (Poster Presentation)
3. Treatment of sewage water from different sites in Agartala using ZnO nanoparticles. National Conference on Emerging Trends in Applied Materials Science and Surface Engineering-2, BML Munjal University, Gurgaon, India. ( Poster Presentation)

2019

1. Evaluation Of Anti-Biofilm Efficacy Of ZnO-Nano Rods (ZnO-NRs). Nano-India/DST 2019. Kottayam, Kerala. ( Poster Presentation)

2018

1. Anti-biofilm efficacy of N-acetyl Cysteine (NAC) is pH-dependent. 8th ASM-Biofilm Conference 2018, Washington DC (Poster Presentation)
2. Surface Modifications to prevent biofilm-associated infections on medical devices. National Conference on Emerging Trends in Applied Materials Science and Surface Engineering, BML Munjal University, Gurgaon, India. (Invited Speaker).
3. Antibiofilm Activity of ZnO nanoparticles. National Conference on Emerging Trends in Applied Materials Science and Surface Engineering, BML Munjal University, Gurgaon, India. (Poster Presentation)
4. Biosafety evaluation of Ni_1-xZn_x Fe₂O₄ (x = 0, 0.5 and 1) nanoparticle gas sensors. National Conference on Emerging Trends in Applied Materials Science and Surface Engineering, BML Munjal University, Gurgaon, India. ( Poster Presentation)

2016

1.      Chauhan A, Bernardin A, Mussard W, Kriegel I, Esteve M, Ghigo J, Beloin C and Semetey V (2016). In vivo prevention of biofilm formation and associated occlusion by biomimetic glycocalyxlike polymer in totally implantable venous access devices. Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. Conference Abstract: 10th World Biomaterials Congress. doi: 10.3389/conf.FBIOE.2016.01.00796

2015

1. ASM - Biofilms 7. Chicago, USA (Attended)

2014

1. International conference. ICAAC. Washington DC, USA ( Attended)

2013

1. Fighting catheter-associated biofilms by antibiotic locks and surface treatment. The Stevens Conference: The 2nd conference on Bacteria-Materials interactions. NJ, USA (Oral Presentation)

2012

1. Eradication of in vivo catheter-associated biofilm infection using gentamicin-EDTA lock therapy. 6th ASM-Biofilms meeting, Miami, USA ( Poster Presentation)

2011

1. Modeling of controlled biofilm infection-using rats with totally implantable Port access intravenous cathéter. 21st ECCMID and 27th ICC, Milan Italy (Oral Presentation)
2. In vivo modeling of Biofilm infection using Totally Implantable Port-Access intravenous catheters. Journées Départementales, Saint-Malo, France (Oral Presentation)
3. Modeling of controlled long-term biofilm infection-using rats with totally implantable Port access intravenous catheters. Gordon Research Conferences, Boston, USA ( Poster Presentation)

2010

1. Development of in vivo rat model of controlled biofilm infection. Aéres Evaluation, Institut Pasteur, Paris France ( Oral Presentation)
2. Development of in vivo rat model of controlled biofilm infection in implantable port access intravenous catheters. Biofilm 4 International Conference, Winchester UK (Poster Presentation)
3. Development of in vivo rat model of controlled biofilm infection in implantable PortAccess Intravenous

Catheter. Journées Départementales, Paris, France ( Poster Presentation)

2009

1. Nrf2 inhibits Lipopolysaccharide-induced IL6 secretion in RAW macrophage cell line. American Thoracic Society 2009 International Conference, May 15-20 2009 San Diego, California; 04/2009 ((Poster Presentation))

2006

1. Characterization of a cell division inhibitor from Mycobacterium tuberculosis. International Conference, American Society of Microbiology, Florida, USA (Poster Presentation)
2. Modulation of Mycobacterium tuberculosis proliferation by MtrA, a two-component response regulator. International Conference, American Society of Microbiology, Florida, USA (Poster Presentation)
3. Cell division inhibition in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. International Conference, American Society of
4. Microbiology, Florida, USA (Poster Presentation)

2005

1. Mycobacterium tuberculosis FtsZ: Promoter analysis and visualization of FtsZ-GFP structures in M. tuberculosis. International Conference, American Society of Microbiology, Atlanta, USA (Poster Presentation)
2. Genetic evidence that mycobacterial FtsZ and FtsW proteins interact, and colocalize to the division site. Keystone Tuberculosis Meeting, Whistler, Canada. (Poster Presentation)

2001

1. Studies on degradation of Tri-phenyl methane dyes by Fungus: Coriolus hirsutus. All India Association of Botany, Hyderabad, India ( Oral Presentation)