Dr. Anil Kumar P. R

Biography

Academic Qualifications Ph.D in Tissue Engineering; Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Kerala, India.;2007. M. Sc in Biotechnology;Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam, Kerala, India.; 1997. Professional Record Scientist D; Tissue Culture Laboratory, Biomedical Technology Wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Kerala, India; Jan 2008 - to date. Scientist C; Division of Implant Biology, Biomedical Technology Wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Kerala, India; Jan 2008 - to date. Research Fellow - A; Laboratory for Cell and Tissue Engineering, Department of Physiology, National University of Singapore, Singapore; June 2007 - Jan 2008. Project Scientist; Division of Implant Biology, Biomedical Technology Wing, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences & Technology, Kerala, India; June 2006 - May 2007. Honors The DST-IIPA Gold Medal [2009] by the Department of Science and Technology (DST) sponsored program, 8th foundation training program for scientists and technologists, organized by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi. Awards Medi Biotech Award - 2014; Society for Educational and Scientific Research, International Conference on Biosciences: State - of - the - Art Advancements, Kumarakom, Kottayam, Kerala, 11-12 September, 2014. Young Bioengineer Award - 2011; Society for Applied Biotechnology, 2nd National Conference on Biotechnology, Bioinformatics and Bioengineering, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, 24-25 February 2012. Bajpai-Saha Award (1st prize) - 2006; International Conference on Design of Biomaterials (BIND-06) and XVII Annual Meeting of Society of Biomaterials and Artificial Organs India, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, India, December 08 - 12, 2006. Young Scientist Award - 2005; XVII Kerala Science Congress, Trichur, Kerala, India, January 29-31, 2005.

Research Interest

Broad area of research is Cell Technologies which includes in-vitro tissue biology, biological substitutes and functional tissue engineering. The research interest also involves developing new cell based techniques for testing biomedical devices. The lab has the expertise and facility to isolate, characterize and maintain primary culture of Hepatocytes, Liver Sinusoidal Endothelial Cells, Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells, Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Liver Progenitor Cells, Limbal Stem cells, Corneal Endothelial Cells and Skin Keratinocytes. Current studies focus on the development of bioengineered tissues for regenerative medicine as well as for organotypical models. Studies are ongoing in developing 3D in vitro models to bridge the gap between conventional 2D culture and in vivo preclinical experiments. Cell sheet technology is relatively new method in tissue engineering where a thermosensitive polymer grafted surface is used for retrieval of cell monolayer or 3D multilayer without any enzyme treatment. Cells sheet engineering using in-house developed method has been reported for the first time in India. Actively involved in the continuous development of new formulations and new applications of thermoresponsive polymers and bioengineered cell sheet from variety of primary and transformed cells. New ventures are explored to develop functional artificial tissue structures and three dimensional multilayered cell sheets constructs for tissue engineering applications. Efforts are going on to use cell sheet technology and differentiate stem cells such as bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells, adipose derived mesenchymal stem cells, hair follicle stem cells etc to get bioengineered tissues. Another area of interest is the differentiation of liver progenitor cells under in vitro conditions to understand more about liver stem cells and their niche in expressing tissue functions. One of the current researches is to find alternate adult stem cell sources such as for ocular surface regeneration. In the case of extensive tissue damage or loss the availability of functional cells on suitable scaffold is essential for supporting the cell sheet technology. Studies are ongoing to develop degradable scaffolds for skin regeneration.