Profile
Knowing the cause of a patient’s illness is fundamental for evidence-based treatment and care. Despite the huge impact of reliable diagnostic tools on healthcare decisions, many diseases lack reliable point-of-care tests (POCT) for use in resource-limited settings. My research focuses on developing diagnostic solutions (POC immunoassays) that are reliable in local conditions, affordable, practical, and have high potential for widespread use. My lab primarily concentrates on developing various immuno-diagnostic tests, employing techniques such as monoclonal antibody generation by hybridoma and phage display, production of recombinant antigens and antibodies in E. coli, yeast P. pastoris, and mammalian cells, and test cartridge design using CAD tools and 3D printing. We specialize in developing high-performance lateral flow tests, including multiplexing, utilizing unique nanoparticles (up-converting nanophosphors and europium nanoparticles) to achieve performance comparable to central lab tests.
Current Focus Areas
Development of Immuno-Diagnostics including rapid lateral flow tests, ELISAs and FIAs
Generation of high-affinity monoclonal antibodies against diverse target antigens
Diagnostics for tropical febrile illnesses
Selected Publications
Mehdi F, Chowdhury SR, Yadav S, Kansana JS, Sinha SK, Das SJ, Lodha R, Prakash JAJ, Lamminimaki U, Batra G., Generation of a Large Repertoire of Monoclonal Antibodies against Dengue Virus NS1 Antigen and the Development of a Novel NS1 Detection Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay. Journal of immunology 2022, 209(10):2054-2067.
Martiskainen, I.; Talha, S. M.; Vuorenpaa, K.; Salminen, T.; Juntunen, E.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Kumar, D.; Vuorinen, T.; Pettersson, K.; Khanna, N.; Batra, G., Upconverting nanoparticle reporter-based highly sensitive rapid lateral flow immunoassay for hepatitis B virus surface antigen. Anal Bioanal Chem 2021, 413 (4), 967-978.
Salminen, T.; Mehdi, F.; Rohila, D.; Kumar, M.; Talha, S. M.; Prakash, J. A. J.; Khanna, N.; Pettersson, K.; Batra, G., Ultrasensitive and Robust Point-of-Care Immunoassay for the Detection of Plasmodium falciparum Malaria. Anal Chem 2020, 92 (24), 15766-15772.
Mehdi, F.; Chattopadhyay, S.; Thiruvengadam, R.; Yadav, S.; Kumar, M.; ……..; Batra, G., Development of a Fast SA-CoV-2 IgG ELISA, Based on Receptor-Binding Domain, and Its Comparative Evaluation Using Temporally Segregated Samples From RT-PCR Positive Individuals. Front Microbiol 2020, 11, 618097.
Batra G, Murugesan DR, Raghavan S, Chattopadhyay S, Mehdi F, Ayushi, et al. Trends of humoral immune responses to heterologous antigenic exposure due to vaccination & omicron SARS-CoV-2 infection: Implications for boosting. Indian J Med Res 2023.