Manoswini Dash

With expertise in both dry lab and wet lab techniques, I possess a comprehensive skill set in biotechnology and bioinformatics. In the dry lab, I am proficient in bioinformatics, population genetics, multi-omics data analysis (Exome, transcriptome, methylome), spatial transcriptomics, single-cell multi-omics, Xenium in-situ, and scripting languages such as R and bash script. In the wet lab, I am adept in molecular biology techniques, cell line culture, parasite culture, animal handling, and NGS library preparation. My diverse skill set enables me to contribute effectively to research projects, spanning from computational analysis to experimental work, ensuring a holistic approach to scientific investigation.

Centre for Aging, School of Medicine, Tulane University, New Orlans, LA, USA

• Organizing member of the EMBO, Lecture Course on 'Malaria Molecular epidemiology, population genetics and evolution: Principles to practices' organized by ICMR-National Institute of Malaria Research, New Delhi, held on 17th-23rd November 2022.
• Organizing member of the EMBO, Global Exchange Lecture Course (EMBO_GELC) on 'Malaria Genomics and Public Health 2017' organized by ICMR-Centre for Research in Medical Entomology (ICMR-CRME), Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India.
• Handled practical sessions on 'Proteomics, with special reference to protein tertiary structure' a training program on Statistical and computational genomics data analysis, 2011' under NAIP-Consortium at Indian Agricultural Statistics Research Institute, New Delhi.
• Delivered lecture on 'NGS data analysis using CLC Workbench' in ICAR Winter School on 'Recent Advances on Quantitative Genetics and Statistical Genomics' November 2012.
• Supervised and demonstrated a hands-on-session on 'Biological databases and sequence alignment tools' in the workshop on 'Bioinformatics tools for Biomedical Research' held at National Institute of Pathology, New Delhi on 25th March 2015.

• 7th International Conference on Plasmodium vivax Research (ICPvR) 2019 at Institut Pasteur, Paris, France
• Working with parasite database and resources (WGCAC) 2018 at Monash University, Malaysia
• NextGen Genomics, Biology, Bioinformatics and Technologies (NGBT) 2017 at Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India
• Winter Institute in Statistical Genetics (WISG) Abu Dhabi 2017 organized by New York University, Abu Dhabi
• EMBO, Global Exchange Lecture Course (EMBO_GELC) on 'Malaria Genomics and Public Health 2017' organized by ICMR-Centre for Research in Medical Entomology, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, India
• 2nd Bangalore School on 'Population Genetics and Evolution, 2016' at ICTS Bengaluru, India

• Dash M, Mahajan B, Shah S, Dar GM, Sahu P, Sharma AK, Nimisha, Saluja SS. Distinctive cell-free DNA methylation compared to genomic DNA offers an epigenetic insight into the Acute Myocardial Infarction pathogenesis (submitted in Cardiovascular Research)
• Mahajan B, Mehdi Dar G, Dash M, Sharma AK, Nimisha N, Sahu P, Batra V, Saluja SS. Circulating cell-free DNA: Pioneering the Early Diagnosis of Acute Myocardial Infarction (Submitted in Canadian Journal of Cardiology)
• Dash M, Mahajan B, Dar GM, Sahu P, Saluja SS. An update on the cell-free DNA-derived methylome as a non-invasive biomarker for coronary artery disease. Int J Biochem Cell Biol. 2024 Apr;169:106555. doi: 10.1016/j.biocel.2024.106555. Epub 2024 Feb 28. PMID: 38428633.
• Sinha A, Kar S, Deora N, Dash M, Tiwari A, Kori L, Schneider K, Ranford-Cartwright L. India-EMBO Lecture Course: understanding malaria from molecular epidemiology, population genetics, and evolutionary perspectives. Trends Parasitol. 2023 May;39(5):307-313. doi: 10.1016/j.pt.2023.02.010. Epub 2023 Mar 16. PMID: 36933966.
• Dash M, Pande V, Das A, Sinha A. Evolution of tandem repeats in putative CSP to enhance its function: A recent and exclusive event in Plasmodium vivax in India. bioRxiv 2023.11.28.568961.
• Dash M, Sachdeva S, Bansal A, Sinha A. Gametogenesis in Plasmodium: Delving Deeper to Connect the Dots. Front Cell Infect Microbiol. 2022 Jun 15;12:877907. doi: 10.3389/ fcimb.2022.877907.
• Mehdi Dar G, Dash M, Mahajan B. Teerakanchana's equation transcends over 12 other LDL- C quantification formula in the North Indian population. Clin Chim Acta. 2022 Apr 7: S0009-8981(22)00126-7.doi:10.1016/j.cca.2022.04.006.
• Mehdi Dar G, Dash M, Mahajan B. Teerakanchana's equation transcends over 12 other LDL- C quantification formula in the North Indian population. Clin Chim Acta. 2022 Apr 7: S0009-8981(22)00126-7.doi:10.1016/j.cca.2022.04.006.
• De A, Tiwari A, Dash M, Sinha A. ACE2 mutation might explain lower COVID-19 burden in malaria endemic areas. Hum Cell. 2021 Mar;34(2):702-705. doi: 10.1007/s13577-021-00489-0.
• Dash M, Pande V, Sinha A. Putative circumsporozoite protein (CSP) of Plasmodium vivax is considerably distinct from the well-known CSP and plays a role in the protein ubiquitination pathway. Gene. 2019;721S:100024. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2019.100024.
• Siwal N, Singh US, Dash M, Kar S, Rani S, Rawal C, Singh R, Anvikar AR, Pande V, Das A. Malaria diagnosis by PCR revealed differential distribution of mono and mixed species infections by Plasmodium falciparum and P. vivax in India. PLoS One. 2018 Mar 22;13(3):e0193046. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0193046. PMID: 29565981; PMCID: PMC5863947.
• Das A and Dash M (2016) A One-Stop Novel Drug for Malaria Treatment and Control. J Emerg Infect Dis 1:107. doi:10.4172/2472-4998.1000107.
• Rao AR, Dash M, Sahu TK. Behera BK, Mohapatro T. Detection of novel key residues of MnSOD enzyme and its role in salinity management across species. J Genet 94 (Suppl 1), 8–16 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12041-014-0333-8.
• Rao AR, Dash M, Sahu TK, Wahi S, Behera BK, Sharma AP, Bhatia VK. Statistical and bio- computational applications in animal sciences, Indian Journal of Animal Sciences, 84(5):475- 489

• A single-step PCR based diagnostic for detection of Pan-Plasmodium species causing malaria in human, By performing a whole genome scan of 5 Plasmodium species causing malaria in human, we successfully designed a unique set of primer, that can differentiate all Plasmodium species in a single PCR assay. The uniqueness of this primer set is it makes the assay straight forward, by excluding the complexities of multiplexing. Moreover, the robustness of this primer is it can detect those species, that are remain undetected with species-specific primers.
• Functional characterization of putative CSP of Plasmodium vivax in rodent model following reverse genetics approach, The putative CSP of Plasmodium vivax (PvpuCSP) is a locus of evolutionary significance, with no annotation. In this study, we tried to characterize its orthologue in rodent model Plasmodium berghei by gene knockout via homologous recombination. The functional significance of the gene was studied by developing mutant type.
• Malaria and COVID-19 and ACE2, Role of ACE2 in malaria drug delivery system is known and the COVID-19 virus also use ACE2 as a receptor to enter into cellular level. To understand the trend of COVID-19 infection with respect to malaria endemicity, we tried to understand the effect of malaria pressure on prevalence of COVID-19 via ACE2, using the available global and local genotype data. The study helped to understand the overlapping epidemiology of malaria and COVID-19 and how a well-spread epidemiology can regulate the others.
• LDLC estimation vs calculation: the best match formulae, LDLC is an active and passive biomarker for many diseases and a part of lipid profiling tests usually performed. In health care facility, LDLC is usually calculated from TC, HDLC and TG using Friedwald’s formula, as the direct methods are consuming more time and money. However, the values are not accurate at high and low TG, which lead to misinterpret the seriousness of the patient. There are many formulae designed to estimated LDLC, which needs to be checked in Indian population to see if there is any better way to do the same. We estimated LDLC using all the formulae proposed so far and statistically validated in the patients to find out the best match.

• Volunteered in COVID diagnosis by performing RT-PCR tests in COVID-19 samples received by ICMR-NIMR.
• Volunteered in COVAER program (After vaccination follow-up program for CoVaxine) at ICMR-NIMR, New Delhi.

• Date of Birth: 05/23/1985
• Gender: Female
• Nationality: Indian