Anusha Ashokan earned her Bachelors (B. Tech) in Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering from Kerala University, her Masters (M. Tech) and PhD in Nanomedical Sciences from Centre for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham. After her PhD in 2014, she joined as a Research Scientist at Amrita Centre for Nanosciences and Molecular Medicine (ACNSMM), when she focused on the translational challenges of calcium phosphate nanoparticle based therapeutics. In 2016, she joined as DST Inspire Faculty at the Department of Biotechnology in Cochin University of Science and Technology. She is also associated with ACNSMM as an Adjunct Faculty.

Research
Her team focuses on the engineering of materials for activation of immune cells for cancer immunotherapy applications. Specific focus areas
• Activation of γδT cells by altering biodistribution of bisphosphonates using biomaterials
• Engineering different material compositions as adjuvants for cytotoxic T cell activation against cancer
• Lymph node trafficking nanoparticles for development of therapeutic cancer vaccines

Honors and Awards
• SERB Early Career Research Award from Department of Science and Technology, 2016,
• Inspire Faculty Award, Department of Science and Technology, 2016
• Young Scientist Travel Grant, CICS, Indian National Science Academy, 2015.
• Senior Research Fellowship, Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR, 2012-2014),
• Travel Grant by Elsevier and A star Institute of Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, Singapore for presentation at 4th Nanotoday Conference, Dubai, 2015
• GATE Qualified, 2007.

Publications
1. Anusha Ashokan, Menon D, Nair S, Koyakutty M. A molecular receptor targeted, hydroxyapatite nanocrystal based multi-modal contrast agent. Biomaterials, 2010, 31(9), 2606–2616.

2. Anusha Ashokan, Somasundaram VH, Gowd GS, Anna M, Malarvizhi GL, Sridharan B, Jobanputra RB, Peethambaran R, Unni AKK, Nair S, Koyakutty M. Biomineral Nano-Theranostic agent for Magnetic Resonance Image Guided, Augmented Radiofrequency Ablation of Liver Tumor. Sci Rep. 2017 Nov 3;7(1):14481.

3. Sasidharan A, Leela S. Panchakarla, Aparna R. Sadanandan, Anusha Ashokan, Chandran P, Chundayil Madathil Girish, Menon D, Shantikumar V. Nair, C. N. R. Rao and Koyakutty M. Hemocompatibility and macrophage response of pristine and functionalized graphene. Small. 2012;8(8):1251–63.

4. Ganesh N, Anusha Ashokan, Rajeshkannan R, Chennazhi K, Koyakutty M, Nair SV. MR functional nano-hydroxyapatite incorporated PCL composite scaffolds for in situ monitoring of bone tissue regeneration by MRI. Tissue Eng Part A. 2014;20 (19-20):2783-94 A.

5. Vadera N, Anusha Ashokan, Gowd GS, K.M. Sajesh, R.P. Chauhan, R. Jayakumar, Nair SV, Koyakutty K. Manganese doped nano-bioactive glass for magnetic resonance imaging. Material Letters. 2015;160:335-338.

6. Somasundaram VH, R Pillai, G Malarvizhi, Anusha Ashokan, S Gowd, Peethambaran R, Palaniswamy S, Unni AKK, Nair S, and Koyakutty M. Biodegradable Radiofrequency Responsive Nanoparticles for Augmented Thermal Ablation Combined with Triggered Drug Release in Liver Tumors. ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, 2016, 2 (5), 768-779.

7. Ramachandran R, Junnuthula VR, Gowd GS, Anusha Ashokan, Thomas J, Peethambaran R, Thomas A, Unni AK, Panikar D, Nair SV, Koyakutty M. Theranostic 3-Dimensional nano brain-implant for prolonged and localized treatment of recurrent glioma. Scientific Reports. 2017, 7, Article number: 43271.

Pubmed link to publications: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=anusha+ashokan

Patents filed

1. The Art, Method, Manner, Process and System of multifunctional nanobiomaerial for molecular imaging and drug delivery. Application No.2633/CHE/2009. PCT/IN2013/000142.

2. The Art, Method, Manner, Process and System ofnano-biomineral for multimodal contrast imaging and drug delivery. Application No.25/CHE/2012. PCT/IN2013/000143.

3. Radio-wave Responsive Doped Nanoparticles For Image Guided Therapeutics. Application No: 6495/CHE/2015.

4. Non-iodinated radiolabeled radiopaque microbeads with MRI contrast for radioembolization. PCT/US2017/033486.

5. MRI and CT contrast-enabled composite implants for image-guided tissue regeneration and therapy. PCT/US2017/020793.