Faculty


Daman Saluja (Retd.)

Sr. Professor

Medical Biotechnology
Email: dsalujach1959@gmail.com

Prof. Daman Saluja, is currently a Professor at Medical Biotechnology Laboratory, Dr B R Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research, University of Delhi, North Campus. She got her Doctoral degree in 1986 from University of Delhi, Delhi. Prof. Daman Saluja worked as a Research Scientist in various capacity (1987-1990) at University of Delhi. She then joined New York University Medical Center, U.S.A. where she worked as Assistant Research Scientist at Department of Biochemistry (1990-1993). Later she joined Department of Microbiology (NYU medical Center) and worked as Assistant Research Scientist from 1993-1997.

Dr Saluja joined Dr B R Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research, University of Delhi as Reader in 1997 and later became Professor in 2007. She was also Director of Dr B R Ambedkar Center for Biomedical Research from 2006 to 2010.

Prof Saluja has received several awards and scholarships including National Science Talent Scholarship (1975-1984). She is recipient of Prestigious, INSA Young Scientist Medal and LSS Kumar Memorial Award in 1989 by Indian National Science Academy. On May 11th, 2013 on Technology Day she was awarded ‘The Biotech Product & Process Development and Commercialization Award’ of 2013 by the Honourable President of India for her outstanding contribution in the development of novel method of Beacon based PCR diagnostic kit for Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis. She was also selected for Khorana Program Technology Transfer course 2013 under Indo-US science and technology Forum.

For the past twenty years, Laboratory of Prof. Saluja has been working in the area of Medical Biotechnology. Her primary contribution is in the development of beacon based Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) mediated diagnostic assays for sexually transmitted diseases caused by Neisseria gonorrhoeae and Chlamydia trachomatis and Trichomonas vaginalis, Currently, her lab is working on LAMP based diagnosis of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In collaboration with Industry, Dr Saluja has also designed a low cost, hand held fluorescent reader. More recently, her group has developed low cost, novel method of qPCR for the detection and quantification of bcr/abl transcript for Chronic Myeloid Leukemia (CML) and for acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and are also looking into anti-leukemic activity of plant extracts. She is author of ten patent applications and one Indian and one US patent has been granted. Her laboratory is also looking at regulation of gene expression in eukaryotes using sin3B as a model system. Sin3B is an important co-repressor involved in p53 mediated gene repression under genotoxic and non-genotoxic stress. Their findings suggest that Sin3 plays a pivotal role in regulating cell cycle and apoptosis under conditions of cellular stress. More recently, they have established that Sin3 regulates life span and autophagy in eukaryotes.

Prof Daman Saluja has published more than 85 original research papers in International Journals. She has produced 20 Ph.D. students and more than 50 students have done project work (M.Sc and SURP) under her guidance. She has been invited to more than 40 National and International conferences.

Ongoing Projects:
  1. 01. Prof (senior). Daman Saluja "Medical Awareness, Capability, Patient Empowerment and Partnership for managing Cancer through E Learning, Demonstrations and Public Awareness Events (TPN/48915) Funding Agency : Department of Science & Technology (DST) Grant sanctioned : Rs. 19,63,440/- (2021-24)

  2. 02. Project co-ordinator : Prof. (senior) Daman Saluja "Designing and evaluation of point of care diagnostic assay for detection of MDR Tuberculosis using Loop mediated isothermal amplification combined with lateral flow dipstick" Funding Agency: DBT Grant Sanctioned: 33 lakhs (ACBR) + other institutes Period: 2019-22 Development of a hand held molecular point-of-care test device for infectious diseases (Indo-Canada Impact project)" Funding Agency DBT, 2017-19.

  3. 03. Prof. Daman Saluja "Development of a hand held molecular point of care test device for infectious diseases. Funding Agency: DBT Grant Sanctioned:166 Lakh (ACBR) Period :2017-20

  4. 04. Prof. Daman Saluja "Understanding the role of SIN3, A global transcription regulator in nongenotoxic stress mediated modulation of gene expression Funding Agency:DST Grant Sanctioned:57,72,899/- Period:2016-19

Patents Granted:
  1. 01. A new Fluorescent Beacon probe based diagnostic Tool/Kit for molecular detection of Translocation t(9;22)/ BCR - ABL1 in Leukemic patients and Method of Working for the same patent No: 327607 (application number IN1569/DEL/2013 DATE OF FILING 24/5/13, date of grant: 17.12.19).

  2. 02. A Novel Oligonucleotide-based Diagnostic Probe/Tool/Kit for Tuberculosis Detection and Method of Working for same patent filed in India Patent No: 362827.(Application Number IN 77/DEL.2013) Date of filing: 10/1/13 Date of grant: 24/3/21

  3. 03. A novel beacon-based Diagnostic Probe / Tool/Kit for Detection of Translocation 8; 21 in Acute Myeloid Leukemia patients and method of Working for the same. Patent No:364891 (application number IN 1568/DEL/2013). DATE OF FILING 24/5/13, date of grant: 19.04.21).

  4. 04. Multiplex RT-QPCR based diagnostic for simultaneous detection of Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Chlamydia trachomatis and Trichomonas vaginalis (Application number IN E-2/1514/2021/DEL) filed on 27.10.21

  5. 05. Single step Multiplex RT-qPCR based diagnostic kit for detection of SARS-CoV-2 (Application number INE-12/3224/2021/DEL) filed on 10/12/21.

Selected Recent Publications:
  1. 01. Sharma S, Mittal M, Shukla A, Khan J, Dinand V, Saluja D. (2024) Exploring serine-arginine rich splicing factors: potential predictive markers for dysregulation in oral cancer. BMC Cancer. 2024 Sep 3;24(1):1094. doi: 10.1186/s12885-024-12750-4. PMID: 39227899; PMCID: PMC11373262.Impact factor 3.4

  2. 02. Bhowmik R, Kant R, Manaithiya A, Saluja D, Vyas B, Nath R, Qureshi KA, Parkkila S, Aspatwar A. (2024) Corrigendum: Navigating bioactivity space in anti-tubercular drug discovery through the deployment of advanced machine learning models and cheminformatics tools: a molecular modeling based retrospective study. Front Pharmacol. 2024 Jan 9;14:1340724. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1340724. Erratum for: Front Pharmacol. 2023 Aug 29;14:1265573. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1265573. PMID: 38264524; PMCID: PMC10805011.Impact factor 4.4

  3. 03. Kant R, Khan MS, Chopra M, Saluja D. (2024) Artificial intelligence-driven reverse vaccinology for Neisseria gonorrhoeae vaccine: Prioritizing epitope-based candidates. Front Mol Biosci. 2024 Aug 13;11:1442158. doi: 10.3389/fmolb.2024.1442158. PMID: 39193221; PMCID: PMC11347834. Impact factor 3.9

  4. 04. Konwar C, Maini J, Saluja D. (2024) Understanding Longevity: SIN-3 and DAF-16 Revealed as Independent Players in Lifespan Regulation. J Gerontol A Biol Sci Med Sci. 2024 Sep 1;79(9):glae160. doi: 10.1093/gerona/glae160. PMID: 38894529. Impact factor 4.3

  5. 05. Bhardwaj P, Yadav SK, Jetly S, Saluja D, Taneja J. (2024) Unveiling parental perspectives: COVID-19 vaccination for children in India. J Family Med Prim Care. 2024 Apr;13(4):1481-1487. doi: 10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_1485_23. Epub 2024 Apr 22. PMID: 38827713; PMCID: PMC11142018.Impact factor 1.1

  6. 06. Tripathi D, Kapoor A, Bulbul, Pankaj, Kant R, Saluja D, Sharma M. (2024) Functional annotation of Candida albicans hypothetical proteins: a bioinformatics approach. Arch Microbiol. 2024 Feb 23;206(3):118. doi: 10.1007/s00203-024-03840-9. PMID: 38393407.Impact factor 2.3

  7. 07. Aggarwal S, Narang R, Saluja D, Srivastava K. (2024) Diagnostic potential of SORT1 gene in coronary artery disease. Gene. 2024 May 30;909:148308. doi: 10.1016/j.gene.2024.148308. Epub 2024 Feb 22. PMID: 38395240. Impact factor 3.5

  8. 08. Kant R, Kumar N, Malik YS, Everett D, Saluja D, Launey T, Kaushik R. (2024) Critical Insights from Recent Outbreaks of Mycoplasma pneumoniae: Decoding the Challenges and Effective Interventions Strategies. Int J Infect Dis. 2024 Aug 6:107200. doi: 10.1016/j.ijid.2024.107200. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39117175. Impact factor 4.8

  9. 09. Bareja C, Dwivedi K, Uboveja A, Mathur A, Kumar N, Saluja D(2024). Identification and clinicopathological analysis of potential p73-regulated biomarkers in colorectal cancer via integrative bioinformatics. Sci Rep. 2024 Apr 30;14(1):9894. doi: 10.1038/s41598-024-60715-1. PMID: 38688978; PMCID: PMC11061124. Impact factor: 4.997

  10. 10. Kant R, Kaushik R, Chopra M, Saluja D.(2024)Structure-based drug discovery to identify SARS-CoV2 spike protein-ACE2 interaction inhibitors.J. Biomol Struct Dyn. 2024 Jan 4:1-19. doi: 10.1080/07391102.2023.2300060. PMID: 38174578 Impact factor 3.2

  11. 11. Pawar A, Konwar C, Jha P, Kant R, Chopra M, Chaudhry U, Saluja D.(2023)Bactericidal activity of esculetin is associated with impaired cell wall synthesis by targeting glutamate racemase of Neisseria gonorrhoeae. Mol Diversity Oct.(2023) : doi: 10.1007/s11030-023-10745-0. PMID: 37880544 Impact factor 3.8

  12. 12. Mathur, A., Gangwar, A. and Saluja, D., (2023). Esculetin releases maturation arrest and induces terminal differentiation in leukemic blast cells by altering the Wnt signaling axes. BMC cancer, 23(1), p.387. Impact factor 3.8

  13. 13. Uboveja, A., Satija, Y.K., Siraj, F. and Saluja, D., (2022). p73-regulated FER1L4 lncRNA sponges the oncogenic potential of miR-1273g-3p and aids in the suppression of colorectal cancer metastasis. iscience, 25(2), p.103811. Impact factor: 5.08

  14. 14. Wasnik K, Mittal P, Ghope P, Sonkar SC, Arora G, Saluja D(2022). Multiple sexually transmitted co-infections are associated with adverse reproductive outcomes in asymptomatic adolescent pregnant women; A Prospective cohort study. Frontiers in Medicine (Lausanne). 2022 Nov 17;9:1046233. doi: 10.3389/fmed.2022.1046233. Impact factor 3.9

  15. 15. Konwar, C., Maini, J., Kohli, S., Brahmachari, V. and Saluja, D. (2022). SIN-3 functions through multi-protein interaction to regulate apoptosis, autophagy, and longevity in Caenorhabditis elegans. Scientific Reports, 12(1), p.10560. Impact factor: 4.997

  16. 16. Joshi, R., Singh, P., Sharma, N.K., Ponnan, P., Saluja, D., Gambhir, J.K., Rawat, D.S., Parmar, V.S., Dwarakanath, B.S., Prasad, A.K. and Raj, H.G., 2021. Site-directed mutagenesis in the P-domain of calreticulin transacylase identifies Lys-207 as the active site residue. 3 Biotech, 11, pp.1-7. Impact factor: 2.9

  17. 17. Bhardwaj, P., Yadav, S.K., Saluja, D. and Taneja, J., 2022. Association of ABO blood group with susceptibility, severity and breakthrough COVID-19 infections in Indian Population. infection, 4, p.6.

  18. 18. Yadav, S.K., Bhardwaj, P., Gupta, P., Saluja, D., Jetly, S. and Taneja, J., 2022. Association of gender, age, and comorbidities with COVID-19 infection in India. Journal of Integrated Science and Technology, 10(2), pp.61-66.

  19. 19. Geetika Arora#, Jyoti Taneja#, Priya Bhardwaj, Shorya Goyal, Kumar Naidu, Sunita. K. Yadav, Daman Saluja*, Sunita Jetly* (2022) . Adverse events and breakthrough infections associated with COVID-19 vaccination in the Indian population. J Medical Virology 94(7), pp.3147-3154. https://doi/10.1002/jmv.27708 Impact Factor: 20.67

  20. 20. Jetly S.#, Priya Bhardwaj#,Geetika Arora,Daman Saluja,Sunita K. Yadav, Kumar P Naiduand Jyoti Taneja(2022) Hesitancy and Acceptance of COVID-19 Vaccination amid the Second Wave of Pandemic in India: A General Population Study Asian Pacific Journal of Public health34(4), pp.446-449doi.org./10.1177/10105395221077062 journals.sagepub.com/home/aph Impact factor 1.399

  21. 21. Sharma, V., Sonkar, S.C., Singhal, P., Kumar, A., Singh, R.K., Ramachandran, V.G., Hariprasad, R., Saluja, D. and Bharadwaj, M., 2021. Functional impact of allelic variations/haplotypes of TNF-? on reproductive tract infections in Indian women. Scientific Reports, 11(1), p.627. Impact factor 4.99

  22. 22. Iqbal, M. A. Siddiqui, S. Rehman A U Siddiqui, F. A. Singh P. , Kumar B , Saluja D. (2021) Multiomics integrative analysis reveals antagonistic roles of CBX2 and CBX7 in metabolic reprogramming of breast cancer Molecular Oncology 15:1450-1465 doi: 10.1002/1878-0261.12894 Impact factor: 7.49

  23. 23. Uboveja A, Satija YK, Siraj F, Sharma I, Saluja D. 2020 p73 - NAV3 axis plays a critical role in suppression of colon cancer metastasis.Oncogenesis. 2020 Feb 6;9(2):12. doi: 10.1038/s41389-020-0193-4.PMID: 32029709 Impact factor: 6.18

  24. 24. Kumar D, Narang R, Sreenivas V, Rastogi V, Bhatia J, Saluja D, Srivastava K. (2020) Circulatory miR-133b and miR-21 as Novel Biomarkers in Early Prediction and Diagnosis of Coronary Artery Disease. Genes (Basel). 2020 Feb 5;11(2):164. doi: 10.3390/genes11020164.PMID: 32033332 Impact factor: 3.88

  25. 25. Tanwer P, Kolora SRR, Babbar A, Saluja D, Chaudhry U (2020) Identification of potential therapeutic targets in Neisseria gonorrhoeae by an in-silico approach.. J Theor Biol. 2020 Apr 7;490:110172. doi: 10.1016/j.jtbi.2020.110172. Epub 2020 Jan 20.PMID: 3197217 Impact factor: 2.69

  26. 26. Dwivedi M, Muralidhar S, Saluja D (2020) Hibiscus sabdariffa Extract Inhibits Adhesion, Biofilm Initiation and Formation in Candida albicans.Indian J Microbiol. 2020 Mar;60(1):96-106. doi: 10.1007/s12088-019-00835-9. Epub 2019 Nov 4.PMID: 32089579

  27. 27. Pawar A, Jha P, Chopra M, Chaudhry U, Saluja D. (2020) Screening of natural compounds that targets glutamate racemase of Mycobacterium tuberculosis reveals the anti-tubercular potential of flavonoids .Sci Rep. 2020 Jan 22;10(1):949. doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-57658-8.PMID: 31969615 Impact factor: 3.998

  28. 28. Joon D, Nimesh M, Gupta S, Kumar C, Varma-Basil M, Saluja D. (2019) Development and evaluation of rapid and specific sdaA LAMP-LFD assay with Xpert MTB/RIF assay for diagnosis of tuberculosis. J Microbiol Methods. 159:161-166. doi: 10.1016/j.mimet.2019.03.002 Impact Factor: 3.0