Faculty at School of Natural Sciences
Aastha Dheer
Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellow
School of Natural Sciences
Contact Information
- Email: [email protected]
- Ph.D. Life Sciences, Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences, DRDO, Delhi. Degree awarded by Bharathiar University in 2019.
- M.Sc. Biochemistry, Jamia Hamdard, 2012
- B.Sc. Zoology (Honors), Hansraj College, Delhi University, 2010.
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- Postdoctoral Research: Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN, USA, 2020- 2024. (Neuroimmunology Group, PI: Prof. Long-Jun Wu).
- Research Associate: Centre of Excellence for Epilepsy, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, India, 2019. (PI: Dr. P. Sarat Chandra)
Neurodegenerative disorders, Epilepsy, Glial biology, Microglia, Extra-cellular matrix, Behavior and Cognition.
- 2024 “Best Paper Award” at the 42nd Annual meeting of Indian Academy of Neurosciences, 2024.
- 2024 Ramalingaswami Re-Entry Fellowship award by DBT, Government of India, 2024.
- 2018 SERB-International Travel Grant for Society for Neuroscience, 48th annual meeting
- 2015 ICMR travel grant for International Conference
- 2012 NET-LS (Life Sciences), All India Rank 22
- 2012 GATE- Life Sciences
- 2012 ICMR- JRF (Life Sciences)
- 2024 “Best Paper Award” at the 42nd Annual meeting of Indian Academy of Neurosciences, 2024.
- 2024 Ramalingaswami Re-Entry Fellowship award by DBT, Government of India, 2024.
- Member, International Brain Research Organization (IBRO)
- Member, Society for Neuroscience (SFN), 2023
- Life member, Indian Academy of Neuroscience (IAN)
- Life member, Indian Science Congress (ISC)
1. Dheer A, Bosco DB, Zheng J, Wang L, Zhao S, Haruwaka K, Yi MH, Barath A, Tian DS, Wu LJ. Chemogenetic approaches reveal dual functions of microglia in seizures. Brain Behav Immun. 2024 Jan;115:406-418. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2023.11.002.
2. Bosco DB, Kremen V, Haruwaka K, Zhao S, Wang L, Ebner BA, Zheng J, Xie M, Dheer A, Perry JF, Barath A, Nguyen AT, Worrell GA, Wu LJ. Microglial TREM2 promotes phagocytic clearance of damaged neurons after status epilepticus. Brain Behav Immun. 2025 Jan;123:540-555. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2024.09.034.
3. Zhao S, Zheng J, Wang L, Umpierre AD, Parusel S, Xie M, Dheer A, Ayasoufi K, Johnson AJ, Richardson JR, Wu LJ. Chemogenetic manipulation of CX3CR1(+) cells transiently induces hypolocomotion independent of microglia. Mol Psychiatry. 2023 Jul;28(7):2857-2871. doi: 10.1038/s41380-023-02128-6. PubMed PMID: 37365239.
4. Yi MH, Liu YU, Umpierre AD, Chen T, Ying Y, Zheng J, Dheer A, Bosco DB, Dong H, Wu LJ. Optogenetic activation of spinal microglia triggers chronic pain in mice. PLoS Biol. 2021 Mar;19(3):e3001154. doi: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3001154. eCollection 2021 Mar. PubMed PMID: 33739978; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8011727.
5. Kumar R, Jain V, Kushwah N, Dheer A, Mishra KP, Prasad D, Singh SB. HDAC inhibition prevents hypobaric hypoxia-induced spatial memory impairment through PΙ3K/GSK3β/CREB pathway. J Cell Physiol. 2021 Sep;236(9):6754-6771. doi: 10.1002/jcp.30337. Epub 2021 Mar 31. PubMed PMID: 33788269.
6. Kushwah N, Jain V, Kadam M, Kumar R, Dheer A, Prasad D, Kumar B, Khan N. Ginkgo biloba L. Prevents Hypobaric Hypoxia-Induced Spatial Memory Deficit Through Small Conductance Calcium-Activated Potassium Channel Inhibition: The Role of ERK/CaMKII/CREB Signaling. Front Pharmacol. 2021;12:669701. doi: 10.3389/fphar.2021.669701. eCollection 2021. PubMed PMID: 34326768; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC8313424.
7. Wei Y, Chen T, Bosco DB, Xie M, Zheng J, Dheer A, Ying Y, Wu Q, Lennon VA, Wu LJ. The complement C3-C3aR pathway mediates microglia-astrocyte interaction following status epilepticus. Glia. 2021 May;69(5):1155-1169. doi: 10.1002/glia.23955. PubMed PMID: 33314324; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC7936954.
8. Kumar R, Jain V, Kushwah N, Dheer A, Mishra KP, Prasad D, Singh SB. Role of DNA Methylation in Hypobaric Hypoxia-Induced Neurodegeneration and Spatial Memory Impairment. Ann Neurosci. 2018 Dec;25(4):191-200. doi: 10.1159/000490368. PubMed Central PMCID: PMC6470337.
9. Kushwah N, Jain V, Dheer A, Kumar R, Prasad D, Khan N. Hypobaric Hypoxia Induced Learning and Memory Impairment: Elucidating the Role of Small Conductance Ca(2+)-Activated K(+) Channels. Neuroscience. 2018 Sep 15;388:418- 429. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.07.026. PubMed PMID: 30048783.
10. Dheer A, Jain V, Kushwah N, Kumar R, Prasad D, Singh SB. Temporal and Spatial Changes in Glial Cells During Chronic Hypobaric Hypoxia: Role in Neurodegeneration. Neuroscience. 2018 Jul 15;383:235-246. doi: 10.1016/j.neuroscience.2018.04.026. PubMed PMID: 29751055.
Complete list of published work: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1diWzu9GwrXY2q/bibliography/public/
1. Dheer, A., Dixit, A.B., Tripathi, M., Chandra, P.S., Banerjee, J. 2022. Glia in Epilepsy: An Overview. In: Patro, I., Seth, P., Patro, N., Tandon, P.N. (eds) The Biology of Glial Docusign Envelope ID: 2A07BAE7-FBC7-4B0C-8BD4-5B00EB00C1CB Cells: Recent Advances. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16- 8313-8_12.
Invited/Selected Talks
2024 Invited speaker, on World Brain Day 2024 at AINN, Amity University.
2023 Oral presentation, ““Chemogenetic approaches reveal dual functions of microglia in seizures” at the Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology, Annual Symposium, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA.
2019 Invited Speaker, “Basic molecular biology techniques: An Introduction “at Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP), ACBR, University of Delhi, India.
2016 Selected oral presenter for D.M. Kar prize at the annual conference of Indian Academy of Neuroscience (IAN), NBRC, Manesar, Gurugram, India.
2014 Oral presenter “Chronic hypobaric hypoxia induced activation and proliferation of glial cells along with increased cytokines in rat hippocampus.” at 1st IBRO/APRC Chandigarh Neuroscience School, PU, Chandigarh, India.
Poster Presentations
2024 42nd Annual meeting of Indian Academy of Neurosciences, 11-14th November.
2023 Selected for the basic sciences poster highlights session at the annual meeting of American Epilepsy Society, Orlando, Florida, USA.
2023 Annual meeting of Society for Neuroscience, Washington DC, USA. 2022 CMSAN Annual Symposium, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA.
2022 Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, California, USA.
2018 Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, California, USA.
2015 Indian Academy of Neuroscience (IAN), Panjab University, Chandigarh, India. 2015 102nd Indian Science Congress, Mumbai, India.
2015 Gordon Research Conference on Glial Biology, Ventura, California, USA. 2014 1st IBRO/APRC Chandigarh Neuroscience School, PU, Chandigarh, India.
Docusign Envelope ID: 2A07BAE7-FBC7-4B0C-8BD4-5B00EB00C1CB
2013 Indian Academy of Neuroscience (IAN), Allahabad, India.
2013 IBRO-Kemali College, Cortona, Italy.
Oral Presentations:
2023 Oral presentation, ““Chemogenetic approaches reveal dual functions of microglia in seizures” at the Center for Multiple Sclerosis and Autoimmune Neurology, Annual Symposium, Mayo Clinic, Rochester, USA.
2016 Selected oral presenter for D.M. Kar prize at the annual conference of Indian Academy of Neuroscience (IAN), NBRC, Manesar, Gurugram, India.
2014 Oral presenter “Chronic hypobaric hypoxia induced activation and proliferation of glial cells along with increased cytokines in rat hippocampus.” at 1st IBRO/APRC Chandigarh Neuroscience School, PU, Chandigarh, India.
- 2023 Judge poster sessions in Mayo graduate school symposia.
- 2023 Judge poster session and served on steering committee at the Mayo Clinic Young Investigators Research Symposium (YIRS).
- 2024 Mayo Research Fellows’ Association Research Day Abstract Committee Chair.
- 2023-present Review editor, Frontiers in Neurology, Epilepsy
- 2023-present Review editor, Frontiers in Human Neuroscience, Cognitive Neuroscience