The School of Natural Sciences Welcomes New Visiting Faculty to the Department of Chemistry
Srijita Banerjee
The School of Natural Sciences at Shiv Nadar University is proud to welcome four distinguished scientists as newly appointed Visiting Faculty members in the Department of Chemistry. Their exceptional expertise and groundbreaking research promise to enrich our academic ecosystem and foster new opportunities for innovation and collaboration.
Prof. Sandeep Verma – A Trailblazer in Peptide Therapeutics and Chemical Biology
We are delighted to welcome Prof. Sandeep Verma, FNA, FASc, FNASc, FNAE, FRSC (UK), as a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Chemistry. Currently a faculty member at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, he also serves as Professor In-Charge of the Gangwal School for Medical Sciences and Technology and is affiliated with both the Center for Nanoscience and the Mehta Family Center for Engineering in Medicine.
Prof. Verma earned his Ph.D. from the University of Illinois, Chicago, USA, and is internationally recognized for his interdisciplinary research in antimicrobial resistance, peptide-based therapeutics, bionanotechnology, and stem cell chemistry. His group designs antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) to combat drug-resistant pathogens, develops ordered peptide assemblies for targeted drug delivery, and explores how small bioactive molecules can induce stem cell differentiation into bone cells, offering promising strategies for treating bone-related disorders.
Prof. Verma holds honorary adjunct professorships at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University and La Trobe University, Australia. He is an elected fellow of all four major Indian science academies and the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK). Prof. Verma has received numerous accolades, including the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, SASTRA-CNR Rao Award, and has been awarded the JC Bose National Fellowship three consecutive times.
He is also the recipient of the Gold Medal from the Society for Materials Chemistry at BARC, the Silver Medal from the Chemical Research Society of India, and the B. M. Birla Science Prize. Internationally, he has been honored with the J.W.T. Jones Fellowship from the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship, and the Senior Fellowship at the Zukunftskolleg, University of Konstanz, among many others.
He holds 12 granted patents and currently serves as Associate Editor of Chemical Communications (RSC, UK), with past editorial roles in Cell Chemical Biology, ChemBioChem, and the Journal of Peptide Science.
Prof. Pinaki Talukdar – Pushing Boundaries in Supramolecular Chemistry
Prof. Pinaki Talukdar, FRSC, FNA, Professor of Chemistry and Dean of Faculty at IISER Pune, brings a dynamic body of research at the intersection of supramolecular chemistry, molecular machines, membrane transport, and water purification.
His lab focuses on designing supramolecular systems powered by noncovalent interactions with applications in molecular recognition and molecular machines. His pioneering work on artificial ion channels has opened a new route to target cancer, while his artificial water channels aim to address global freshwater challenges. Moreover, his development of fluorescent probes for detecting biologically significant species has far-reaching implications in diagnostics and chemical sensing.
A Ph.D. graduate from the University of Geneva and a postdoctorate from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Prof. Talukdar has held positions at Albany Molecular Research Inc. and the Institute of Life Sciences, Hyderabad, before joining IISER Pune. His numerous awards include the DBT National Bioscience Award, SERB Distinguished Investigator Award, CRSI Bronze Medal, and the C.N.R. Rao National Prize (2025). He is a Fellow of multiple academies, including the Royal Society of Chemistry and the Indian National Science Academy.
Prof. Ruchi Anand – Advancing Structural Biochemistry and Drug Discovery
Prof. Ruchi Anand, FASc, FNASc, FNA, Institute Chair Professor and Head of the Chemistry Department at IIT Bombay, is a leading figure in structural biochemistry and chemical biology. With a Ph.D. from Cornell University, her research integrates X-ray crystallography and biochemical assays to explore the architecture and function of enzymes, with a special focus on purine metabolism and nucleobase deamination. Her work is central to rational drug design and enzyme engineering.
Her exceptional achievements have earned her numerous honors, including the Sun Pharma Science Foundation Research Award, Prof. S.C. Bhattacharya Award, National Women Bio-scientist Award, and Madam Curie Women Scientist Award. She currently serves as President of the Indian Biophysical Society and the American Chemical Society Local Chapter (West Region), and is on editorial boards of journals such as the Journal of American Chemical Society and various American Chemical Society publications. Prof. Anand is also an elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy, the Indian Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of Sciences, India, and actively contributes to international science policy and equity initiatives.
Prof. Sebastian C. Peter – Innovating in Carbon Capture and Sustainable Energy
Prof. Sebastian C. Peter, Professor at the New Chemistry Unit and School of Advanced Materials at JNCASR, Bengaluru, is a pioneering scientist in materials chemistry with a focus on carbon capture and utilization, and sustainable energy research. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Münster, Germany, and leads transformative research projects on converting anthropogenic CO₂ into valuable fuels and chemicals.
Prof. Peter is co-founder of Breathe Applied Sciences Pvt. Ltd., a startup that aligns with India’s green energy goals under the NITI Aayog initiative. His contributions have led to the creation of India’s first DST-funded Centre of Excellence in Carbon Capture and Utilization. His work has been recognized with the National Technology Award, National Startup Award for Sustainability, and inclusion in DST’s list of “75 under 50 Scientists Shaping India.” His team scaled-up the technology CO2 to methanol from the lab to pilot level with a capacity of 500 kg CO2 per day at SCCL (Telangana), first ever in India.
A Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, Royal Society of Chemistry (UK), and International Association of Advanced Materials (Sweden), he is also a recipient of the Ramanujan Fellowship, Swarnajayanti Fellowship, CRSI medal, MRSI medal, MRSI Materials Science Annual Prize, Rajib Goyal prize, SMC Medal, CRS Medal, J C Bose Diamond Jubilee Lecture Award and a finalist in the NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE competition. He has authored over 240 publications and holds six granted patents. Prof. Peter is also part of the Editorial Advisory Board of Journal of the American Chemical Society, Chemical Science, ChemSusChem and Journal of Solid State Chemistry.
We extend a warm welcome to these outstanding scholars. Their presence at Shiv Nadar University will significantly advance our mission to foster excellence in education, research, and innovation in the chemical sciences.