TYPE TO SEARCH

Dr. Varsha Singh
Assistant Professor

varsha.singh@chitkara.edu.in

Expert Areas : Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Transcription analysis, signaling and cellular transduction analysis, medical devices, personalized algorithm, non-communicable diseases (Cardio-renal and type-2-diabetes)

Dr. Varsha Singh is presently an Assistant professor from Chitkara University (2015-present). She has done her Bachelor’s from Kurukshetra University in 2003, Master’s in Biochemistry (Honors) in 2008 and completed her PhD in Molecular Biology from Department of Biochemistry, Panjab University, Chandigarh in 2015.

Dr. Varsha is also the Founder/Director of faculty-based start-up, Medzak Healthcare Pvt. Ltd., incubated at Chitkara Innovation Incubator Foundation, Chitkara University which recently has been funded by Biotechnology Ignition Grant (BIG-BIRAC), Govt. of India. Her start-up innovates in portable, cost-effective, handheld medical devices, and presently she is designing an ocular device for rural and semi-urban areas.

Her academic career spans for over 8 years and she has established Centre for Life Sciences, Molecular Biology & Bioinformatics Division at Chitkara University. She has guided two Ph.D. students and presently guiding four Ph.D. students and mentoring one post-doctorate student.

Her lab focuses on biomarker discovery and network analysis of signaling events in organ crosstalk in non-communicable diseases such as Cardio-Renal and Diabetes/Nephropathy. Her work also focuses on designing machine learning-based algorithms on protein networks. Dr. Varsha was also selected as one of the top 20 delegates from India who presented. Her research and innovations at the 2nd BRICS Young Scientist forum held at Hangzhou, China, 2017.

Her innovations, standing as India’s top 10 finalists, have also been recognized and funded by Intel-DST, where the batch of young innovators was mentored by CEOs from Silicon Valley. She has also received the prestigious Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award (The GYTI Award) in 2016 for her innovation in neuronal stem cells at the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Her innovations have been recognized and awarded at various platforms such as the MedTech Challenge at VIT, Vellore, Falling Walls India (Organized by DAAD Germany), and Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), Govt. of India, and was awarded the BIRAC-TiE Women Entrepreneur Research Award, March 2020 (WiNER Award).

Past/current positions:

Internal Expert (Molecular Biology): Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBSC), Chitkara University (ChitkaraUniv-997)
International Mentor for Global STEM Alliance Program, New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), Spring-Fall, 2016-2018. Projects mentored for STEM:
– Enhancing food sources for micro deficiency,
– Public health for humanity,
– Sustainable consumption.
Senior Research Fellow (2012-2014, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India)

  • Research
  • Teaching
  • Consulting
  • Awards
  • Patents
  • Education
  • Service

Researcher IDs:

  • ORCID:  0000-0003-2743-1487
  • Google scholar link:  https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=QwhidLcAAAAJ&hl=en

Publications:

  1. Dahiya N, Kaur M, Singh Varsha. Potential roles of circulatory microRNAs in the onset and progression of renal and cardiac diseases: a focussed review for clinicians. Acta Cardiologica. 2023 Jun 9:1-5.
  2. Singh Varsha. Current challenges and future implications of exploiting the ‘OMICS’ data into nutrigenetics and nutrigenomics for personalized diagnosis and nutrition-based care. Nutrition. 2023 Feb 10:112002.
  3. Singh Varsha. F1Fo adenosine triphosphate (ATP) synthase is a potential drug target in non-communicable diseases. Molecular Biology Reports. 2023 Jan 30:1-4.
  4. Singh Varsha, Intracellular metabolic reprogramming mediated by micro-RNAs in differentiating and proliferating cells under non-diseased conditions. Mol Biol Rep. 2021 Dec;48(12):8123-8140.
  5. Singh Varsha*#, Rani Raj, Singla Anshu Preliminary Algorithm for a Personalized Diagnosis of Cardiovascular Disease and Dependent Renal Complications using Decision Tree. 2021;87, 175–189. https://doi.org/10.1007/s43538-021-00026-5. Special issue: Indian National Young Academy of Science (INYAS).
  6. Rani Raj, Singh Varsha. Overexpression of YKL-40 (CHI3L1 gene) in patient fluids may be a potential predictive marker for early detection of comorbidity in non-communicable disease Medical Hypotheses. 1;143:110076
  7. Singh Varsha “Can vitamins, as epigenetic modifiers, enhance immunity in COVID-19 patients with non-communicable disease?” Current Nutrition reports. 2020; 13:1-8 (DOI: 10.1007/s13668-020-00330-4).
  8. Singh Varsha. Polycystic kidney disease: a paradigm in major kidney disorders. Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy. 2019; 85(4):863-84.
  9. Mohammad Nooruz Zaman, Singh Varsha *. Effect of blink rate among Visual display terminals and non-Visual display terminal users. Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development. 2019; 10(8):139-44.
  10. Zaman Mohammad Nooruz, Singh Varsha*. Computer Vision Syndrome in Visual Display Terminal users (VDT), 2018, Indian Journal of Public Health Research & Development. 2019. 9:12; 1967-71, doi: 5958/0976-5506.2018.02278.7
  11. Singh Varsha. Digitized Innovative Solutions to Screen and Diagnose Ocular Health and Thyroid Disorders for the Underserved. The BRICS Scientist, Science & Technology Papers. 1:1, 2019
  12. Singh Varsha, and Sherpa Mingma*#. “Neuronal-Like Differentiation of Murine Mesenchymal Stem Cell Line: Stimulation by Juglans regia L. Oil.” Applied biochemistry and biotechnology1 (2017): 385-395.
  13. Singh Varsha. “DCoH: A novel biomarker for diagnosing acute kidney injury.” Medical hypotheses 95 (2016): 27-30.
  14. Singh Varsha*, and Saluja Nitin. “Phylogenetic and promoter analysis of islet amyloid polypeptide gene causing type 2 diabetes in mammalian species.” International Journal of Diabetes in Developing Countries4 (2016): 477-489.
  15. Singh Varsha*, et al. “Hepatocyte nuclear factor-1β: A regulator of kidney development and cystogenesis.” Indian journal of nephrology2 (2015): 70.
  16. Singh, Varsha, and Rupali Panwar. “In vivo antioxidative and neuroprotective effect of 4-Allyl-2-methoxyphenol against chlorpyrifos-induced neurotoxicity in rat brain.” Molecular and cellular biochemistry 388.1-2 (2013): 61-74.

Book Chapters:

  1. Singh V. Digital and Personalized Healthcare System for COVID-19 and Future Pandemics. In-Pandemic Detection and Analysis Through Smart Computing Technologies 2022 Jul 7 (pp. 55-85). Apple Academic Press.
  2. Thakur D, Shyam V, Singh V (2020) Quality Issues in Meat and Poultry Processing Sector. In: Thakur M., Modi V. (eds) Emerging Technologies in Food Science. Springer, Singapore (pp. 47-58).

Other Achievements:

  1. Invited Speaker at invited talk at the Institute of Integrated and Honors Studies (IIHS), Kurukshetra University on “Innovations in Life Sciences” on 20th February 2020.
  2. Invited Speaker at 4th Indo-German Convention Lindau Alumni (IGCLA-2018) Meeting at Kasturba Medical College (KMC), Manipal University, Karnataka.
  3. Travel Award Scholarship, Department of Science and Technology (DST), New Delhi, 2015 (SB/ITS-Y/05264/2014-2015).
  4. FIRST PRIZE in Oral presentation at 7th Chandigarh Science Congress in Biomedical Sciences category, 2013.
  5. FIRST PRIZE in Oral presentation at 43rd Indian Society of Nephrology in “Nephrology in Lab” category, Ahmedabad, Gujarat 2012.
  6. United States Presidents’ Award for Service Learning, Chicago, USA 2001-2003.

Subjects taught:

  • General Biochemistry, Clinical Biochemistry II, Molecular Biology, General Anatomy, Research methodology, Fundamentals of Lab Technology, Clinical Pathology, Advanced Diagnostic Techniques.
  • No. of PhD Students guided: 2
  • No. of PhD Students supervising: 4
  • No. of Post-doctorate supervising: 1
  • Masters’ Students supervised: 2

Workshops/Lectures organized:

  • Three-days’ Workshop on In silico methods and analysis for proteomic, genomic and metabolomic data in Molecular Biology, 24th – 26th September 2020, Convener: Dr. Varsha Singh.
  • Two-days’ Workshop on Grant Writing Process for Innovative and Entrepreneurial Ideas, in collaboration with Indira Gandhi Delhi Technical University for Women, IGDTUW, New Delhi, 30th July to 31st July 2020, Organizer Dr. Varsha Singh.
  • Special expert lecture on Quality management in Research, by Prof. N. Rajini, Kalasalingam Academy of Research & Education, Tamil Nadu, 19th February 2021, Organizer Dr. Varsha Singh.
  • Six-days’ workshop on Data analysis for Healthcare Professionals, With External Experts: Dr. Vivek Verma (Assam University) & Dr. Jitender Kumar (Kurukshetra University), September 20th to 25th September 2021, Organizer: Dr. Varsha Singh.
  • Six-days’ Workshop on Systematic Review and Meta-analysis in Healthcare, In collaboration with Gastrointestinal Infection Society of India, 30thMay – 4thJune 2022, Organizer Dr. Varsha Singh.
  • Six-days’ Hands-on-training cum Workshop on Plasmid Vector Cloning and Cell Culture Techniques 30th October – 4th November 2023, Resource Person: Dr. Varsha Singh.
  • Biochemistry
  • Molecular Biology
  • Biophysical Techniques
  • Cell culture studies
  • DNA-profiling
  • DNA-Protein studies
  • Bioinformatics
  • Phylogenetic analysis
  • Stem cells and Tissue engineering

Young Scientist Achievements:

  1. Top 20 in the 2nd BRICS Young Scientist Conclave, 2017, Hangzhou, China.
  2. Travel Award Fellowship supported by UNESCO to 27th FAOBMB Conference & International Meeting-44th MSBMB Conference as Young Scientist applicant in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, August 2019
  3. Young Scientist Award, IAMBSSCON 2019, PGIMER, Chandigarh.
  4. Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award (GYTI) 2016, President’s Estate (Rashtrapati Bhawan), New Delhi.

Entrepreneurial Awards:

  1. WiNNER, Women Entrepreneur Research Award-BIRAC-TiE, 2020 (Top 16).
  2. Winner of NOVATE+ Exposition for Innovation, Product development prototype grant, 2019.
  3. Winner (2nd Place) MedTech Challenge Entrepreneurship Cell, VITTBI, Vellore, 2019.
  4. Top 10 Innovator in Intel-DST Challenge 2.0, Department of Science and Technology, India, 2017.
  5. Finalist, Confederation of Indian Industries (CII)-8th India Innovation Initiative, 2015.

Memberships:

  1. American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Member ID: 80568 | Member Type: Early Career
  2. Lifetime member: Society of Biological Chemists, India. Member ID: 4213
  3. Full Membership: Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OSWD) | Member ID: 7799

Patents Granted:

Title Inventor Date of filing Application no. Grant date Type of patent
Cyclodextrin-based inclusion polymer as therapeutic agent delivery for treating dental carries and biofilm formation VARSHA SINGH 25/09/2020 440481 25-07-2023 UTILITY
Thyrometer VARSHA SINGH, NITIN SALUJA 01-12-2017 202211045507 16-11-2018 DESIGN

 

Patents Filed:

Title Inventor Date of filing Application no. Type of patent
A wound hydrating composition for topical application and method of preparation thereof VARSHA SINGH 26-11-2021 202111054784 UTILITY
A vector repellent gel formulation and method of preparation thereof MANPREET KAUR, NEHA DAHIYA, RAJ RANI, VARSHA SINGH 09-08-2022 202211045507 UTILITY
Anti-acne scrub soap composition and method of its preparation RAJ RANI, MANPREET KAUR, NEHA DAHIYA, VARSHA SINGH 07-09-2022 202211051130 UTILITY
Pharmaceutical mixture for oral drug delivery VARSHA SINGH 14-11-2022 202211065180 UTILITY
A novel protein-based nano particles comprising cationic-lipid for drug delivery system VARSHA SINGH, VINAMRITA SINGH 09-01-2023 202311001817 UTILITY

 

Patents published:

Title Inventor Filing Date Application No Publication date
Neuronal cells produced from non-neuronal cell line and method thereof VARSHA SINGH 18-11-2015 3770/DEL/2015 19-05-2017
Multilevel human simulator-based device for prediction of type 2 diabetes NITIN SALUJA, VARSHA SINGH, ARCHANA MANTRI 29-01-2016 201611003236 22-12-2017
Digital device for measuring thyroid levels in blood and establishing co-relation with thryroid gland malfunction GURPREET KAUR SAGOO, VARSHA SINGH, NITIN SALUJA 20-07-2016 201611024911 02-03-2018
A portable device for diagnosing ocular health VARSHA SINGH, MOHAMMED NOOR UZ ZAMAN 29-11-2018 201811045181 21-08-2020
Kit for analyzing pd-1 immunological complex VARSHA SINGH 10-06-2020 202011024396 17-12-2021
Cyclodextrin-based inclusion polymer as therapeutic agent delivery for treating dental carries and biofilm formation VARSHA SINGH, RAJ RANI, MANPREET KAUR, NEHA 25-09-2020 202011041762 01-04-2022
An herbal oral hygiene composition and a process for preparing the same NEHA DAHIYA, MANPREET KAUR, RAJ RANI, VARSHA SINGH 11-07-2022 202211039803 06-01-2023
Device for monitoring compressed median nerve VARSHA SINGH 06-07-2021 202111030344 24-02-2023
Oral formulation of anti-inflammatory proteins VARSHA SINGH 22-05-2021 202111022921 03-03-2023
A topical formulation for skin infections comprising eugenyl acetate and an extract of curcuma longa VARSHA SINGH 03-09-2021 202111040071 17-03-2023
  • Ph.D in Molecular Cell Biology (Biochemistry), Panjab University- May. 2009- Feb. 2015
  • Thesis Title: “Studies on Regulatory Effects of Hepatocyte Nuclear Factors-1 Family Transcription Factors on Polycystic Kidney Disease-1 Gene Promoter”
  • Diploma in Forensic Science and Criminology, Panjab University, 2008-2009
  • M.Sc Biochemistry (Honors), Panjab University, 2006-2008
  • Research dissertation– “Chemoprotective effect of Eugenol on Chlorpyrifos Induced Neurotoxicity in Rats”.
  • B.Sc Biochemistry, Kurukshetra University, 2003-2006
  • Senior Research Fellow (2012-2014, Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India)
  • Junior Research Fellow (2011-2012, Fellowship under DST-PURSE, Govt. of India)

Chitkara University

Research

Publications

Quick Links

© 2018 CURIN. All Rights Reserved.