JRF Positions (two) in Bio/Nano group Available
Applications are invited for two Junior Research Fellowships for a project in a broad area of “Microfluidic Devices to Enhance the Overall Capturing Efficiencies of Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs)” at Center for Nano and Material Sciences (CNMS), Jain University, Bangalore, Karnataka, India.

Qualification and Experience:
1. M. Sc. in Chemistry or Nanotechnology or Polymer Science or any related area. Candidate should have obtained at least 55% marks in qualifying degree examination.
2. Preference will be given to CSIR-UGC NET (JRF/LS) or GATE qualified candidate.
3. The ability to work closely and collaborate with colleagues is a must. Proficiency with the English language is required.

Stipend:
Stipend of Rs. 15,000 per month + Rs 1,000 as PF and PT as per university rule, the salary and appointment terms are consistent with the current rules for PhD degree students.

Duration: Initial appointment is for one year, extendable up to 4 yrs based on performance. Objective of the 4 years position is to gain knowledge and experience in an international collaboration environment which should lead into number of peer reviewed articles and review papers, which should complement the PhD thesis.

How to apply: Application should contain a detailed resume, one photograph, contact details including phone number, email and postal address, photocopies of educational/professional qualifications. Please also mention preferred date of joining if selected.

Completed applications should reach A/Prof Mahaveer Kurkuri, Nano-Bio Group, Jain Global Campus, 45 km, NH – 209, Jakkasandra Post, KanakapuraTaluk, Ramanagar District -562 112, Bangalore Rural, Karnataka, India by 15th May, 2014. The applicant can also preferably apply through e-mail (E-mail: kurkuri@gmail.com).

Please also arrange at least two references that may be contacted regarding your recent work. Only shortlisted candidates will be called for the interview. Selected candidates will be intimated by email. No TA/DA will be paid for appearing in the interview.

About the Group and its focus:
The newly formed group has its focus to work on biosensors, microfluidic devices, cancer, lab-on-a-chip devices, and nanotechnology. Currently funding for 2 PhD positions are available immediately in this group to work on the topic “Microfluidic Devices to Enhance the Overall Capturing Efficiencies of Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs)” in collaboration with IISc, Bangalore and University of Adelaide, Australia.

Project Overview:
Cancer is one of the major cause of death worldwide: during the process of malignancy in cancer, the malignant cell detaches from primary tumour (through the process called epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT)) and enters into blood stream; these cells are called Circulating Tumour Cells (CTCs). Some of these cells stop at distant organs inside the body to trigger secondary tumour, from this point onwards the cancer disease turns into deadliest and becomes unstoppable, the stage is called metastasis. Enumerating and quantifying these CTCs from blood samples have provided important information of diagnosis, prognosis and aggressiveness of the cancer which can be translated into custom designed treatment and cancer management strategy.

Project Details:
The main focus of the project is to designing of novel microfluidic devices right from drawing in Auto CAD software or related software to fabricating the devices in PDMS/glass material in clean room facilities for capturing CTCs more efficiently. Enumerating the cells directly from whole blood samples provides prognosis and diagnostic information which can be translated in to custom designed cancer treatment and management strategies. However, a major challenge for scientists to develop an efficient technology to enumerate these CTCs is in their rarity in blood sample, around 10-1000 CTCs for 109 hematological cells. In order to fish out these extremely rare cells from blood samples, commercial product called CellSearch® is available in the market and has been extensively used to date, which is not efficient and the protocol to perform the experiments is laborious. Hence we are proposing a microfluidic based devices to capture these rare cells for enumeration purpose. To date, few microfluidic based devices to capture CTCs have been reported in the literature focusing mainly on cell size, magnetic particle, immunological, electrophoresis and microfluidic design based capture. Here we are proposing to integrate these methods in a single device to improve the efficacy of the devices in capturing these rare CTCs time efficiently. Transparent nature of PDMS offers real time monitoring through microscopes, flexibility of PDMS material offers the possibility of integration of electronic components to realize the dielectrophoresis and ample of hydroxyl groups can offer the possibility of chemical modification.

Facilities available in campus: A very good hostel and mess facilities are available, for more details check http://cnms.jainuniversity.ac.in/Social-facilities.htm

Contact Person:
Dr. Mahaveer Kurkuri,
Associate Professor and Visiting/Adjunct faculty at Adelaide University, Australia
Bio-Nano Group,
Center for Nano and Material Sciences,
Jain University, Jain Global Campus, Jakkasandra Post, Kanakapura Road, Bangalore – 562112
Karnataka, India
Web: http://cnms.jainuniversity.ac.in
Email: kurkuri@gmail.com or mahaveer.kurkuri@adelaide.edu.au