Research Interests: My research work is based on the interface of experimental physical and biophysical chemistry with an emphasis on fluorescence spectroscopy. Currently, in the lab we are looking into the photophysical effects of ligand binding to the organized self-assemblies to study the efficacy of drug delivery systems. Efforts are directed toward designing efficient drug delivery systems which lead to desirable therapeutic objectives while minimizing side-effects. As such, self-assembled micro- or nanostructures, for example micelles, cyclodextrins, liposomes, has remained at the focus as carriers for controlled and sustained release of drugs. Usually, these organized assemblies mimic the bioenvironments and they are used as a space for solubilization of therapeutic and diagnostic agents. The idea is to utilize the combination of biomimicking property of these organized self-assemblies along with the solubilization of the chosen fluorophores with drug-like properties, to develop a model system for an efficient drug delivery system.

The other aspect of the work looks into the sensing of analytes (heavy metal ions or anions) by the fluorophores in these biomimicking media to get a clear picture on the ion detection in biosystems.