Vivek Varma

For the past  10 years, I have had research experience in various fields, including Immunology. Currently, I'm working on Leptospira, a zoonotic disease that causes infection globally and is an economic burden. Understand how lipopolysaccharide differentiates the 350 serovars and their specific infection in serovar-specific infection in hosts. The role of LPS (lipid A) in host immune evasion and in developing a vaccine against this dreadful disease. We have led that LPS plays a major role in host immune evasion and can be used as the TLR4 agonist to enhance immune cell recruitment for a better immune response which enhanced the protection efficacy in the hamster Leptospirosis challenge model. Another aspect I'm working on simultaneously is to develop novel adjuvant/ adjuvant systems using natural/chemical immunomodulatory to enhance the current/upcoming animal and human vaccine efficacy. A patent has been filed for the formulation, we enhanced both the humoral and cell-mediated response in a mouse model, and it has been provisionally approved and waiting for the full patent. 

My research experience (involvement) is to study disease pathobiology; screen and identify potential surface molecules to develop a diagnostic, subunit, or attenuated vaccine candidate; develop novel adjuvants or adjuvant systems that elicit a robust immune response. These fields have strived my interest due to their potential applications in vaccine development and fighting against various diseases. Immunological studies of diseases in combination with better adjuvants can lead to the development of vaccines to fight against various diseases and attain sustainable and healthy animals/humans. My research interest started from my post-graduation project at the National Dairy Research Institute (NDRI) under the guidance of Dr. Rajeev Kapila. We tested the effects of various probiotic bacteria on mice’s guts and analyzed the immunomodulation of macrophages and dendritic cells strain-dependently, published in Microbiology and Immunology. After post-graduation, I became a quality control executive in Ravoo’s industry. I was then moved to the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) under the guidance of Dr. Sandeep Goel. I was involved in studying the cryobanking (germplasm conservation) of testicular tissue combined with xenografting is a potential option for conserving rare and endangered species (Theriogenology). I was also involved in the study to develop a low-cost, effective, and disease-free cryopreserving media to replace the FBS. We have succeeded in replacing FBS with buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) ocular fluid (BuOF) in cryomedia by preserving and maintaining the structural integrity of cells (PloS One) and tissues (Cryobiology). 

I am working (Ph.D.) at the National Institute of Animal Biotechnology (NIAB) under the guidance of Dr. Syed Faisal and worked as a student representative for 2.5 years. At NIAB, I’m working on two exciting aspects of immunology, both leading to the development of better or improving the existing vaccine candidates against diseases. Primarily to investigate how Leptospira modulates the host’s innate immune response and can cause infection against the surface-exposed proteins and Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) to establish vaccine or diagnostic candidates. Another field is the development of novel herbal or TLR agonist-based adjuvant systems. Leptospira adhesion protein 21 interacts with TLR-2 and 4, elucidating a robust innate immune response published in Scientific Reports. Elucidate the role of Leptopiral Immunoglobulin-like protein-A variable (LAV) region in modulating the immune response and dissolving the Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) published in Frontiers in Immunology. Also screened were the six surface proteins and their role in immune modulation published in Frontiers in Microbiology. We have used various adjuvants (Alum, ASO4, Oil in water) to check the protective efficacy of the LAV in the hamster Leptospirosis, published in the Frontiers in Immunology. As part of my Ph.D. work, I’ve isolated and characterized the LPS from various serovars to understand the role in Immunocharacterization in different hosts (mouse, human, and Bovine) and immune evasion strategies of Leptospiral Lipid-a (publication under preparation). The Leptospira serovar Pomona lipid-A (PLA), along with the 2% Aluminium hydrogen gel to evaluate the humoral, cell-mediated to long term-immune response and generation of memory than the alum-immunized animal in the mouse model. Furthermore, we tested the protective efficacy of LAV formulated with PLA in the hamster model of leptospirosis (publication under revision). As a part of novel adjuvant system development, we’ve established paraffin-based oil in water adjuvant and natural compounds in addition to the alum. These formulations showed B-cell (humoral), T- cell (cell-mediated) memory response, which correlated with robust innate immune activation mechanism by studying the cells recruitment and antigen uptake in the draining lymph nodes. These results are accepted for a provisional patent and submitted for a complete patent. I also contributed to the scientific fraternity as an official reviewer in the Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in microbiology, PloS One, and Scientific reports.

My research in Dr. Faisal's lab focuses on the role of understanding Leptospiral Lipopolysaccharide in host immunomodulation and evasion strategy to design an LPS-based vaccine. Thus far, the research findings are very enlightening, especially regarding immune evasion and vaccine formulation. As suspected, the research confirmed that Leptospiral LPS is less endotoxic and activates the different host immune responses serovar-specific. We also found that Lipid-A changes (structural modifications) led to the evasion of the host-immune recognition and exploited Lipid-A along with recombinant surface protein as a better vaccine formulation against the dreadful leptospirosis. I also contributed to the group significantly in developing a novel adjuvant formulation that can induce a robust immune response against the desired antigen to fight against diseases. We succeeded in developing an herbal/agonist-based adjuvant that induced both humoral and cell-mediated responses than existing adjuvants; provisionally patented, the complete patent process is ongoing. I gained experience working with various animal models in the ABSL2 facility to check the innate and adaptive immune, memory response, and vaccine efficacy in challenge models.

In addition to my academic research achievements, I worked for 2.5 years as a student representative at the NIAB. During this tenure, I worked with the administration, faculty, and students to resolve problems, facilitate students' necessities, and organize events (sports, cultural, and scientific programs). While working toward my master's degree, I worked on Probiotics at the National Dairy Research Institute, where I studied the probiotic role in the immunomodulation of macrophages and neutrophil cells in a mouse model. I also worked at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, where I was involved and gained experience in germplasm preservation (immature) of conserved animals, xenografting as a tool to mature these tissues, and developed a novel serum-free cryopreservation media.