ZEENAT KHATOON

I am Dr. Zeenat Khatoon, Research Scientist in Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), New Delhi, India. My work experience is in nanomaterial based point of care biosensors.

My responsibilities:- a) Synthesizing and characterizing nanomaterials for the fabrication of biosensors.  Selecting the most promising bioreceptors for the detection of the biomarkers ; 

b) Design, develop, and test the nanobiosensors for each biomarker; 

c) To develop a nanoshearing protocol to reduce the unspecific binding and interference issues; 

d) Test and validate the optimized nanobiosensors in complex matrix; 

e) Develop a multiplexed microfluidic system for the detection of all the biomarkers and a smartphone-based readout platform/app in collaboration with the partners.

My thesis deals with the Lung Cancer Identification by the Analysis of Exhaled Breath Using Nanomaterial Based Chemical Sensors. In my PhD work, I have synthesized tin oxide and titanium dioxide and zinc oxide nanocomposites and doped it with different transition metal series (Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu and Zn) by sol gel and hydrothermal technique. Further characterization of the synthesized nanomaterial was done by UV, SEM, TEM, AFM, NMR, FTIR, XRD, DLS and Contact Angle. Electrochemical techniques like Cyclic Voltammetry, Square Wave Voltammetry, Differential Pulse Voltammetry and Electrical Impedance spectroscopy were employed to understand the redox reaction on the surface of nanomaterials fabricated SPE electrode. We have focused on multiple Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) present in the breath sample as a biomarker for early detection of lung cancer. Our study will help in the development and fabrication of sensor that is cheap, easily available and which will help in point-of-care testing. In addition, during my summer training programs, M.Phil. and Master’s dissertation, I have worked on different topics as “Antimicrobial property of silver nanoparticles” , “Application of bimetallic oxide nanoparticles as electrochemical sensor for volatile organic compounds” and “Screening and Synthesis of non-heparin-based Coagulation Inhibitor” where I have learned many different techniques like synthesis and characterization of nanomaterial, Gel Electrophoresis, affinity chromatography, bacterial and mammalian cell line maintenance and many more

PhD in nanotechnology in which I have synthesized and characterized nanomaterials using different techniques.