Research interests

• Investigating the mechanisms underlying DNA damage induced by complex mixtures, with a focus on the formation of diverse DNA modifications (adducts).
• Structural elucidation of DNA, RNA, and protein adducts using advanced mass spectrometry-based approaches.
• Applying adductomics to the development of novel approach methods (NAMs) for improved cancer risk assessment.
• Incorporating DNA and RNA adductome profiling into biological effect monitoring, aiming to enable early detection of chemically-induced stress.

Background

I hold a Bachelor's degree in Pharmaceutical Science from Mumbai University, India, followed by a Master's degree in Drug Chemistry from Newcastle University, UK. My Master's research project, titled “Modelling New Chemistry of Vitamin B12 in the Context of its Protection against Toxins” (2005), was conducted under the supervision of Professor Bernard Golding. I earned my PhD in Environmental Chemistry from Stockholm University under the guidance of Professor Margareta Törnqvist. My doctoral thesis, “Cob(I)alamin as a Quantitative Tool for Analysis, Metabolism and Toxicological Studies of Electrophilic Compounds: Butadiene Epoxides, Glycidamide and Sucralose” (2011), laid the foundation for my continued interest in chemical toxicology. Research visits to Kyushu University, Japan, in Professor Yoshio Hisaeda’s lab (2008) and Uppsala University, Sweden, in Professor Mats Larhed's lab (postdoc, 2011-2013) played an important role in my scientific training.

With the support of both national and international funding, in particular from Swedish Research Council Vetenskapsrådet, Formas and EU Horizon program, I continued on external research grants, including as PI on several projects at ACES. Alongside my research, I have enjoyed supervising and teaching young minds, which mainly included subjects concerning environmental chemistry, metabolism and toxicology.

In 2020, I was awarded the title of Docent (Associate Professor), marking a transition point in my career as I moved into industry. Currently, I serve as Study Director and Biotransformation Specialist at MetaSafe Sweden AB, where I work with a dynamic team to address questions related to metabolite safety. I maintain an active academic connection with ACES, where I continue to contribute to research and teaching, particularly in the field of environmental adductomics and toxicology.