Dipankar Ghosh

We work on early host-microbe interactions, that ultimately define the predisposition and/or outcomes of diseases. The human epithelial surface is continuously exposed to microbes. This epithelium presents the first line of defence against external threats. This defence is not physical barrier alone; but extremely complex array of receptors, signalling cascades and effectors that are key to innate immunity.  We are interested to understand how epithelial and innate immune cells interact with themselves and bacteria with specific focus on bacterial Outer Membrane Vesicles. For this we study nutrition, microbiota and biofilms with specific emphasis on Quorum signalling and the cross talk with innate immune determinants. We are also investigating human lung alveolar innate immunity and cross talk between type 2 pneumocytes and macrophages, using a novel model. These studies help to contribute to the understanding of lethal multiple drug resistant nosocomial infections and sepsis, especially neonatal sepsis which kills thousands of babies in early life. We are currently part of the National Neonatal Sepsis Research Consortium (DBT), one of the largest research programs in India in collaboration with AIIMS, TSHTI, IGIB, NII and ICGEB.  We enjoy productive interactions/collaborations with industry including Avesthagen (B'lore), ITC Ltd. (B'lore), Thermo Fisher Scientific (USA) and start-ups like Barefeet Analytics (Pune). I am also a nosocomial infection control expert and offer consultancy services for antibiotic stewardship and clinical infection control.