Studying the Impact of Heat Stress on Ahmedabad’s Biodiversity

Rapid urbanisation and climate change will significantly impact urban populations, necessitating novel adaptation strategies to improve wellbeing. Gujarat's Ahmedabad and Surat have recorded a 69% rise in population between 2001 and 2011—additionally, the hot and humid climate results in considerable heat stress. Shomen Mukherjee, an Ahmedabad University professor, will use the land cover and temperature data for Ahmedabad to assess the influences of urban land cover and microclimate on biodiversity and human heat exposure under the NASA Research Opportunities in Space and Earth Science grant.

Recycling Glass Can Enhance Energy Efficiency, Reduce Environmental Impact

Li-ion batteries have emerged as an efficient energy storage device due to their applications in electric vehicles and portable electronic devices. This led to the study of increasing the Li-storage capacity and outperforming the traditional material by replacing graphite with silicon anode. Waste glass, often discarded in landfills, can be recycled into silicon nanomaterials, promoting efficient energy storage and reducing landfill waste. Ahmedabad University Professors Sridhar Dalai and Snigdha Khuntia and research candidate Moulie Ghosh designed a laboratory instrument to synthesise silicon nanomaterial from laboratory waste glass for which the team received a patent from the Government of India's Patent Office.

Advanced Technological Intervention to Improve Survival Predictions for Glioma Patients

The treatment of patients with a severe brain tumour called glioma, which is characterised by poor prognosis and low survival rates, can be better planned through the prediction of survival days (SDs) for the patients. A team of professors at Ahmedabad University has made strides in this direction by studying the development of a robust feature set (data points) to accurately predict SDs for glioma patients.

Possible Role of Primordial Naked Singularities in Formation of Dark Matter in the Early Universe

Gravitational collapse gives rise to primordial naked singularities that may have implications for the present universe, including those on dark matter, vis-à-vis primordial black holes, indicates research conducted by an Ahmedabad University Professor. This research has drawn the attention of renowned German theoretical physicist and author Sabine Hossenfelder, who has featured it on her eponymous YouTube channel.

Novel Approach of Using Nanomedicine in Treatment for Breast Cancer Patients with High Mortality Rate

MicroRNAs play a crucial role in regulating resistance to a specific drug, a novel approach beneficial for breast cancer patients with a high mortality rate. Nanomedicine also contributes to advancements in nanoparticle-mediated disease treatment. It explores the possibility of co-delivering microRNAs and chemotherapy drugs through the use of an immunoliposome-based delivery system to treat HER2-positive breast cancer. This research, conducted by Ashutosh Kumar, Associate Professor at Ahmedabad University, has also attracted attention from the Indian Council of Medical Research.

Unlocking Potential: The Multiple Benefits of Blue Carbon Ecosystems

Blue carbon ecosystems supporting climate change mitigation are seen as important nature-based solutions that can support coastal adaptation and offer a range of benefits. To identify key evidence gaps and support India's mangrove and blue carbon policies and ambitions, the University's Global Centre for Environment and Energy (GCEE) mobilised the scientific community, policymakers, industry, and civil society through a workshop on blue carbon ecosystems.

Making Science Accessible to 2.7 Billion People

Ahmedabad Professor Subhash Rajpurohit, along with a global team of scientists, developed a new pedagogic module for in-classroom DNA extraction using commonly available materials.

Ahmedabad Professor and Researchers at TU Delft Combine Two Nobel Prize-Winning Concepts to Monitor Earth’s Climate and Human Health

Adarsh Ganesan, Assistant Professor, School of Engineering and Applied Science, collaborated with researchers at TU Delft on building a miniature microchip that is of significant importance in monitoring Earth’s climate, for medical imaging, and for applications in quantum technologies.

The Air We Breathe

We spend a staggering 70-80 per cent of our time indoors, be it at the workplace or at home. Yet the study of indoor air quality has received far less attention than the study of ambient air quality. Researchers at Ahmedabad University’s Air and Climate Research Laboratory conducted a month-long indoor air quality measurement campaign on Campus and here’s what they found.

Study Uncovers Role of Impaired Protein Complexes in Alleviating or Aggravating Hybrid Birth Defects

Krishna Swamy, Assistant Professor at the Biological and Life Sciences division, School of Arts and Sciences, was part of a collaborative international study that has discovered the role of impaired protein complexes in alleviating or aggravating hybrid birth defects. This defect can arise at an early stage of speciation and continuously build up to achieve complete reproductive isolation.

A Blueprint for Blue Carbon Sequestration Initiated at Ahmedabad University

Coastal wetlands such as mangroves and salt marshes are increasingly recognised for their tremendous ‘blue carbon’ potential. PhD student Shrutika Parihar and Minal Pathak, Associate Professor at Ahmedabad University's Global Centre for Environment and Energy, in collaboration with the University of St Andrews, Scotland, UK, are using satellite imagery to model coastal wetland trends in the Gujarat region of India. This initiative, along with predictive modelling, will be used to formulate future climate scenarios.

Life of a Field Ecologist

For PhD students at Ratna Ghosal’s Ecology and Environment Lab, research life is all about travelling to zero-network remote destinations where they get on their fours to go through barbed wire, spend hours with muggers, cichlids, and catfish, and return with inexplicable bites and rashes all over.

Novel miRNA Discovery in Saliva to Restrict Invasive Biopsies in Oral Cancer

Researchers of the Oral Cancer Cluster at the Biological and Life Sciences division of the School of Arts and Sciences and oncologists from Ahmedabad’s HCG Cancer Centre led by Vivek Tanavde have made a breakthrough discovery promising to alter invasive biopsies in oral cancer patients.

Pushing Frontiers: From Addressing Grand Challenges to Building Theories for the Future

Faculty at Ahmedabad University, a liberal education-driven research University, work on some very challenging questions of our times. Here’s what research in the labs of our professors recognised in the World's Top 2% Scientists list by Stanford University looks like.

Evolution Within The Season

Groundbreaking research carried out by evolutionary biologists from three eminent global universities - Stanford University, the University of Pennsylvania and Ahmedabad University, proves that contrary to traditional belief, evolution is a rapid process.

Following India’s Plan to Tackle Heatwaves

Minal Pathak, Associate Professor at the Amrut Mody School of Management and the Global Centre for Environment and Energy, and drafting author on the recent report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, was in the UK when the heatwaves disrupted normal life in the region. In a Q&A with The Stepwell, she outlines how India's initiatives to manage heat could help other global cities tackle extreme heat events.

Molecular Communication for Detecting Diseases

Increasingly dissatisfied with the RT-PCR method of confirming Covid, this computer engineering duo studied biology to propose how Molecular Communication can use multiple cytokines to detect not just Covid but other life-threatening diseases

Low-Cost Atmospheric Sensors

An alternative to costly and bulky front-line research equipment used for measuring atmospheric trace species is proposed through the use of many lightweight, new-generation sensors. The research around these low-cost substitutes is driven by Assistant Professor Aditya Vaishya who is currently using the rooftop of our School of Arts and Sciences building as an effective research ground, having installed sensors all around.

Combating Cervical Cancer

Millions of women’s lives could be saved thanks to government funding received by biotech startup Pragmatech Healthcare for a standalone, cost-efficient immunoassay kit that allows detection of cervical cancer in the privacy of your home with minimal technical expertise. CERVICHECK was nurtured at Ahmedabad University's VentureStudio.

Exciting Beginnings in Cosmology

This month’s breakthrough news in cosmology gave us more than one reason for cheer. Sagittarius A* captured by researchers from the Event Horizon Telescope (EHT) Collaboration coincided with the launch of our International Centre for Space and Cosmology anchored at the School of Arts and Sciences. Notably, the Centre’s Director Professor Pankaj Joshi’s JMN (Joshi-Malafarina-Narayan) naked singularity model, proposed and published in 2011 by him and his colleagues, contributed to the modelling of the observations.