Dr Shweta Gautam

I am a molecular biologist with a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from The University of New South Wales (Sydney). I hold a master's degree in Biotechnology and bachelor's degree in Chemistry from India.   

Currently, I work as a Postdoc with the Gastrointestinal Viral Oncology Group, South West Clinical School, Ingham Institute, Liverpool. The group investigates the association of human papillomavirus and related biomarkers in oesophageal adenocarcinoma. I am especially interested in studying the signatures within the human papillomavirus associated and viral negative oesophageal adenocarcinoma using  mutiomics approach.   

My PhD work investigated the sequence preference of anti-cancer drug bleomycin and gamma radiation on telomeric rich plasmid DNA sequences. Briefly, bleomycin is an anti-tumour agent that is clinically used to treat several types of cancers. Bleomycin cleaves DNA at specific DNA sequences and genome-wide DNA sequencing specificity data indicated that the sequence 5'-RTGT*AY (where T* is the site of bleomycin cleavage, R is G/A and Y is T/C) is preferentially cleaved by bleomycin in human cells. By systematic variation of single nucleotides in the 5'-RTGT*AY sequence, this study was able to investigate the effect of nucleotide changes on bleomycin cleavage efficiency. I also examined the DNA sequence specificity of gamma radiation- induced DNA damage in purified DNA sequences. Furthermore, a comparison between the radiation-induced damage plasmid DNA and genome-wide human DNA data was studied.

I have over five years of postgraduate research experience from the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), India. I reviewed the role of Isoniazid (an anti-tuberculosis drug) on Potts’ spine patients while working in the Department of Nuclear Medicine. I also worked in the Department of Histopathology and evaluated the mRNA expression levels in medulloblastoma and primitive neuroectodermal tumours.