Tiyasa Haldar
Ph.D. Title:
Role of host metabolites in the virulence of Neisseria meningitidis
I started my journey at the University of Calcutta, where I have completed my Bachelor's degree in Biochemistry, Mathematics and Zoology. It was a great foundation, but little did I know I’d eventually trade broad biology for the high-stakes world of bacterial power moves!
Then I made the jump to Symbiosis International University for my Masters in Biotechnology, diving into a year-long M.Sc. by Research. That’s where things got serious. I completed my dissertation under Prof. Sunil D. Saroj, and the research "bug" bit me so hard that I officially joined his lab as a PhD Scholar in the 2023 batch.
My PhD is all about the mischievous behaviour of Neisseria meningitidis. N. meningitidis resides in its sole host asymptomatically. Having extreme plastic genome meningococci has an arsenal of transporters that let it "snack" on whatever carbon or nitrogen sources the host provides. So, the mystery I’m solving is the diet switch: I’m looking at how changing its "menu" helps the bacteria flip from just hanging out (asymptomatic colonization) to full-on invasion (symptomatic disease). When the host tries to stress it out (hello, oxidative stress), the bacteria just shift their metabolic gears to stay alive. I’m basically figuring out their backup plans. Also, N. meningitidis usually has a favourite colonization site in the body, but I’m investigating how certain metabolites might act like a GPS, guiding it to infect tissues it’s not supposed to be in.