Anirban Sengupta

Biomedical immunologist investigating host immune response against pathogens for discovering mechanistic pathways, disease signatures, biomarkers leading to patient stratification and precision medicine. With over one decade of experience in leading scientific advancement in discovering pathways involved in host immune response against pathogens causing malaria, influenza, coronavirus, sepsis etc focussing on possible links to therapeutic regimens and vaccine efficacy.


Dr. Sengupta was appointed as Postdoctoral Researcher at Centre of Infectious Medicine, Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Huddinge on June, 2023. He is currently working on the sepsis patients in close collaboration with the university hospital with the aim for discovering diagnostic biomarkers and patient stratification with the potential of developing targeted therapy.

My research in last one decade broadly encompasses on the investigating the host immune response against pathogens ranging from bacterial (in Sepsis), viral (influenza and SARS-CoV-2), protozoan (Plasmodium) pathogens. One of the focuses is studying the maturation, activation, differentiation, proliferation of antigen presenting cells, B and T lymphocytes, and inflammation status during post-infection and post-therapeutic interventions. In my work I used deep immunophenotypic profiling of the immune cells to improve diagnosis, prognostication and stratification to tailored therapy. Thorough my work I decipher the mechanistic details and the influence of autophagic regulation on the key antigen presenting cells like dendritic cell and macrophage subsets in eliciting immune response against the pathogen. My work also characterizes the adjuvant functionality leading to vaccine development and influence of seasonal influenza vaccination in diabetic group

Research Positions and projects:

• 2023- : Postdoctoral Researcher, Centre of Infectious Medicine (CIM), Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden: Deep immunophenotyping profiling by multi-colour flow cytometry, proteomics and in-vitro studies to identify disease signature, biomarker and immune pathway regulation in sepsis for designing targeted therapy.
• 2021- 2023: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Biomedical and Clinical Science, Division of Molecular Medicine and Virology, Linköping University, Sweden: Deciphering the disease mechanism by serological analysis, dendritic cell- T cell interaction, inflammatory cytokines and antibody response study in SARS-CoV-2 and Influenza infection in clinical patient samples and mice model. Investigating diabetes-mediated remodeling of vaccine efficacy against influenza infection aiming towards designing vaccine regimen towards the diabetic groups. Developing of universal Nanovaccine and adjuvant characterization against the Respiratory tract infections.
• 2014- 2020: Senior Research Fellow, Immunology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Calcutta, India: Discovering the influence of autophagic regulation on splenic immune cells like dendritic cells and macrophages in modulating the host immune response against the malarial infection. Deciphering the role of TGF-β and IL-6 and Treg/ Th17 balance in immunoregulation in malarial infection
• 2011-2013: Junior Research Fellow at National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, India: Work was based on molecular sub-typing of Breast Cancer genomic signatures in Indian women for therapeutic efficacy prediction and prognostic assessment focussing on deciphering the molecular mechanism of protein–RNA interactions and its role in causing the gene expression change in the disease.

• 2021-2023: Faculty assistance, Linkoping University, Sweden: Taken lab-based practical classes on ELISA for the medical students of the university. Three class days for each semester for three consecutive semesters. Act as the examiners and resource person for the master’s thesis reviewing and presentation. Mentored three students for their bachelors/master’s thesis work. Completed 'Teaching in Higher Education' Pedagogy Course for Teacher's Training.
• 2019- 2022: Guest Lecturer, Dept. of Zoology, Ramakrishna Mission Vidyamandir, Kolkata, India: Taking Degree Level Honours Classes for Zoology. Took the lead responsibility in delivering the lectures and performing practical hands-on laboratory classes. Take responsibility for guiding for the student’s projects. Act as the paper-setter and examiner. The college ranked in Top 10 colleges of India
• 2016- 2020: Guest Faculty, Jadavpur University, Pharmaceutical Technology Department , Kolkata, India: Taught undergraduate students ‘pharmaceutical technology’ with a focus on designing drug and other aspects of pharmaceutical science. Coaching, Teaching, and mentoring the students with individual batches of 50+ students. Worked in close association with the other faculty members of the department to design the assessment methods for the students. Worked as the official paper-setter and examiner for the university. The university ranked in top 10 universities in India.
• 2015- 2019: Student Mentor for the Master’s Thesis and Project Work, University of Calcutta, India: Guided, designed, mentored and prepare five students for their Master’s thesis work at the lab. Licensed to teach in any college/university in India according to National Eligibility Test (NET) Lectureship Qualification.
• 2020- 2021: Academic Expert, Toppr.com: Guiding and Mentoring students all across the country for their future academic pathways and planning for their success in upcoming competitive exams. Designing the structured lesson plan and addressing the student’s needs and requirements and designing customized plans for their success. Worked in close associate with the marketing team for the better success of the platform.
• 2019- 2021: Freelance Biology Faculty for Medical Entrance Exam Training at Pathfinder Institution: Regular Classroom teaching in different centers for both fresh and repeater batch, use of PowerPoint projection, solving MCQs, doubt clearance, use of YouTube video/animation clips for better understanding of key biological concepts.
• 2015-2018: Teaching high school underprivileged students as a volunteer teacher at Calcutta Social Project NGO