Dr. Macha did his Masters in Biochemistry from Jamia Hamdard, New Delhi, India. He qualified several National level competition exams and was awarded the Junior Research Fellowship (NET-JRF). In year 2005, he joined his doctoral program on Head and Neck Cancers (HNCs) in the Department of Biochemistry at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India, which is a premier institute of biomedical research in India. During his five years of doctoral training, he worked on the (a) identification of early diagnostic/ prognostic markers (b) anti-cancer activities of natural products on smokeless Tobacco (ST)/nicotine induced oral cancer models (c) identification and characterization of biomarkers as surrogate end points in clinical trials using natural products for advanced HNCs. His doctoral work besides identifying early diagnostic/prognostic markers, facilitated the identification of several molecular targets of ST and nicotine using the in vitro models and provided the molecular basis for the use of GS for chemoprevention of oral carcinogenesis.

After joining Dr. Batra’s lab as a post-doctoral fellow in 2011 at University of Nebraska Medical Center, USA, he is extensively involved in identifying the novel mechanisms and signaling alterations associated with mucins in HNC pathogenesis using in vitro and in vivo models. His studies have revealed that mucin MUC4 is differentially upregulated in HNCs and prevents cells from undergoing cell Senescence (cell cycle arrest) thereby increases cell proliferation and survival of HNC cells. Over all, with 10 years of research experience in HNCs, he is sure that his studies will help to unravel novel insights into the involvement of mucins in HNC pathogenesis, identify novel diagnostic/ prognosticators and therapeutic targets to combat this deadly disease.

Research Interest
Animal handling: Oral cavity/pancreatic cancer orthotopic and subcutaneous xenograft models