Meet The Team
Principal Investigator
Dr. Satheesh Ellipilli
About Me: I was born and raised in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. I earned my B.Sc. and M.Sc. in Chemistry from Andhra University and completed my Ph.D. at IISER Pune under the guidance of Prof. Krishna N. Ganesh, where I worked on fluorinated peptide nucleic acids. I subsequently carried out postdoctoral research at IIT Bombay (Prof. Pradeep Kumar), the University of Utah (Prof. Jennifer Heemstra), and The Ohio State University (Prof. Peixuan Guo), focusing on modified nucleotides, branched oligonucleotides, ribozymes, and RNA nanoparticles for targeted cancer therapy. Outside the laboratory, I enjoy playing cricket, volleyball, and chess.
Current Research: My research focuses on the design and synthesis of unnatural fluorescent nucleobases to investigate DNA and RNA structure and dynamics, the development of RNAi-based therapeutics for liver and breast cancers, and the advancement of nucleic acid-based diagnostic technologies.
Harshini Kurakula
About Me: I am a Ph.D. scholar in the Department of Chemistry at SRM University-AP, working under the supervision of Dr. Satheesh Ellipilli in the Chemical Biology Laboratory. I earned my Bachelor's degree in Botany, Biotechnology, and Chemistry (BBC) from Maris Stella College, affiliated with Krishna University (2016–2019), followed by a Master's degree in Organic Chemistry from KBN College, also affiliated with Krishna University (2019–2021). My current research focuses on the targeted delivery of RNAi therapeutics using milk-derived exosomes for the treatment of liver cancer.
Swetha Vaishnavi
About me: I am from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. I got my Bachelor's degree in Biotechnology, Microbiology & Chemistry (2020) from Andhra University and Master's in Human Genetics (2022) from Central University of Punjab, Bathinda. I joined as a Ph.D. scholar in the Department of Chemistry at SRM University AP working under the guidance of Dr. Satheesh Ellipilli. My research interests are Chemical Biology, RNAi- based therapeutics & Mammalian cell culture.
Mayur Bharat Suryawanshi
About me:I am a Ph.D. scholar working under the supervision of Dr. Satheesh Ellipilli, Chemical Biology Lab, Department of Chemistry, SRM University-AP. I obtained my Bachelor's Degree in Chemistry, (2017-2020) from Ahmednagar college, Ahmednagar affiliated with Savitribai Phule Pune University. I got my Master's Degree in Organic Chemistry (2020-2022) from Ahmednagar College, Ahmednagar affiliated to Savitribai Phule Pune University.
Fathima Begum
About me: I am from Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. I got my Bachelor's degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry and Biotechnology (2019) and Master's in Organic Chemistry (2021) from Andhra University . I joined as a Ph.D. scholar in the Department of Chemistry at SRM University AP working under the supervision of Dr. Satheesh Ellipilli.
Mahesh Asu
About Me: I am from Penugonda, West Godavari. I finished my B.Sc. in Maths, Physics and Chemistry (2022) and M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry (2024), both from Adikavi Nannaya University, Rajamahendravaram, East Godavari. I'm a Ph.D. Scholar working under the guidance of Dr. Satheesh Ellipilli.
Pravallika Vemavarapu
About me: I'm from Ibrahimpatnam, Andhra Pradesh. I did my bachelors in Botany, Zoology and Chemistry (2021) from Krishna University, Machilipatnam. I finished my Masters in Biochemistry (2023) from Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod . I joined as a Ph.D. Scholar in the department of Chemistry under the guidance of Dr. Satheesh Ellipilli.
Claudia Mesa
About me: I am from Adoni, Kurnool district, Andhra Pradesh. I finished my Bachelors degree in Botany, Zoology and Chemistry (2025) from Rayalaseema University. I'm currently pursuing my Masters in Organic chemistry at SRM University AP. I joined as an intern to work on the project "Combinational RNA therapeutics".
Addagalla Varaprasad
About me: I'm from Hyderabad, Telangana. I finished my bachelors in Chemical technology from Loyola college, Osmania university, Hyderabad. Currently, I'm pursuing M.Sc in Organic Chemistry from SRM University AP. I joined as an intern to work on the project-
Dr. Chandra Sekhar Bhatt
PostDoc (2024-25). Currently, he is working as a FONDECYT postdoctoral fellow at Universidad Católica de la Santísima, Chile.
Blessy Srikanth Billa
B.Tech Intern (2023-24). Currently, she is working at Infosys, Mahindra City, Paranur, Tamilnadu.