Our team

At our Lab, we are passionate about making a difference through our research. Our team brings together diverse expertise and experiences to tackle complex challenges and drive meaningful impact. We are driven by curiosity, creativity, and a shared commitment to excellence. Together, we foster a culture of collaboration, mentorship, and continuous learning.

Meet Our Team

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Dr.Nanasaheb Thorat

Associate Professor, Department of Physics,

Bernal Institute & LDCRC University of Limerick

Nanasaheb.D.Thorat@ul.ie

Nanasaheb Thorat is an Associate Professor in the Department of Physics and the Bernal Institute, jointly associated with Limerick Digital Cancer Research Centre (LDCRC) at the University of Limerick. Ken has > 14 years of research experience and his research focuses on cancer nanomedicines with a particular focus on magnetic, gold, lipid nanoparticle systems, magnetic field and light activated cancer therapies and next generation 3D cancer cell spheroid models. Dr Nanasaheb Thorat is a Science Foundation Ireland and Irish Research Council funded Principal Investigator at the Department of Physics, University of Limerick.

He is a three time winner of the prestigious Marie Curie Fellowships: Politechnika Wrocławska (2018-2020) University of Oxford (2020-2022) and Marie Curie Global Fellowships Harvard Medical School/Queens University Belfast (2022) and the first Indian awardee of the European Commission’s Innovation Radar “Grand Prix of the Innovation Radar Prize 2020.” He is a recipent of JSPS Fellowship, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Fellowship (Japan-2017) and PBC Outstanding Fellowship, The Planning and Budgeting Committee (PBC) Govt. of Israel Fellowship (Israel 2015). Dr. Thorat has 125 publications to his credit including 95 peer-reviewed SCI journal research papers, 7 Books, 25 book chapters, 1 European patent filled, 2 European innovations/inventions registered in European Union’s Innovation Radar Project, presented 5 Keynote Speech, 25 invited talks at prestigious scientific peer-conferences in Singapore, France, Germany, USA, Ireland, Poland, South Korea, and India, received international acclaims and awards for research contribution, generated research fund in excess of > €1.5 M, supervised students/junior researchers and actively participated in outreach and scientific dissemination for the service of the wider community.

Management Committee (MC) Member nominated by Government of Ireland, EU COST Action: CA23132 - Magnetic Particle Imaging for next-generation theranostics and medical research Working Group Member,

EU COST Action: CA22118 - Radionuclide theragnostics for personalised medicine (RATIONALE)
EU COST Action: CA22103 A comprehensive network against brain cancer (NET4BRAIN)

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Sandeep Somvanshi

Post Doctoral Researcher Sandeep.Somvanshi@ul.ie

Dr. Sandeep is an IRC Postdoctoral Fellow at UL. Previously, he served as a Visiting Fellow at the School of Materials Engineering at Purdue University, USA. His current research focuses on designing and developing multifunctional magnetic nanomaterials and aptamer-based biosensors for biomedical applications. Outside of academia, he enjoys reading contemporary literature and playing cricket.

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Dr. Sabya Sachi Das

MSCA Postdoctoral Fellow sabya2049@gmail.com

Dr. Sabya Sachi Das is an incoming Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Postdoctoral Fellow in our group. He holds a B.Pharm (2015) and M.Pharm (2017) from Biju Patnaik University of Technology, India, and earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacy (2022) from Birla Institute of Technology-Mesra, India. Dr. Das has gained international research experience as a Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Iowa, USA (2023–2024) and is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of North Carolina, Charlotte, USA. His research focuses on the fabrication of mesoporous silica nanoparticles for targeted cancer therapy. Beyond research, Dr. Das has also contributed to academia as an Assistant Professor at the School of Pharmaceutical and Population Health Informatics, DIT University, Uttarakhand, India.

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Sivasubramanian Murugappan

PhD Student siva.murugappan@ul.ie

Siva is working on Raman spectroscopic analysis of liposomal drug systems in 3D tumor models as a part of his PhD research. When not immersed in his research, Siva can often be found enjoying the tranquility of nature listening to music, where he finds inspiration and rejuvenation. Free education to all is a cause close to his heart.

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Robert Leahy

Research Master's / PhD Student leahy.robert@ul.ie

A recent UL graduate with a first-class BSc in Applied Physics, Robert is currently pursuing a research master's degree focusing on improving nanomedicine for therapeutics and imaging. A native speaker of English and Spanish, Leahy enjoys hiking and playing guitar.

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Ayman Bokhary

PhD Student bokhary.ayman@ul.ie

Ayman's research is centered on advancing radiotherapy techniques for cancer to improve overall patient outcomes. Outside work, he likes to explore different cultures through travel and visiting historical landmarks. In his leisure time, he enjoys playing and watching football.

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Ajay K Mali

Research Master's / PhD Student mali.ajay@ul.ie

Ajay is passionate about developing machine learning models for 3D spheroid imaging, focusing on the detection and segmentation of biological structures. He enjoys exploring new analytical techniques and tools in the fields of data science and cancer research.

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Hanna Burke

Undergraduate Student 21312656@studentmail.ul.ie

Hannah, a final-year student of Mathematics and Physics, is currently researching Lipid Nanoparticles as potential drug delivery systems for targeting cancer cells. Outside of her academic pursuits, Hannah enjoys reading, baking, and playing tag rugby.

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Kieran Collins

Undergraduate Student 21326606@studentmail.ul.ie

Kieran, a fourth-year Mathematics and Physics student at UL, is currently investigating magnetic nanoparticles and their potential applications in medical diagnostics. Outside of his academic pursuits, Kieran enjoys gymnastics and horse riding.

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Juliette Pinson

Undergraduate Student 21323542@studentmail.ul.ie

Juliette, a final-year Applied Physics student at UL, is currently working on a project that utilizes nanoparticle-mediated Raman spectroscopy for cancer cell analysis. Due to her keen interest in this field, Juliette aspires to pursue a Master's degree in Medical Physics. In her spare time, she enjoys baking and reading.

International Visiting Scientists

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Kübra Tamer

Afyonkarahisar Health Sciences University

Kübra is a final-year medical student from Turkey, currently completing her clinical rotations. She joined the Thorat Lab as an Erasmus+ visiting researcher, where she is exploring her strong interest in cancer medicine and its interdisciplinary applications. Kübra is passionate about contributing to cancer research and advancing patient care through clinical and scientific innovation.

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Mr. Nobendu Mukerjee

Accomplished researcher specialising in cancer biology

Mr. Nobendu Mukerjee is an accomplished researcher specialising in cancer biology, His research includes a significant tenure at A*STAR-IMCB (National University of Singapore), where he conducted a pioneering M.Sc. He is an incoming student at the University of Cambridge, at the Department of Veterinary Medicine, where he will be focusing on cancer immunology.

Collaborators

Get in touch for research collaborations, We welcome you to collaborate with us

Dr. Syed A.M. Tofail

Professor & HOD, Department of Physics, University of Limerick

Dr. Christophe Silien

Professor, Department of Physics, University of Limerick

Dr. Tanveer Tabish

BHF Advanced Training Fellow, University of Oxford, UK

Dr. Y. Shrike Zhang

Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School, USA

Prof. Hélder A. Santos

University Medical Center Groningen/University of Groningen the Netherlands

Dr. Twan Lammers

Professor of Medicine, RWTH Aachen, Germany

Dr. Lalitkumar Vora

Lecturer, School of Pharmacy, Queen's University Belfast, UK

Dr. Atul Kulkarni

Research Professor and Head, Symbiosis International University, India

Dr. Suvra S. Laha

Research Assistant Professor, Materials Science & Engineering, Clemson University, USA

Dr. Vishwajeet M. Khot

Associate Professor, Dept of Medical Physics, D Y Patil Education Society (Deemed to be University), India

Dr. Niroj Kumar Sahu

Associate Professor, Centre for Nanotechnology Research, Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), India