Introduction to complex biological systems

Prof. Soumya De is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology at IIT Kharagpur. He did his BSc. and MSc. in Chemistry from IIT Kharagpur, PhD from Cornell University, USA, and gained post-doctoral research experience from University of British Columbia, Canada. Currently, Prof. De’s lab works at the interface of Biology and Physics with special focus on structural biology. His lab has two main research goals: i) protein engineering to solve various problems in biotechnology, and ii) elucidate the role of intrinsically disordered proteins (i.e. proteins that lack 3D structure) in various cancers. Apart from research, Prof. Soumya De teaches several courses at the undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral levels at IIT Kharagpur. This course is designed based on his experience of teaching introductory biology to first year undergraduate students at IIT Kharagpur.

Prof. Dibyendu Samanta, a faculty member in the Department of Bioscience and Biotechnology at IIT Kharagpur, is currently pursuing research in the field of cell adhesion biology, especially how cadherins and nectins drive cell-to-cell-adhesion, immune regulation and host-pathogen interactions. He did his PhD in Biophysics and Molecular Biology from University of Calcutta, followed by postdoctoral training at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, USA. Besides coordinating and teaching the Science of Living System, a compulsory biology course for all the undergraduate students at IIT Kharagpur for many years, Dr. Samanta also teaches Cell and Molecular Biology, Genetics and Genetic Engineering, Advances in Protein Structure and Function at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The motivation of designing this course stem from his vast experience in teaching the fundamentals of biology to engineers and non-biologists.