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Faculty details

Prof.NAGA RAJIV LAKKANIGA

Designation: Assistant Professor

Department: Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Email: nagarajiv[at]iitism[dot]ac[dot]in

Contact Number:

Personal Page: Click Here

About Me: Dr. Lakkaniga has extensive experience in the field of drug discovery. His research is in the interface of synthetic chemistry, biology and computational methods in drug discovery. During his doctoral studies, Dr. Lakkaniga worked on several oncology projects targeting various kinases particularly FLT3, Aurora B, RET and TRK-A. During this time he discovered the first non-ATP competitive Aurora Kinase B inhibitor, SP-96. This compound also shows potent growth inhibition of triple negative breast cancer cells. Dr. Lakkaniga also discovered novel chemotypes with potent inhibition of wild-type and clinically relevant mutations of RET and FLT3, and the non-canonical pathway of NFkB for multiple myeloma. During his time at Scripps Research under Prof. Ian Wilson, Dr. Lakkaniga worked on inhibiting hemagglutinin, a key surface protein on influenza viruses. Dr. Lakkaniga established his independent research lab at IIT Dhanbad, where students get opportunity to learn heterocyclic organic synthesis, design potential inhibitors for various protein targets, apply computational methods to explore protein conformational space, and evaulate the synthesized compounds for biological activity through enzymatic and cellular assays.

Research Interest: Heterocyclic Synthesis; Synthesis Of Biologically Active Compounds; Drug Discovery; Computer Aided Drug Design; Anti-cancer And Anti-viral Therapeutics

Curriculum
Vitae
Publications

Teaching

  • Basics of Pharmacology
  • Clinical trials & Regulatory affairs
  • Basics of Chemical Biology
  • Chemistry of Drug Design & Drug Action

Academics

2016-2020: Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science - University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, Arkansas, USA

2014-2016: M.Pharm (Pharmaceutical Chemistry) - Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)- Pilani, Pilani, Rajasthan, India

2007-2011: B.Pharm (Hons.) - Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)- Pilani, Pilani, Rajasthan, India 

Position

  • Programmer Analyst at Cognizant Technology Solutions, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India during Sep’11-Aug’13
  • Visiting Research Fellow at Wayne State University, Detroit, USA during July’20-Feb’21
  • Post-doctoral associate at Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California, USA during Feb’21- Dec’21
  • Assistant Professor at Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, Jharkhand, India since Jan’22

Awards and Honors

Publications

List Of Research Publications (only in Peer-reviewed Journals)

  1. Singh, A., Lakkaniga, N.R. Exploring the Conformational Space of MPS1 Kinase Using Metadynamics. Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics, 2025; 93: 1118-1127. DOI: 10.1002/prot.26796
  2. Dorandish, S., Bhayekar, K., Singh, A., Kushwaha, N.D., Malin, E., Serafimovski, S., Kelm, J.M., Gavande, N., Lakkaniga, N.R. Evolution of Structure-guided Drug Design Strategies Targeting Mutations in Codon 12 of KRAS. RSC Medicinal Chemistry, 2025, 16, pp. 3429-3455.
  3. Halder, P., Rai, A., Talukdar, V., Das, P. and Lakkaniga, N.R., 2024. Pyrazolopyridine-based kinase inhibitors for anti-cancer targeted therapy. RSC Medicinal Chemistry, 15(5), pp.1452-1470.
  4. Chatterjee, A., Jayaprakasan, M., Chakrabarty, A.K., Lakkaniga, N.R., Bhatt, B.N., Banerjee, D., Narwaria, A., Katiyar, C.K. and Dubey, S.K., 2024. Comprehensive insights into rheumatoid arthritis: Pathophysiology, current therapies and herbal alternatives for effective disease management. Phytotherapy Research, 38, 2764–2799.
  5. Lakkaniga, N.R., Wang, Z., Xiao, Y., Kharbanda, A., Lan, L. and Li, H.Y., 2024. Revisiting Aurora Kinase B: A promising therapeutic target for cancer therapy. Medicinal Research Reviews, 44(2), pp.686-706.
  6. Sharma, A., Jadhav, H.R., Rai, A., Lakkaniga, N.R., Chandramoorthy, H.C., Kamli, H.M., Alshahrani, M.Y. and Rajagopalan, P., 2024. A Comprehensive Review of Systemic Targeted Therapies in Cancer Treatment. Current Cancer Therapy Reviews, 20(5), pp.461-480.
  7. Acharya, B., Saha, D., Armstrong, D., Hanafi, M., Herrera-Rueda, A., Lakkaniga, N.R. and Frett, B., 2024. Kinase inhibitor macrocycles: a perspective on limiting conformational flexibility when targeting the kinome with small molecules. RSC Medicinal Chemistry, 15(2), pp.399-415.
  8. Sharma, P.D., Rallapalli, S. and Lakkaniga, N.R., 2023. An innovative approach for predicting pandemic hotspots in complex wastewater networks using graph theory coupled with fuzzy logic. Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment, 37(9), pp.3639-3656.
  9. Acharya, B., Saha, D., Armstrong, D., Lakkaniga, N.R. and Frett, B., 2022. FLT3 inhibitors for acute myeloid leukemia: successes, defeats, and emerging paradigms. RSC Medicinal Chemistry, 13(7), pp.798-816.
  10. Zhang, L., Moccia, M., Briggs, D.C., Bharate, J.B., Lakkaniga, N.R., Knowles, P., Yan, W., Tran, P., Kharbanda, A., Wang, X. and Leung, Y.K., 2022. Discovery of N-Trisubstituted Pyrimidine Derivatives as Type I RET and RET Gatekeeper Mutant Inhibitors with a Novel Kinase Binding Pose. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, 65(2), pp.1536-1551
  11. Lakkaniga, N. R., Zhang, L., Belachew, B., Gunaganti, N., Frett, B., & Li, H. Discovery of SP-96, the first non-ATP-competitive Aurora Kinase B inhibitor, for a reduced myelosuppression profile. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2020, 203, 112589.
  12. Lakkaniga, N. R., Gunaganti, N., Zhang, L., Belachew, B., Frett, B., & Li, H. Pyrrolo[2,3-d]pyrimidine derivatives as inhibitors of RET: Design, synthesis and biological evaluation. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2020, 206, 112691.
  13. Lakkaniga, N. R.; Balasubramaniam, M.; Zhang, S.; Frett, B.; Li, H.-Y. Structural Characterization of the Aurora Kinase B “DFG-Flip” Using Metadynamics. The AAPS Journal 2019, 22 (1).
  14. Balasubramaniam, M.*, Lakkaniga, N.R.*, Dera, A., Fayi, M.A., Abohashrh, M., Ahmad, I., Chandramoorthy, H.C., Rajagopalan, P. FCX-146, a potent allosteric inhibitor of Akt Kinase in cancer cells: Lead optimization of the second-generation arylidene indanone scaffold. Biotechnology and Applied Biochemistry. DOI: 10.1002/bab.1896
  15. Zhang, L., Lakkaniga, N.R., Bharate, J., Wang, Xuiqi., … Li, H.Y. Discovery of Imidazo[1,2-a]pyridine- thiophene Derivatives as FLT3 mutants Inhibitors for Acute Myeloid Leukemia Through Structure-Based Optimization of an NEK2 inhibitor. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 2021, 225, 113776.
  16. Moccia, M., Yang, D., Lakkaniga, N. R., Frett, B., ...& Carlomagno, F. Targeted activity of the small molecule kinase inhibitor Pz-1 towards RET and TRK kinases. Scientific Reports (2021) 11:16103
  17. Moccia, M., Frett, B., Zhang, L., Lakkaniga, N. R., Briggs, D., Chauhan, R., Brescia, A., Federico, G., Santoro, M., McDonald, N., Li, H., Carlomagno, F. Bioisosteric discovery of NPA101.3, a second generation RET/VEGFR2 inhibitor optimized for single-agent polypharmacology. Journal of medicinal chemistry, 2020, 63, 4506-4516.
  18. Naresh, G., Lakkaniga, N.R., Kharbanda, A., Yan, W., Frett, B. and Li, H.Y. Use of Imidazo [1, 2‐a] pyridine as a Carbonyl Surrogate in a Mannich‐Like, Catalyst Free, One‐Pot Reaction. European Journal of Organic Chemistry, 2019(4), pp.770-777.
  19. Saha, D., Kharbanda, A., Yan, W., Lakkaniga, N.R., Frett, B. and Li, H.Y., 2019. The Exploration of Chirality for Improved Druggability within the Human Kinome. Journal of medicinal chemistry, 2020, 63, 2, 441- 469
  20. Gunaganti, N., Kharbanda, A., Lakkaniga, N. R., Zhang, L., Cooper, R., Li, H. Y., & Frett, B. (2018). Catalyst free, C-3 functionalization of imidazo [1, 2-a] pyridines to rapidly access new chemical space for drug discovery efforts. Chemical communications, 54(92), 12954-12957
  21. Yan, W., Lakkaniga, N.R., Carlomagno, F., Santoro, M., McDonald, N.Q., Lv, F., Gunaganti, N., Frett, B. and Li, H.Y., 2018. Insights into current tropomyosin receptor kinase (TRK) inhibitors: development and clinical application. Journal of medicinal chemistry, 62(4), pp.1731-1760
  22. Bharate, J. B., McConnell, N., Naresh, G., Zhang, L., Lakkaniga, N. R., Ding, L., ... & Li, H. Y. (2018). Rational Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Pyrimidine-4, 6-diamine derivatives as Type-II inhibitors of FLT3 Selective Against c-KIT. Scientific reports, 8(1), 3722
  23. Krishna, H., Agarwal, A., Chamola, V., Lakkaniga, N.R., Hassija, V., Sikdar, B. (2021). A Review on the Role of Machine Learning in Enabling IoT Based Healthcare Applications. IEEE Access, 9, 38859-38890
  24. Saha, D., Ryan, K., Lakkaniga, N.R., Smith, E.L., Frett., B. Pyrazoloadenines as Inhibitors for the RET Lung Cancer Oncoprotein Discovered via a Phenotypic Fragment-Based Approach. ChemMedChem 16 (10), 1605-1608
  25. Rohmetra, H., Raghunath, N., Narang, P., Chamola, V., Lakkaniga, N.R.*, AI-enabled remote monitoring of vital signs for COVID-19: Methods, Prospects and Challenges. Computing (2021): 1-27.
  26. Saha, D., Ryan, K., Lakkaniga, N.R., Acharya, B., Garcia, N.,… Frett, B. Targeting rearranged during transfection (RET) in Cancer: Small molecule inhibitors and their clinical development. Journal of medicinal chemistry 2021, 64 (16), 11747-11773
  27. Bowraju, S.K., Penthala, N., Lakkaniga, N.R., … Crooks, P.A. Novel deoxyvasicinone-clioquinols as anticholinesterase therapeutics for Alzheimer’s disease. Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry 2021, 45, 116311

Projects & Activities

Sponsored Research Projects (External Funded)

  • Design, synthesis and biological evaluation of Monopolar spindle 1 inhibitors as potential therapeutics for triple negative breast cancer                                                                                                                              
      • Role: PI
      • Funding agency: Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB)
      • Amount: Rs. 31,79,000
  • Synthesis and biological evaluation of novel small molecule inhibitors of Aurora Kinase B for various malignancies                                                                                                                                                          
      • Role: PI
      • Funding Agency: IIT (ISM) Dhanbad
      • Amount: Rs. 15,00,000
  • Bioscopy - Towards modern transdisciplinary education and research in microscopy
    • Role: Co-PI
    • Funding Agency: University Grants Commission (UGC)
    • Amount: Rs. 1,14,66,000

Other Academic and Administrative Activities

FIC for internships and placements of M.Tech Pharmaceutical Science and Engineering

DPGC member, Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Time table coordinator, Dept. of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

Reviewer for several international journals in biomedical research

Guidance

Sl. No.

Name of the Candidate(s)

Registration No.

Area of work

Role

(Guide/ Co-guide)

1

Anuradha Singh

22DR0021;

Targeting Mps1 kinase for various cancers

Guide

2

Arpan Das

24DR0043;

Discovery of novel kinase inhibitors as targeted therapies

Guide

3

Shashi Kumar SV

23MT0367 (Integrated M.Tech-PhD);

Structure based drug design of novel small molecule inhibitors for Triple negative breast cancer

Guide

4

Pallabi Chakraborty

24DP0179;

Bioassay and formulations of herbal materials

Guide

5

Srikant Kumar

25DR0211;

Guide

6

Avani Jha

24MT0096

(Integrated M.Tech-PhD)

Identifying novel synergistic combinations for triple negative breast cancer; Network pharmacology based indentification of phytoconstituents for therapeutics applications

Guide

7

Sarbajit Chakrabarti

25DP0084

Guide
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