In the Department of Zoology at University Lucknow, we have the teaching and research program on biological clocks providing expertise on physiological and behavioural analyses of clock in birds. The research in this relatively new area of Biology started with the joining of Prof. Vinod Kumar (now in University of Delhi) followed by Prof. Sangeeta Rani (2001), Prof. Shalie Malik (2005) and Dr. Aakansha Sharma (2022).
In addition, the lab also forays into temporal organization of activities in human, initially taken up by Dr. Sudhi Singh (now deceased)
Investigators
Professor Sangeeta Rani
Ph.D. (University of Lucknow, Lucknow, UP, India)
Email: sangeetarani7@yahoo.com
Awards and honours:
National Fellowship Award by Indian Society of Chronoedicine, 2018
Fellow of Reproductive Society of Endocrinology (FRE) 2011
Max-Planck (short-term) Fellowship Awards
Visiting Fellow (short-term), Texas A&M University 2003, 2004
Swiss National Science Foundation Fellowship, 2006
SERC (DST) Visiting Fellowship Award, 2001
Research Interest: Circannual rhythms and seasonal metabolic adaptations in birds
Dr. Shalie Malik
Professor
Ph.D. (University of Lucknow, Lucknow, UP, India)
Email: shellymlk@yahoo.com
Awards and honours:
2021: Resource person, Guru Dakshta, UGC-Human Resource Development Centre, University of Lucknow, Lucknow
2020: Coordinator, Dr. Giri Lal Gupta Institute of Public Health & Public Affairs, University of Lucknow, Lucknow
2018: Visiting Scientist, Department of Biological Sciences, Alabama State University, Alabama, USA
2016-2017: UGC Raman Post Doctoral Fellow
Research Interest: Effect of light wavelength on circadian and seasonal responses and downstream events regulating reproduction in birds
Dr. Aakansha Sharma
Assistant Professor
PhD (Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, Delhi, India)
Email: sharma93.lu@gmail.com; aakanshashrma12@gmail.com
Research Interest: Photoperiodic regulation of seasonal life history states in Palearctic-Indian migrants
Current Research Team
Post-doctoral Researcher
Dr. Sayantan Sur
Research Associate
Ph.D. (Department of Zoology, University of Delhi, India)
Email: sayantansur008@gmail.com
Research Interest: Molecular correlates of circannual rhythm regulating gonad development in a passerine bird
Ph. D. Students
Asma Naseem, Ph.D scholar, CSIR NET SRF
Email: naseemasma13@gmail.com
Research Interest: Photoreceptor cells that transmit light information to an avian brain are localized in retina, pineal gland and hypothalamus. These hypothalamic photoreceptors (deep brain photoreceptors, DBPs) are opsin based and have been implicated in the regulation of seasonal physiology. Focus of my research is identification and localization of different opsins in brain and retina of small passerine birds.
Anshu Dwivedi, PhD Scholar, ICMR-SRF
Email: dwivedianshu781@gmail.com
Research Interest: My research aims to focus on the prevalence of social jetlag and depression in school going adolescents. As in India the school schedule is strictly regimented, thus, it can lead to different physiological changes in socially jetlagged students resulting in sleep disturbance and various sleep related disorders such as depression, aggression etc. So, our study will help us to aware the society about social jetlag and its harmful impacts leading to depression and other lifestyle related disorder in adolescents.
Khushboo Chaturvedi, PhD Scholar
Email: khushbooc22s@gmail.com
Research Interest: I have always been very curious towards understanding the role of the endocrine system in regulating the behaviour and physiology of birds. For my doctoral research work, the approach that I am using is to understand the endocrine system by measuring the expression of hormone receptors at various target sites. This may provide better insights into the endocrine control of photoperiod-induced effects on seasonal life history states in birds
Vaibhav Vaish, JRF DBT Research Project
Email: vaibhav3vaish@gmail.com
Research Interest: Climate change has a significant impact on bird populations around the world and is likely to add to the many existing pressures. Variation in climatic factors such as temperature, food availability, rainfall, humidity etc. may alter bird physiology including its reproductive strategies. Using different experimental strategies, I am interested to examine the effect of the changing environmental conditions on breeding strategy of songbirds.
Jyoti Tiwari, Ph.D. scholar
Email: jtiwari683@gmail.com
Research Interest: Sleep is indisputably ubiquitous in the animal kingdom, although in radically different amounts and patterns. There is a cross-talk between sleep and the immune system, which is a complex set of physiological mechanisms that defend the organism against infection. My study focuses to find out the relationship between sleep and the immune system and investigate how sleep deprivation might affect the immune response in passerine finches.
Abhishek Kumar, CSIR-NET
Email: abhishek0375@gmail.com
Research Interest: The immune system is an integral part of physiology because it enhances the survival of the organism by decreasing the disease related mortality. The investment of an organism in immune system often differs during the seasons but how the changes in environmental conditions directly affect the immunity has not been explored much. Therefore, I am interested in studying the seasonal modulation in immune response in songbirds.
Saurabh Jaiswal, Ph.D. Scholar, ICMR-SRF
Email: saurabhjaiswal511@gmail.com
Research Interest: Our society is gradually undergoing life style changes that include late night shift works, increased exposure to mobile and laptop screens, exposure to light at night that result in altered sleep and hence our sleep quality, attention, cognition, and henceforth our health. I intend to study the effects of technological advancement on clock physiology in young generation especially college students.
Nishi Soni, Ph.D. Scholar
Email : nishisoni1111@gmail.com
Research Interest: In the present scenario, our society is adapting to a 24*7 work schedule. This leads to an increased exposure to artificial light at night, heavy workload, irregular feeding habits, and delayed sleep. That may cause adverse effects on the behaviour and physiology of an individual. So, I intend to study the impact of altered feeding patterns on biological clock of students. This study will help us to get an actual picture of the outcomes of feeding pattern and its effects on biological clock.
Shirin Fatima, Ph.D. Scholar
Email: uzmashirin2012@gmail.com
Research Interest: To survive the changing seasonal conditions, the living organisms exhibit endogenous rhythms, which are regulated by biological clocks. My research interest is to study the relation between the physiology and behavior of the birds with the endogenous rhythms which cause them to occur at a particular time, and moreover the means by which these rhythms are regulated.
Bhavaya Pratap Sirohi, Ph.D. Scholar, CSIR NET-JRF
Email: bhavayapratapsirohi@outlook.com
Research Interest: My research interest is to study the biological rhythms in obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) patients. This would help us understand if, and upto what level are the biological rhythms affected in case of OSA patients. This would include chronotype analysis, study of sleep characteristics, activity-rest pattern and quantification of hormones associated with sleep such as melatonin and cortisol.
Huda Naaz
Email: hudanaaz64@gmail.com
Research Interest: Birds are ideal indicators for studying a variety of environment problems. Birds use multiple sources of directional information for their navigation depending upon their habit. My study focuses on assessing the avian diversity in Lucknow area and their daily activity behavior.
Jaseem Akram, Ph.D. Scholar
Email: jaseemakram917@gmail.com
Research Interest:My research interest is to study the sleep pattern in birds under changing environment. Specifically, I aim to study the effect of change in variable light intensity and different light spectrum, food and sleep deprivation on physiology and behaviour of birds and find out different markers of circadian rhythm such as locomotor activity, sleep-wake postures, body mass, and measures the melatonin and glucose level in blood.
Our alumni and their current positions
Dr Yatinesh joined, Lecturer, Jeffrey Cheah School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Monash University, Malaysia
Dr. Ashutosh Rastogi, Research Associate, New York University (NYU), Abu Dhabi
Dr. Swati Srivastava, Assistant professor Shri Ramswaroop Memorial University
Dr. Amrita Srivastava, Research Associate, IIT, BHU, Varanasi
Dr. Garima Yadav, Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Antwerp, Belgium
Dr. Neha Agarwal, Assistant Professor, Ramabai Ambedkar Govt. Degree College, Gajraula, UP
Dr. Malik Zahid Lecturer, DORU, Jammu & Kashmir
Dr. Jayant Kumar, Assistant Professor, Government Degree College, Todarpur, Hardoi, UP
Dr. Arjita Yadav, Guest faculty- Genetics and Genomics, Department of Zoology, University of Lucknow
Dr. Ruchi Komal: Post Doctoral Fellow, National Institute of Mental Health, NIH, Bethesda, USA
Dr. Rajkumar, Assistant Professor, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Govt. Girls PG College, Fatehpur, UP
Dr. Preeti Gupta, ICMR- Research Associate, King Goerge Medical College, Lucknow
Dr. Pragya Verma
Dr. Anupama Yadav