Gargi Ghosh, PhD

Gargi Ghosh, PhD, joined the Amgen Bioprocessing Center in the Henry E. Riggs School of Applied Life Sciences at Keck Graduate Institute (KGI) as an Associate Professor in August 2022. Before that, Ghosh was a faculty in the Mechanical Engineering Department at the University of Michigan-Dearborn. Before that, Ghosh worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow with Professor Sean Palecek at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, and Professor Stephen Kron at the University of Chicago. Earlier, Ghosh earned her PhD from the Department of Chemical and Materials Engineering at the University of Kentucky. Ghosh obtained master’s and bachelor’s degrees in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur and the University of Calcutta, India, respectively. Her research interests focus on stem cell therapy and regenerative medicine.

Journal Publications

1. Nasser M, Ghosh G. Engineering tumor constructs to study matrix-dependent angiogenic signaling of breast cancer cells, Biotechnology Progress. 2022; e3250.
2. Sears V, Danaoui Y, Ghosh G. Impact of mesenchymal stem cell-secretome-loaded hydrogel on proliferative and migratory activities of hyperglycemic fibroblasts. Materials Today Communications. 2021; 27: 102285.
3. Sears V, Ghosh G. Harnessing mesenchymal stem cell secretome: effect of extracellular matrices on pro-angiogenic signaling. Biotechnology and Bioengineering. 2020; 117:1159-1171.
4. Wu Y, Fu R, Mohanty S, Nasser M, Guo B, Ghosh G. Investigation of integrated effects of hydroxyapatite and VEGF on capillary morphogenesis of endothelial cells. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2019; 2: 2339-2346.
5. Nasser M, Wang Y, Danaoui Y, Ghosh G. Engineering microenvironments towards harnessing pro-angiogenic potential of mesenchymal stem cells, Materials Science and Engineering C, 2019; 102: 75-84.
6. Somayajula D, Agarwal A, Sharma AK, Pall AE, Datta S, Ghosh G. In situ synthesis of silver nanoparticles within hydrogel-conjugated membrane for enhanced antibacterial properties. ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2018; 2: 665-674.
7. Shahatee D, Keifer J, Schimmel N, Mahanty S, Ghosh G. Hydrogel-based suspension array for biomarker detection using horseradish peroxidase-mediated silver precipitation. Analytica Chimica Acta, 2018; 999: 132-138.
8. Duan K, Ghosh G, Lo JF. Optimizing multiplexed detection of diabetes antibodies via quantitative microfluidic droplet array. Small, 2017; 13: 1702323.
9. El-Mohri H, Wu Y, Mohanty S, Ghosh G. Impact of matrix stiffness on fibroblast function. Materials Science and Engineering C, 2017; 74: 146-151.
10. Li J, Wu Y, Schimmel N, Al-Ameen MA, Ghosh G. Breast cancer cells mechanosensing in engineered matrices: Correlation with aggressive phenotype. Journal of the Mechanical Behavior of Biomedical Materials, 2016; 61: 208-220.
11. Mohanty S, Wu Y, Chakraborty N, Mohanty P, Ghosh G. Impact of alginate concentration on the viability, cryostorage, and angiogenic activity of encapsulated fibroblasts. Materials Science and Engineering C, 2016; 65: 269-277.
12. Zhao Z, Al-Ameen MA, Duan K, Ghosh G^*, Lo JF^*. On chip porous microgel generation and microfluidic enhanced VEGF detection. Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2015; 74: 305-312
13. Al-Ameen MA, Li J, Beer D, Ghosh G. Sensitive, quantitative, and high-throughput detection of angiogenic markers using shape coded hydrogel microparticles. Analyst, 2015; 140: 4530-4539.
14. Wu Y, Guo B, Ghosh G. Differential effects of tumor secreted factors on mechanosensitivity, capillary branching, and drug responsiveness in PEG hydrogels, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2015; 43: 2279-2290.
15. Ye M, Mohanty P, Ghosh G. Biomimetic-apatite coated porous PVA scaffolds promote the growth of breast cancer cells, Materials Science and Engineering C, 2014; 44: 310-316.
16. Ye M, Mohanty P, Ghosh G. Morphology and properties of poly vinyl alcohol (PVA) scaffolds: inpact of process variables, Materials Science and Engineering C, 2014; 42: 289-294.
17. Wu Y, Al-Ameen MA, Ghosh G. Integrated effects of matrix mechanics and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) on capillary sprouting, Annals of Biomedical Engineering, 2014; 42: 1024-1036.
18. Al-Ameen  MA, Ghosh G. Sensitive quantification of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) using porosity induced hydrogel microspheres, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2013; 49C: 105-110.
19. Ghosh G,  Yan E, Kron S, Palecek SP. Activity assay of EGF receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors in triple negative breast cancer cells using peptide conjugated magnetic beads, Assay and Drug Development Technologies, 2013; 11: 44-51
20. Ghosh G, Lian X, Kron S, Palecek SP. Properties of resistant cells generated from lung cancer cell lines treated with EGFR inhibitors, BMC Cancer, 2012; 12: 95
21. Ghosh G, Yan E, Lee AG, Kron S, Palecek SP. Quantifying the sensitivities of EGF receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors in drug resistant non small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells using hydrogel based peptide array, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2010; 26: 424-431.
22. Ghosh G, Lee AG, Palecek SP. Hydrogel based protein array for quantifying Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor (EGFR) activity in cell lysates, Analytical Biochemistry, 2009; 393: 205-214
23. Ghosh G, Bachas LG, Anderson KW. Biosensor incorporating cell barrier architectures on ion selective electrodes for early screening of cancer, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2008; 391: 2783-2791
24. Ghosh G, Mehta I, Cornette A, Anderson KW. Measuring Permeability with a Whole Cell – Based Biosensor as an Alternate Assay for Angiogenesis: Comparison with Common in vitro Assays, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, 2008; 23: 1109-1116
25. Ghosh G, Bachas LG, Anderson KW. Biosensor Incorporating Cell Barrier Architectures for Detecting Staphylococcus aureus Alpha Toxin, Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 2007; 387: 567-574
26. Ghosh G, Bhattacharya PK. Hexavalent chromium ion removal through micellar enhanced ultrafiltration, Chemical Engineering Journal, 2006; 119: 45-53

Book Chapters

G. Ghosh, S. Datta, A. Kumari, Hydrogel-based biosensors: fundamentals and applications, in Nanobiosensors for personalized and onsite biomedical diagnosis, Institution of Engineering and Technology, 2016

We integrate biomaterials, stem cell engineering, and cellular and molecular biology towards breaking the bottlenecks in stem cell therapies, especially biomanufacturing mesenchymal stem cell (MSC)-derived exosomes for clinical applications, deciphering stem cell-material interaction towards expansion and delivery of stem cells, and regulating MSC therapeutic activity for diabetic wound healing. Research activities are outlined below.

Biomanufacturing stem-cell derived exosomes: MSC-derived exosomes possess regenerative and immunomodulatory properties; despite their therapeutic potential FDA is yet to approve any exosome-based therapy. This is primarily due to the inherent limitations including low productivity and lack of standard quality control. We are involved in optimizing the exosome production via manipulation of cell culture conditions including the passage number, differentiation status, and culture surface compositions.

Hybrid hydrogels for stem cell expansion and delivery: The challenges associated with in vitro expansion of MSC to therapeutically relevant number as well as the  poor survival rate of implanted MSCs limit clinical translation of cell-based therapies for various diseases and injuries. The goal of this project to address these clinical problems via materials-based strategy, namely screening cell-matrix and cell-cell interactions that prolong the self-renewal and regenerative capacity of MSCs and promote the survival of encapsulated MSCs.

Regulating MSC-secretome for diabetic wound healing: Healing of wounds involve a cascade of events including inflammation, re-epithelialization, angiogenesis, and tissue formation. Elderly patients as well as patients suffering from systemic diseases often develop non-healing/chronic wounds. The goal of this project is to investigate the combinatorial effect of ECM and MSC-secretome on repair of hard-to-heal wounds.