Dr. S. Chitra

ORCID 

Dr S. Chitrahas completed her B.Sc. and post-graduation (M. Sc) degree in Biochemistry, affiliated to University of Madras. Tamil Nadu. She has completed her Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) and Doctorate in Philosophy (PhD) in the field of Cancer Biology in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Madras, Guindy Campus, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. She has worked as a project fellow under the project of Himalaya Drug Company, Bangalore, India; Junior Research Fellow from the Government of Tamil Nadu; Senior Research Fellow from the Indian Council for Medical Research (ICMR), New Delhi. She served as a Lecturer, Assistant & Associate Professor at Sri Ramachandra University from 2003 to 2010. She received a “Young Scientist Research Grant” from Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute, Chennai in 2009. Then she joined as an Assistant Director (Biochemistry) in the Central Council for Research in Ayurvedic Sciences, Ministry of Ayush, Govt. of India in 2010. She took charge of the Institute in charge of CSMCARI, Chennai, in August 2024.

She has undergone training on Animal cell culture, Alternatives to use of animals in Research, Testing & Education, Molecular Biological Techniques, Flow Cytometry on BD FACS Caliber, General Requirements for the Competence of Testing and Calibration Laboratories (ISO/IEC/17025:2005 & ISO/IEC/17025:2017), Management Training Program for Women Scientists, Advanced Molecular Techniques, Orientation to design public health research proposals for grants, Measurement Uncertainty, Ayur Informatics, NITS Capacity Building Workshop by BIS, GLP training program etc.

She has expertise in the field of Phytochemical and physicochemical characteristic evaluation of raw drugs/ finished products/extracts, Activity-guided fractionation analysis, Isolation and Identification of a compound from medicinal plants, and study of Ayurvedic single and compound formulation for its safety and efficacy studies in various metabolic disorders such as cardiovascular diseases, hepatotoxicity, inflammation, and various types of cancers. She has experience in screening of bioactive compounds in various cancer cell lines (breast, cervical, colon, liver, larynx, etc.), Diagnostic potential marker analysis in oral pre-malignant conditions, Pathway finding analysis in various metabolic disorders, in vitro antioxidant studies etc. 

She has completed three IMR projects and one ongoing project as a Principal Investigator. As a Co-PI, she has three ongoing IMR projects and has completed six projects. She has completed more than 25 safety studies allotted by the Council. She has guided more than 35 postgraduate students (M.Sc., M.D.S., M. Pharm.,). Besides this, she is a Doctoral committee member for PhD students of various Universities around Tamil Nadu. At present, guiding four full-time PhD students registered under the University of Madras. She has more than 30 years of research experience. She has published around 35 papers in peer-reviewed journals. She has attended more than 25 conferences and delivered around 20 lectures in various conferences as a resource person. She has coordinated more than 10 conferences and seminars in her career. She is continuously contributing her service in reviewing research papers for Elsevier journals. She is also a life member of the Indian Association of Cancer Research and the Indian Association of Biomedical Scientists. She is holding member of various committees, like Chairman of the Institutional Animal Ethical Committee, Chairman of the Technical Committee, CCSEA Nominee for the last 10 years nominated by the Ministry of Environment & Forests, Government of India, Principal member of Siddha sessional committee (AYD05), Coordinator for BIS of CSMCARI, Chennai. Previously, she served as a technical manager for the biological laboratories of CSMCARI from 2015-2024. She has been the Quality manager for both Chemical and Biological laboratories since 2024.