Aastha Acharya, B.Sc.
Research Assistant IEducation and Training
BSc in Microbiology, St. Xavier’s College, Kathmandu, Nepal
MSc in Molecular Biology, South Dakota State University, SD, USA
I received my B.Sc. in Microbiology from St. Xavier’s College, Kathmandu, Nepal. After my undergrad, I worked in a government hospital as a Clinical Microbiologist and conducted a project on antibiotic susceptibility patterns of nosocomial pathogens that cause neonatal septicemia. After that, I moved to South Dakota State University to pursue my master’s in Molecular Biology. In my master’s, I worked with two novel CRISPR/Cas enzymes – CasX and CasPhi. Following my graduate degree, I worked at a pharmaceutical company where I developed a more profound fascination with oncology projects. As a member of the Najafov Lab, I aim to dig deeper into the mechanisms of necroptosis in the context of cancer.
In my free time, I love traveling and hiking. I love reading books, and my favorite authors are Khaled Hosseini, Haruki Murakami, and Robert Ludlum.
Awards and Honors
• Tiede Scholarship- Summer Stipend, South Dakota State University (2021).
• Sigma Xi Graduate Research Award. 1st Position in Proposal Defense. South Dakota State University (2020).
• The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.
• Associate Member at the Sigma Xi – SDState Chapter.
Publications
• Acharya A et al., Production, Purification and Optimization of Amylase by Submerged Fermentation Using Bacillus subtilis. IJSRSET. Vol 6. Issue 1. doi: https://doi.org/10.32628/IJSRSET19612
• Shakya A, Acharya A, Timalsina A, Khanal A and Amatya J. 2018. Effects of disinfectants on microbial load of keyboard and mouse. Int. J. Grad. Res. Rev. Vol4, Issue-1:3-10.
Posters
• Aastha Acharya, Bimal Paudel and Yang Yen. Creating Transgenic Arabidopsis thaliana to Express Wheat Gene Wfhb1-1 for Resistance to Fusarium graminearum Infections. 6th MU Plant Research Symposium Improving Plants with Scientific and Technological Advancement.
• Aastha Acharya, Bimal Paudel and Yang Yen. Role of Wfhb1-1 in Arabidopsis thaliana’s resistance to Fusarium gramineareum infection. ACS Meetings 2021, which was held in Salt Lake City, Utah. Nov7-10 2021.
• Aastha Acharya, Amit Khanal, Aashish Timlasina, Arjun B.K., Mrishal Bajracharya and Anup Basnet. Amylase and Protease Production from Different Bacillus strains Isolated from Different Vegetations. 2nd International Conference on Bioscience and Biotechnology. RIBB. Dhulikhel, Nepal. Feb 17-18, 2018.