Pursuing PHD (First Batch of Directors Research Fellow 2021)from IIT Gandhinagar. My research area is programming carbon-based nanoparticles and using them as nano-devices for theranostics applications in living systems. M.Tech in Biological Engineering from IIT Gandhinagar. During Masters worked on studying the kinetics, thermodynamics and crystallisation of H.pylori enzyme IMPDH, involved in Guanine nucleotide synthesis. Co-founded RIBUK SELLER (. Cofounded Qnanosol Biotech Private limited. Founded Daily Football Club(DFC) Graduated from NIT Raipur. Worked as a Mathematics Olympiad Faculty at KPS Dunda Raipur Chhattisgarh and Shivam Educational Academy Raipur.
EDUCATION
PHD (First Batch of Directors Research Fellow 2021)from IIT Gandhinagar.
RESEARCH, TEACHING, or OTHER INTERESTS
Biotechnology, Biomaterials, Cancer Research, Molecular Biology
16
Scopus Publications
306
Scholar Citations
11
Scholar h-index
11
Scholar i10-index
Scopus Publications
Biomaterials and Nanoparticle-Based Therapeutics in Neurodegenerative Diseases: Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and Translation Dia Panchal, Dattavi Solanki, Raghu Solanki, Amit K. Yadav, Dhiraj Bhatia, Pankaj Yadav ACS Chemical Neuroscience, 2026 Neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, Huntington's, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and multiple sclerosis, represent a growing global health crisis characterized by irreversible neuronal loss, protein aggregation, chronic neuroinflammation, and mitochondrial dysfunction. Central to their therapeutic intractability is the blood-brain barrier (BBB), a highly selective neurovascular interface that excludes nearly 98% of conventional pharmacological agents from the central nervous system (CNS). Nanoparticle- and biomaterial-based delivery platforms have emerged as promising strategies to overcome these barriers, encompassing liposomes, polymeric nanoparticles, engineered exosomes, inorganic nanoparticles, and hydrogel scaffolds capable of enabling targeted CNS drug delivery. This Review systematically evaluates the landscape of nanomaterial-based neurotherapeutics across disease-specific pathological contexts, critically analyzing translational failure mechanisms including limited parenchymal brain exposure, receptor saturation during transcytosis, protein corona-mediated immune clearance, and nanoscale toxicity in postmitotic neural tissue. Preclinical-to-clinical translational gaps arising from interspecies BBB transporter heterogeneity and pharmacokinetic divergence are examined alongside manufacturing and regulatory barriers impeding Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP)-scale production. Emerging convergence strategies─including AI-integrated design, hybrid physiologically based pharmacokinetic modeling, theranostic nanoplatforms, and wearable bioresponsive delivery systems─are evaluated for their capacity to address these limitations. The review concludes by proposing a framework for developing clinically viable, disease-modifying CNS nanomedicines.
Nanodiamonds as Emerging Biomaterials for Biomedical Applications Ankesh Kumar, Pankaj Yadav, Dhiraj Bhatia Nano, 2025 Nanodiamonds (NDs) have unique optical and mechanical characteristics, surface chemistry, extensive surface area and biocompatibility, and they are nontoxic, rendering them suitable for a diverse range of applications. Recently, NDs have received significant attention in nano-biomedical engineering. This review discusses the recent advancement of NDs’ biomedical engineering, historical background, basic introduction to nanoparticles and development. We summarize NDs’ synthesis technique, properties and applications. Two methodologies are used in ND synthesis: bottom-up and top-down. We cover synthesis methods, including detonation, ball milling, laser ablation, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) and high pressure and high temperature (HPHT); discuss the properties of NDs, such as fluorescence and biocompatibility. Due to these properties, NDs have potential applications in biomedical engineering, including bioimaging, biosensing, drug delivery, tissue engineering and protein mimics. Further, it provides an outlook for future progress, development and application of NDs in biological and biomedical areas.
Nanotechnology Meets the Tumor Microenvironment: Unlocking New Horizons in Cancer Therapy Pankaj Yadav, Amit K. Yadav, Dhiraj Bhatia ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, 2025 The tumor microenvironment (TME) is a critical orchestrator of cancer progression, shaped not only by genetic mutations but also by dynamic factors such as acidic pH, dysregulated extracellular matrix (ECM), immunosuppressive cells, and cytokine networks. These elements collectively foster therapeutic resistance and metastasis, challenging conventional treatments. Nanotechnology has emerged as a transformative approach to dismantling TME barriers, enabling precise targeting and enhanced drug delivery. In addition, a key focus is overcoming ECM density and immunosuppression. For instance, ECM-degrading nanoparticles (NPs) loaded with hyaluronidase or collagenase improve drug penetration, while immune-modulating NPs reprogram macrophages from protumor (M2) to antitumor (M1) phenotypes. Complementing these strategies, advances in immune cell engineering, such as chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells or natural killer (NK) cells, are synergized with NPs-delivered checkpoint inhibitors to amplify antitumor immunity. Additionally, pH-sensitive and enzyme-responsive NPs exploit TME-specific conditions for controlled drug release, minimizing systemic toxicity. Despite promising preclinical results, clinical translation faces hurdles. Challenges include optimizing NPs' biocompatibility, scalability, and long-term safety as well as addressing interpatient TME heterogeneity. Thus, this review explores innovative NPs designs engineered to navigate the TME complexity, including surface modifications with antibodies, folic acid, transferrin, peptides, and amino acids. These functionalized NPs improve tumor-specific targeting while evading immune clearance, thereby enhancing chemotherapeutic efficacy and reducing off-target effects. Moreover, this review evaluates current progress in NPs-based clinical trials targeting the TME and discusses emerging theranostic platforms that combine real-time imaging with therapy. By integration of multidisciplinary insights from materials science, immunology, and systems biology, nanotechnology holds immense potential to unlock personalized cancer therapies. Future research must prioritize scalable manufacturing and robust biomarker-driven approaches to realize this paradigm shift in oncology fully.
Clinical Applications of Targeted Nanomaterials Ankesh Kumar, SK Shahvej, Pankaj Yadav, Unnati Modi, Amit K. Yadav, Raghu Solanki, Dhiraj Bhatia Pharmaceutics, 2025 Targeted nanomaterials are at the forefront of advancements in nanomedicine due to their unique and versatile properties. These include nanoscale size, shape, surface chemistry, mechanical flexibility, fluorescence, optical behavior, magnetic and electronic characteristics, as well as biocompatibility and biodegradability. These attributes enable their application across diverse fields, including drug delivery. This review explores the fundamental characteristics of nanomaterials and emphasizes their importance in clinical applications. It further delves into methodologies for nanoparticle programming alongside discussions on clinical trials and case studies. We discussed some of the promising nanomaterials, such as polymeric nanoparticles, carbon-based nanoparticles, and metallic nanoparticles, and their role in biomedical applications. This review underscores significant advancements in translating nanomaterials into clinical applications and highlights the potential of these innovative approaches in revolutionizing the medical field.
Dopamine-Functionalized, Red Carbon Quantum Dots for In Vivo Bioimaging, Cancer Therapeutics, and Neuronal Differentiation Pankaj Yadav, Dawson Benner, Ritu Varshney, Krupa Kansara, Krupa Shah, Landon Dahle, Ashutosh Kumar, Rakesh Rawal, Sharad Gupta, Dhiraj Bhatia ACS Applied Bio Materials, 2024 One of the crucial requirements of quantum dots for biological applications is their surface modification for very specific and enhanced biological recognition and uptake. Toward this end, we present the green synthesis of bright, red-emitting carbon quantum dots derived from mango leaf extract (mQDs). These mQDs are conjugated electrostatically with dopamine to form mQDs–dopamine (mQDs:DOPA) bioconjugates. Bright-red fluorescence of mQDs was used for bioimaging and uptake in cancerous and noncancerous cell lines, tissues, and in vivo models like zebrafish. mQDs exhibited the highest uptake in brain tissue compared to the heart, kidney, and liver. mQD:DOPA conjugates killed breast cancer cells and increased uptake in epithelial RPE-1 cells and zebrafish. Additionally, mQDs:DOPA promoted neuronal differentiation of SH-SY5Y cells to differentiated neurons. Both mQDs and mQDs:DOPA exhibited the potential for higher collective cell migrations, implicating their future potential as next-generation tools for advanced biological and biomedical applications.
Plant-Derived Nanomaterials for Targeted Biological Applications and Smart Agriculture Subhojit Ghosh, Pankaj Yadav, Subramanian Sankaranarayanan, Dhiraj Bhatia Chemistryselect, 2023 Biologically inspired nanomaterials and nanotechnology have advanced in almost all scientific and technological research areas, including biomedical applications and agriculture. Nanomaterials hold immense potential for applications in biomedical and agricultural applications. By harnessing the natural capabilities of plants as sources of reducing and capping agents, the synthesis of nanomaterials becomes cost‐effective eco‐friendly, and yields biocompatible products. Here, we provide a comprehensive overview of various plant‐derived nanomaterials synthesized using different methods, highlighting their applications in biomedical and biological sciences, including bioimaging, biosensing, drug delivery, and therapeutics. Additionally, the impact of nanotechnology on precision agriculture is explored, showcasing recent advancements such as nanofertilizers, nanopesticides, nanobiosensors, and nanocarrier‐mediated delivery systems, which exhibit promising results. These recent developments underscore the transformative potential of nanotechnology in both biomedical and agriculture domains.
Selective cellular uptake and cytotoxicity effects of fluorescent carbon dots: a comparative study in cancer and normal cells A Kumar, R Solanki, G Prakash, A Mansuri, A Kumar, D Bhatia, P Yadav Materials Advances 7 (1), 495-508 , 2026 2026 Citations: 3
Nanodiamonds as Emerging Biomaterials for Biomedical Applications A Kumar, P Yadav, D Bhatia Nano 20 (14), 2530002 , 2025 2025 Citations: 1
Nanotechnology meets the tumor microenvironment: unlocking new horizons in cancer therapy P Yadav, AK Yadav, D Bhatia ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering 11 (11), 6401-6425 , 2025 2025 Citations: 7
Clinical applications of targeted nanomaterials A Kumar, SK Shahvej, P Yadav, U Modi, AK Yadav, R Solanki, D Bhatia Pharmaceutics 17 (3), 379 , 2025 2025 Citations: 40
Transferrin functionalized nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery in biological systems P Yadav, S Jain, N Sahu, DD Bhatia Targeted Therapy for the Central Nervous System, 99-119 , 2025 2025 Citations: 6
Cellular uptake and viability switch in the properties of lipid-coated carbon quantum dots for potential bioimaging and therapeutics DDBPY Sweny Jain, Nidhi Sahu Nanoscale Advances , 2024 2024 Citations: 11
DNA tetrahedral nanocages as a promising nanocarrier for dopamine delivery in neurological disorders PKMDB Ramesh Singh, Krupa Kansara, Pankaj Yadav, Sandip Mandal, Ritu ... Nanoscale , 2024 2024 Citations: 16
Dopamine-Functionalized, Red Carbon Quantum Dots for In Vivo Bioimaging, Cancer Therapeutics, and Neuronal Differentiation P Yadav, D Benner, R Varshney, K Kansara, K Shah, L Dahle, A Kumar, ... ACS Applied Bio Materials 7 (6), 3915-3931 , 2024 2024 Citations: 21
Azadirachta indica: derived, red-emitting, carbon nanoparticles for cellular bioimaging and potential therapeutics S Gandhi, S Jain, D Bhatia, P Yadav bioRxiv, 2024.02. 26.582094 , 2024 2024
Plant-Derived Nanomaterials for Targeted Biological Applications and Smart Agriculture DDB Subhojit Ghosh, Pankaj Yadav, Dr. Subramanian Sankaranarayanan ChemistrySelect 8 (47) , 2023 2023 Citations: 21
Lipid modification of DNA tetrahedrons enhances cellular uptake, migration, and in vivo uptake K Kansara, R Singh, P Yadav, A Mansuri, A Kumar, D Bhatia ACS Applied Nano Materials 6 (14), 13443-13452 , 2023 2023 Citations: 18
Tissue-Derived Primary Cell Type Dictates the Endocytic Uptake Route of Carbon Quantum Dots and In Vivo Uptake P Yadav, K Shah, K Kansara, A Kumar, R Rawal, D Bhatia ACS applied bio materials 6 (4), 1629-1638 , 2023 2023 Citations: 27
Red emitting carbon dots: surface modifications and bioapplications D Benner, P Yadav, D Bhatia Nanoscale advances 5 (17), 4337-4353 , 2023 2023 Citations: 50
Red fluorescent carbon nanoparticles derived from Spinacia oleracea L.: a versatile tool for bioimaging and biomedical applications K Barve, U Singh, P Yadav, K Kansara, P Vaswani, A Kumar, D Bhatia Materials Advances 4 (23), 6277-6285 , 2023 2023 Citations: 11
Carbon-based designer and programmable fluorescent quantum dots for targeted biological and biomedical applications K Barve, U Singh, P Yadav, D Bhatia Materials Chemistry Frontiers 7 (9), 1781-1802 , 2023 2023 Citations: 51
Cationic lipid modification of DNA tetrahedral nanocages enhances their cellular uptake R Singh, P Yadav, D Bhatia Nanoscale 15 (3), 1099-1108 , 2023 2023 Citations: 23
Estimating binding affinity of HpIMPDH and optimization of crystallization condition P Yadav Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar , 2021 2021
MOST CITED SCHOLAR PUBLICATIONS
Carbon-based designer and programmable fluorescent quantum dots for targeted biological and biomedical applications K Barve, U Singh, P Yadav, D Bhatia Materials Chemistry Frontiers 7 (9), 1781-1802 , 2023 2023 Citations: 51
Red emitting carbon dots: surface modifications and bioapplications D Benner, P Yadav, D Bhatia Nanoscale advances 5 (17), 4337-4353 , 2023 2023 Citations: 50
Clinical applications of targeted nanomaterials A Kumar, SK Shahvej, P Yadav, U Modi, AK Yadav, R Solanki, D Bhatia Pharmaceutics 17 (3), 379 , 2025 2025 Citations: 40
Tissue-Derived Primary Cell Type Dictates the Endocytic Uptake Route of Carbon Quantum Dots and In Vivo Uptake P Yadav, K Shah, K Kansara, A Kumar, R Rawal, D Bhatia ACS applied bio materials 6 (4), 1629-1638 , 2023 2023 Citations: 27
Cationic lipid modification of DNA tetrahedral nanocages enhances their cellular uptake R Singh, P Yadav, D Bhatia Nanoscale 15 (3), 1099-1108 , 2023 2023 Citations: 23
Dopamine-Functionalized, Red Carbon Quantum Dots for In Vivo Bioimaging, Cancer Therapeutics, and Neuronal Differentiation P Yadav, D Benner, R Varshney, K Kansara, K Shah, L Dahle, A Kumar, ... ACS Applied Bio Materials 7 (6), 3915-3931 , 2024 2024 Citations: 21
Plant-Derived Nanomaterials for Targeted Biological Applications and Smart Agriculture DDB Subhojit Ghosh, Pankaj Yadav, Dr. Subramanian Sankaranarayanan ChemistrySelect 8 (47) , 2023 2023 Citations: 21
Lipid modification of DNA tetrahedrons enhances cellular uptake, migration, and in vivo uptake K Kansara, R Singh, P Yadav, A Mansuri, A Kumar, D Bhatia ACS Applied Nano Materials 6 (14), 13443-13452 , 2023 2023 Citations: 18
DNA tetrahedral nanocages as a promising nanocarrier for dopamine delivery in neurological disorders PKMDB Ramesh Singh, Krupa Kansara, Pankaj Yadav, Sandip Mandal, Ritu ... Nanoscale , 2024 2024 Citations: 16
Cellular uptake and viability switch in the properties of lipid-coated carbon quantum dots for potential bioimaging and therapeutics DDBPY Sweny Jain, Nidhi Sahu Nanoscale Advances , 2024 2024 Citations: 11
Red fluorescent carbon nanoparticles derived from Spinacia oleracea L.: a versatile tool for bioimaging and biomedical applications K Barve, U Singh, P Yadav, K Kansara, P Vaswani, A Kumar, D Bhatia Materials Advances 4 (23), 6277-6285 , 2023 2023 Citations: 11
Nanotechnology meets the tumor microenvironment: unlocking new horizons in cancer therapy P Yadav, AK Yadav, D Bhatia ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering 11 (11), 6401-6425 , 2025 2025 Citations: 7
Transferrin functionalized nanoparticles for targeted drug delivery in biological systems P Yadav, S Jain, N Sahu, DD Bhatia Targeted Therapy for the Central Nervous System, 99-119 , 2025 2025 Citations: 6
Selective cellular uptake and cytotoxicity effects of fluorescent carbon dots: a comparative study in cancer and normal cells A Kumar, R Solanki, G Prakash, A Mansuri, A Kumar, D Bhatia, P Yadav Materials Advances 7 (1), 495-508 , 2026 2026 Citations: 3
Nanodiamonds as Emerging Biomaterials for Biomedical Applications A Kumar, P Yadav, D Bhatia Nano 20 (14), 2530002 , 2025 2025 Citations: 1
Azadirachta indica: derived, red-emitting, carbon nanoparticles for cellular bioimaging and potential therapeutics S Gandhi, S Jain, D Bhatia, P Yadav bioRxiv, 2024.02. 26.582094 , 2024 2024
Estimating binding affinity of HpIMPDH and optimization of crystallization condition P Yadav Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar , 2021 2021
