My research focuses on advancing vaccine development, adjuvant technologies, and immunization strategies to address critical global health challenges. By integrating expertise in protein biochemistry, structural biology, biophysics, and immunology, I work to translate fundamental scientific discoveries into practical biomedical solutions. My research centers on characterizing immune responses and supporting the development of innovative vaccines and therapeutics against HIV, SARS-CoV-2, and other infectious diseases, with the goal of improving public health for military personnel, communities across the United States, and populations worldwide.
As a scientist in the Preclinical and Clinical Trials Branch of the Laboratory of Adjuvant and Antigen Research (LAAR) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR), supporting the U.S. Military HIV Research Program (MHRP), I utilize advanced biophysical techniques, including Surface Plasmon Resonance (SPR), Microscale Thermophoresis (MST), Isothermal Titration Calorimetry (ITC), Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) spectroscopy, and Circular Dichroism (CD) spectroscopy, to characterize proteins and biomolecular interactions. These approaches enable me to investigate antibody-antigen interactions, evaluate vaccine-induced immunity, and study protein structural dynamics. Additionally, I use SPR-based assays to assess the avidity of vaccine-induced polyclonal antibodies generated in both nonhuman primate and human studies against HIV-1 Envelope antigens formulated with Army Liposomal Formulation (ALF)-based adjuvants. Building on a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and extensive experience in protein characterization and biomolecular interaction analysis, I employ multidisciplinary approaches to better understand immune responses and accelerate the development of next-generation vaccines and therapeutics that address current and emerging infectious disease threats.
“Discovery reveals what nature allows; innovation transforms that knowledge into solutions that protect and improve human life.”
| Shraddha Basu, Ujwal Subedi, Marco Tonelli, Maral Afshinpour, Nitija Tiwari, Ernesto J Fuentes, Suvobrata Chakravarty. Assessing the functional roles of coevolving PHD finger residues. Protein Science. 2024, 33(7). |
| Shraddha Basu, Neelakshi Gohain, Jiaee Kim, Hung V. Trinh. Misook Choee, Gordon Joyce, and Mangala Rao. Determination of Binding Affinity of Antibodies to HIV-1 Recombinant Envelope Glycoproteins, Pseudoviruses, Infectious Molecular Clones, and Cell-Expressed Trimeric gp160 Using Microscale Thermophoresis. Cells 2023, 13(1), 33. |
| Shikha Shrivastava, Joshua M. Carmen, Zhongyan Lu, Shraddha Basu, Rajeshwer S. Sankhala, Alexander Anderson, Hung V. Trinh, Dominic Paquin-Proulx, Gary, R. Matyas, Gregory D. Gromowski, Jeffrey R. Currier, Elke Bergmann-Leitner, Kayvon Modjarrad, Nelson L. Michael, M. Gordon Joyce, Allison M. W. Malloy and Mangala Rao. SARS-CoV-2 spike-ferritin-nanoparticle adjuvanted with ALFQ induces long-lived plasma cells and cross-neutralizing antibodies. NPJ Vaccines, 2023, 8(1), 43. |
| Mohammad Arif Rahman, Massimiliano Bissa, Hanna Scinto, Savannah Howe, Sarkis Sarkis, Zhong-Min Ma, Anna Gutowska, Xunqing Jiang, Christina Luo, Luca Schifanella, Ramona Moles, Isabella Silva de Castro, Shraddha Basu, Kombo N'guessan, LaTonya Williams, Manuel Flores, Melvin Doster, Tanya Hoang, Hyoyoung Choo-Wosoba, Emmanuel Woode, Yongjun Sui, Georgia Tomaras, Dominic Paquin-Proulx, Mangala Rao, James Talton, Xiang-Peng Kong, Susan Zolla-Pazner, Timothy Cardozo, Genovefa Franchini and Jay Berzofsky. Loss of HIV candidate vaccine efficacy in male macaques by mucosal nanoparticle immunization rescued by V2-specific response. Nature Communications. 2024, 15, 9102. |
| Massimiliano Bissa, Mohammad Arif Rahman, Luca Schifanella, Katherine C. Goldfarbmuren, Isabela Silva de Castro, Emmanuel K. Woode, Anna Gutowska, Melvin N. Doster, Sophia Brown, Sarkis Sarkis, Neil R. Kanchetty, Cynthia A. Pise-Masison, Robyn Washington-Parks, Katherine McKinnon, Shraddha Basu, Jiae Kim, Ryan Alving, Dominic Paquin-Proulx, Kombo F. N'guessan, Xiaoying Shen, David C. Montefiori, Timothy Cardozo, Gary R. Matyas, Mangala Rao5 and Genoveffa Franchini. HIV vaccine candidate ΔV1gp120 formulated in ALFQA adjuvant augments mucosal immunity in female macaques. Nat Commun. 2025 Sep 29;16(1):8571. |
| Mohammad Arif Rahman, Manuel Becerra-Flores, Yury Patskovsky, Isabela Silva de Castro, Massimiliano Bissa, Shraddha Basu, Xiaoying Shen, LaTonya D. Williams, Sarkis Sarkis, Kombo F. N’guessan, Celia LaBranche, Georgia D. Tomaras, Pyone Pyone Aye, Ronald Veazey, Dominic Paquin-Proulx, Mangala Rao, Genoveffa Franchini1, Timothy Cardozo. Cholera Toxin B Scaffolded, Focused SIV V2 Epitope Elicits Antibodies that Influence the Risk of SIVmac251 Acquisition in Macaques. Frontiers in Immunology 2023, 14, 1139402. |
| Daniel Boamah, Tao Lin, Franchesca AnneMarie Poppinga, Shraddha Basu, Shahariar Rahman, Francisca Essel, and Suvobrata Chakravarty. Characteristics of a PHD finger subtype. Biochemistry 2018. 57, 5, 525-539. |
| Shraddha Basu, "Analysis of Coevolving Residues of xCDxCDx-PHD, A Distinct type of PHD-Finger" 2020. Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4102. https://openprairie.sdstate.edu/etd/4102 |
| Shraddha Basu, Tuhin Banerjee, Pankaj Manna, Banjul Bhattacharyya, Bibhas Guha. Influence of physicochemical parameters for the abundance of coliform bacteria of water near an industrial site of the Hooghly River, India. Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 2013, 66 (1):20–26 |
| Shraddha Basu, Bibhas Guha. Assessment of genotoxicity induced by the effluent of Supreme Paper Mill (India) on the fish Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch). Proceedings of the Zoological Society. 2012, 65 (2):86-90 |
| Book: Bibhas Guha and Shraddha Basu. 2015. Marketing of aqua product in India and abroad in relation to WTO. Pub: Lambert Academic Publishing. Germany; 2015, ISBN: 978-3-659-75659-7. https://www.amazon.com/Marketing-Marine-Products-Abroad-Relation |
Area of Research
Institution Affiliations
HJF Scientist in support of Walter Reed Army Institute of Research (WRAIR)