Nihal Medatwal

About

Dr. Nihal Medatwal is an accomplished cancer biologist and lipidomics expert, currently serving as a Postdoctoral Associate in Dr. Yusuf A. Hannun’s Lab at the Cancer Center, Stony Brook Medicine since August 2022. He employs advanced lipidomics platforms, including LC-MS/MS, alongside proteomics, immunoprecipitation, and confocal imaging, to investigate post-translational modifications, protein-protein interactions, and membrane remodeling dynamics.

Prior to joining Stony Brook, Dr. Medatwal was a Postdoctoral Fellow in Dr. Ian A. Blair’s Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, where he contributed to diverse projects including: Comparative lipidomic profiling of monkey and mouse liver tissues, Lung-on-chip studies following chlorine exposure, And biomarker quantification using high-resolution mass spectrometry (HRMS).

Dr. Medatwal earned his Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB), India, where his dissertation—titled "Deciphering the Role of Sphingolipids in Cancer Progression and Impact of Chemotherapy on Sphingolipid Signaling"—was mentored by Dr. Avinash Bajaj and Dr. Ujjaini Dasgupta. His doctoral work established critical links between sphingolipid metabolism and cancer cell behavior, including the therapeutic effects of drug combining and evaluating multi-drug treatments impacting sphingolipid-driven tumor progression.

A dedicated and innovative researcher, Dr. Medatwal continues to make impactful contributions to the fields of lipid signaling, cancer biology, and membrane biochemistry, with a long-term vision of translating sphingolipid biology into novel cancer therapeutics.

Employment

• Stony Brook Medicine Postdoctoral Associate
  2022 - Present
• University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Post-Doctoral Fellow
  2021 - 2022
• Regional Centre for Biotechnology Research scholar
  2014 - 2021

Education

• Amity University - Haryana Campus Collaborative work
  2018 - 2021
• National Institute of Immunology Colloborative work
  2017 - 2018
• Indian Institute of Science Collaborative Work
  2017 - 2017
• Regional Centre for Biotechnology Ph.D.
  2014 - 2021
• University of Rajasthan Master of science
  2010 - 2012

Projects & Funding

• Worked in DBT-Funded Institute Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, India
  2014 - 2021

Publications (12)

• An integrative approach to studying sphingolipid metabolism reveals p53 as a master regulator of the pathway
  Journal of Lipid Research 2026 DOI: 10.1016/j.jlr.2026.100994
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• A localized hydrogel-mediated chemotherapy causes immunogenic cell death via activation of ceramide-mediated unfolded protein response
  Animesh Kar, Dolly Jain, Sandeep Kumar +20 more
  Science Advances 2023 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.adf2746
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• Unique sphingolipid signature identifies luminal and triple‐negative breast cancer subtypes
  Animesh Kar, Nihal Medatwal, Kajal Rajput

  +10 more

  • Susmita Mandal
  • Trishna Pani
  • Ali Khan
  • Pankaj Sharma
  • Ajit Singh Oberoi
  • +5 more
  International Journal of Cancer 2023 DOI: 10.1002/ijc.34423
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• Ceramide Kinase (CERK) Emerges as a Common Therapeutic Target for Triple Positive and Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells
  Kajal Rajput, Mohammad Nafees Ansari, Somesh Kumar Jha +5 more
  Cancers 2022 DOI: 10.3390/cancers14184496
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• A hydrogel-based implantable multidrug antitubercular formulation outperforms oral delivery
  Sanjay Pal, Vijay Soni, Sandeep Kumar

  +13 more

  • Somesh Kumar Jha
  • Nihal Medatwal
  • Kajal Rana
  • Poonam Yadav
  • Devashish Mehta
  • +8 more
  Nanoscale 2021 DOI: 10.1039/d0nr08806d
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• Alternative splicing of ceramide synthase 2 alters levels of specific ceramides and modulates cancer cell proliferation and migration in Luminal B breast cancer subtype.
  Trishna Pani, Kajal Rajput, Animesh Kar +15 more
  Cell death & disease 2021 DOI: 10.1038/s41419-021-03436-x
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• Quantitation of Sphingolipids in Mammalian Cell Lines by Liquid Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry
  Analysis of Membrane Lipids 2020
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• Hydrogel-mediated Delivery of Celastrol and Doxorubicin Induces Synergistic Effect on Tumor Regression via Upregulation of Ceramides
  Nihal Medatwal, Mohammad Nafees Ansari, Sandeep Kumar +6 more
  Nanoscale 2020 DOI: 10.1039/d0nr01066a
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• A Localized Chimeric Hydrogel Therapy Combats Tumor Progression through Alteration of Sphingolipid Metabolism
  Sanjay Pal, Nihal Medatwal, Sandeep Kumar +15 more
  ACS Central Science 2019 DOI: 10.1021/acscentsci.9b00551
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• Cholic Acid-Derived Amphiphile which Combats Gram-Positive Bacteria-Mediated Infections via Disintegration of Lipid Clusters
  Sandeep Kumar, Jyoti Thakur, Kavita Yadav +16 more
  ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering 2019 DOI: 10.1021/acsbiomaterials.9b00706
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• Tethering of Chemotherapeutic Drug/Imaging Agent to Bile Acid-Phospholipid Increases the Efficacy and Bioavailability with Reduced Hepatotoxicity
  Vedagopuram Sreekanth, Nihal Medatwal, Sandeep Kumar +8 more
  Bioconjugate Chemistry 2017 DOI: 10.1021/acs.bioconjchem.7b00564
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• Molecular Self-Assembly of Bile Acid-Phospholipids Controls the Delivery of Doxorubicin and Mice Survivability
  Vedagopuram Sreekanth, Nihal Medatwal, Sanjay Pal +3 more
  Molecular Pharmaceutics 2017 DOI: 10.1021/acs.molpharmaceut.7b00105
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