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Manu Lopus

Centre for Excellence in Basic Science, University of California Santa Barbara, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

ORCID iD 0000-0002-4829-3960
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About

Dr. Manu Lopus is an Associate Professor at the UM-DAE Centre for Excellence in Basic Sciences, Mumbai, where he leads the Cellular Nanomedicine and Chemical Biology Group. His research lies at the interface of cell biology, nanomedicine, chemical biology, and cancer therapeutics, with a particular emphasis on understanding how engineered nanomaterials and small molecules can selectively eliminate aggressive and therapy-resistant cancers. His research has significantly advanced the understanding of anticancer drug mechanisms and nanoparticle-mediated cancer therapy. During his doctoral and postdoctoral training at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay and the University of California, Santa Barbara, respectively, he made important contributions to elucidating the mechanisms of action of several clinically relevant anticancer agents, including antibody-drug conjugate payloads and natural product-derived therapeutics. His work has helped reveal how modulation of microtubule dynamics can be exploited to improve cancer treatment and overcome drug resistance.

At UM-DAE CEBS, Dr. Lopus established an independent research programme focused on developing bioengineered nanoparticle-based therapeutics for difficult-to-treat malignancies, particularly triple-negative breast cancer. His laboratory has pioneered phytochemical-functionalized metal nanoparticles that selectively target cancer cells through previously unrecognized mechanisms involving coordinated dysfunction of multiple cellular organelles and non-apoptotic cell death pathways. His group has also demonstrated the ability of surface-engineered gold nanoparticles to restore chemosensitivity in highly drug-resistant cancers, opening new avenues for overcoming therapeutic resistance through nanomedicine.

Dr. Lopus's research combines molecular and cellular biology, chemical biology, nanotechnology, proteomics, metabolomics, computational biology, and advanced imaging to decipher the molecular basis of cancer cell vulnerability. Through collaborations with researchers across Europe, North America, and Asia, his laboratory integrates multidisciplinary approaches to translate mechanistic discoveries into innovative therapeutic strategies.

Dr. Lopus has authored more than 70 peer-reviewed publications in his areas of research. His work has appeared in journals including Cancer Research, Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, Nanoscale, Biomedical Materials, Journal of Materials Chemistry B, Cancer Letters, and Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, and has contributed to emerging concepts in non-apoptotic cell death, nanoparticle therapeutics, and microtubule-targeted drug discovery. To share his findings with a broad scientific readership, he has contributed comprehensive review articles to leading scientific journals such as Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Translational Oncology, and the Journal of Integrative Medicine.

Beyond research, Dr. Lopus actively contributes to the international scientific community as an Editorial Board Member of multiple peer-reviewed journals, Guest Editor of thematic issues, reviewer for numerous high-impact journals, evaluator for international university rankings, and external reviewer for competitive research funding agencies. He has delivered invited lectures and keynote presentations at international conferences and universities and serves on biosafety, doctoral, and curriculum committees at several institutes of eminence.

He has supervised master's students, doctoral students, and postdoctoral researchers working on cancer biology, nanomedicine, and chemical biology, many of whom have progressed to successful scientific careers. His laboratory continues to investigate innovative strategies to overcome chemoresistance, discover new modes of regulated cancer cell death that can be induced in apoptosis-resistant tumour cells, explore the sensitization potential of nanoparticles in photothermal and radiation therapies, and engineer next-generation therapeutic nanomaterials with translational potential.

Dr. Lopus is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and the Maharashtra Academy of Sciences (FMASc), and an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences, India.

Employment

  • Centre for Excellence in Basic Science Associate Professor, and Principal Investigator, Cellular Nanomedicine and Chemical Biology Laboratory
    2025 - Present
  • University of California Santa Barbara Associate Specialist II
  • University of California Santa Barbara Postdoctoral Fellow

Education

  • Indian Institute of Technology Bombay PhD

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (70)