Investigator Profile

Primary Affiliation: Dr. Vikram Saini, Additional Professor, Department of Biotechnology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi-110029 Secondary Affiliation: Biosafety Level-3 Laboratory (BSL-3), Centralized Core Research Facility (CCRF), All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi-110029 Link to CCRF

   Email ID: vikram@aiims.edu

   Phone(O): +91-11-26594994

Google scholar ID: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=zE4kGlwAAAAJ&hl=en

ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0258-2871

Decoding infection through metabolism, redox biology, and translational science.

Profile:
Dr. Vikram Saini is an Additional Professor in the Department of Biotechnology at AIIMS New Delhi. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Delhi South Campus and subsequently trained at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (USA), where he also served on the faculty before joining AIIMS. His research focuses on infection biology, immunometabolism, redox regulation, and translational approaches to infectious diseases, with work spanning tuberculosis, sepsis, fungal infections, and host-directed therapies. He is the recipient of several competitive awards, including Senior Research Fellowship from American Lung Association, HarGobind Khorana Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award (IYBA), DBT, Govt of India, AIIMS Innovative product development award, and very recently K. L. Wig Researcher of the year award (AIIMS New Delhi), one of the institute’s highest recognitions for research excellence and impact. Dr. Saini currently leads multiple nationally funded research programs supported by agencies such as DBT, ICMR, DRDO, and NCDC, and contributes to national initiatives in Translational Science, Biosafety and One Health. He is actively engaged in mentoring students and fostering a research environment that emphasizes scientific rigor, originality, and translational impact.

About the Laboratory:
The laboratory is designated as the Centre of Excellence (COE) in One Health at AIIMS New Delhi, supported by the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). It serves as a platform for interdisciplinary research, innovation, and preparedness at the interface of infectious diseases, host biology, and public health, linking fundamental science with real-world biomedical and societal challenges.

Major research interests in the laboratory centre on understanding infection through the integrated lenses of pathogen biology, host immunity, metabolism, and redox regulation, while advancing translational strategies with meaningful clinical and public health relevance. The laboratory works across Class II and Class III pathogens, tuberculosis, sepsis, fungal infections, and emerging infections, with a strong emphasis on immunometabolism, mitochondrial function, and host-directed interventions in both communicable and non- communicable conditions. Alongside discovery-driven science, the group has a demonstrated track record of innovation, including practical contributions such as PPE disinfection technologies (Which became part of WHO policy guidelines) and cold-chain independent super-sensitive viral transport media.

The laboratory offers a rigorous, intellectually vibrant, and purpose-driven environment for students who wish to engage deeply with important biological questions and contribute to high-impact biomedical research.

Tuberculosis, dormancy, and redox adaptation: Mechanistic dissection of how Mycobacterium tuberculosis integrates metabolic and redox signals, including gaseous mediators such as nitric oxide and hydrogen sulfide, to regulate survival and dormancy. (DBT, DST).

Nutritional interventions and host-directed therapy in tuberculosis: Understanding how micronutrients modulate macrophage metabolism and antimicrobial activity to strengthen host defense. (ANRF, AIIMS, ICMR)

Probiotics, microbial formulations, and infectious diseases: Elucidating how microbial interventions induce long-term immunometabolic reprogramming to improve resistance to infection. (LSRB, DRDO)

Immunometabolism and mitochondrial function in infection and cancer: Investigating how mitochondrial bioenergetics and metabolic flexibility govern immune cell function during infection, inflammation, and malignancy. (AIIMS Intramural, Inter-Departmental, ICMR)

Sepsis and clinical immune bioenergetics: Identifying metabolic signatures and functional immune phenotypes to enable stratification and therapeutic targeting in sepsis. (ICMR)

Immunometabolic basis of mucormycosis: Exploring mitochondrial and redox mechanisms underlying host–fungal interactions in invasive fungal disease. (AIIMS Inter-Departmental)

One Health, biosafety, and translational preparedness: Developing frameworks and research platforms for high-containment laboratories and integrated infectious disease preparedness. (NCDC, Institutional Support)

Join the Lab

The laboratory welcomes motivated students who are curious, rigorous, and ambitious, and who are excited by the opportunity to work at the intersection of biology, medicine, and translation. Research in the lab offers exposure to diverse molecular, cellular, and systems- level approaches across infection biology, immunometabolism, redox science, mitochondrial function, and translational innovation. Students who are committed to high standards, scientific ownership, and meaningful work are encouraged to get in touch.