About

I was born and bought up in Roopnagar, a small town in the north Indian state of Punjab. I was awarded national scholarships for maintaining an excellent academic record in my secondary school examinations and received the certificate of merit for being among the top 0.1% of successful candidates in mathematics in the All India Secondary School Examination. Thereafter, I attended the Department of Biophysics, Panjab University, Chandigarh, India, where I gained my B.Sc., M.Sc., and Ph.D. degrees. Here too, I received university medals for excellence in academics throughout my bachelor's and master's courses. I completed my Ph.D. in 2011 .

My teaching career began in 2007 as an Assistant Professor at Goswami Ganesh Dutta Sanatan Dharma College, Chandigarh. In 2010 I rejoined Panjab University as Assistant Professor and also carried out post-doctoral research at University College London (U.K.) from 2014 to 2015. I have served as the Chairperson of the Department of Biophysics from 2020 to 2023 and Warden of Working Women Hostel from 2018 to 2023. Currently, I am a Professor in Biophysics involved in teaching and research.

Curriculum Vitae

Latest Book Published 2022

Book Chapters

Ankush Parmar, Bharti Jain, Rajeev Jain, Shilpee Sachar, Avneet Saini, Shweta Sharma. Green miniaturized technologies based sample preparation techniques. In Comprehensive Analytical Chemistry, Elsevier, Volume 109 (2025), Pages 1-37, ISSN 0166-526X, ISBN 9780443239809, https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.coac.2023.08.004.
Joshi S., Sharma S., Verma G., Saini A. Peptide functionalized nanomaterials as microbial sensors. In Photophysics and Nanophysics in Therapeutics (2022) by Elsevier Inc. ISBN: 978-0-323-89839-3.
Barman P., Sharma S., Saini A. Improving the functionality of a nanomaterial by biological probes. In Photophysics and Nanophysics in Therapeutics (2022) by Elsevier Inc. ISBN: 978-0-323-89839-3.
Sharma S, Joshi S, Sharma P, Barman P, Jyoti, Saini A. As a wonderful sensing material, Isothiocyanate based detection of chemical agents. In Spectrum of Isothiocyanate Chemistry & its Applications (2021) by Nova Science Publishers ISBN: 978-1-536-19005-2.s
Jaswal RR, Kaushal K, Joshi S, Sharma P, Sharma S, Preet S, Saini A. Exploring the Potential of peptides and peptidomimetics in Biosensing. In Strategies to Overcome Superbug Invasions: Emerging Research and Opportunities. IGI Global (2021). ISBN10:1799803074, ISBN13:9781799803072
Tripathi R, Sharma P, Saini A, Verma G. Self-healed Materials from Elastomeric Composites: Concepts, Strategies and Developments. In Smart Polymer Nanocomposites (2017) Pg 219-242. Springer International Publishing. Print ISBN: 978-3-319-50423-0, Electronic ISBN: 978-3-319-50424-7.
Saini A and Verma G. “Peptoids: Tomorrow’s Therapeutics”. In Nanostructures for Novel Therapy: Synthesis, Characterization and Applications. (2017). Chapter 10, Pg 251-280. Elsevier Publications. ISBN: 978-0-323-46142-9.

Patents Filed

Patent Granted: Novel Biodegradable material, method of preparation and uses thereof. Avneet Saini, Shubhi Joshi, Panchali Barman, Mayank Maan. Indian Patent Office, Application No. 202411073596A, 3rd January 2025. Patent No. 574873.
Patent Granted: Peptide and Device for the detection of Prostate Specific Antigen. Avneet Saini, Panchali Barman, Sheetal Sharma, Shweta Sharma. Indian Patent Office, Application No.202211061821,31st Oct 2022. Patent No. 534172.
Biologically Stable, Synthetic Antimicrobial Peptide And Its Uses Thereof. Avneet Saini, Mayank Maan, Shubhi Joshi, Indian Patent Office, Application No. 202511050884, 27 May 2025.
Process and development of nano-bio composite anti-bacterial additive for commercial paint production. Gaurav Verma, Avneet Saini, Shubhi Joshi, Deeksha Sharma. Indian Patent Office, Application No. 202211011934 A, 4 March 2022.
A Synthetic Peptide Possessing Antimicrobial and Anticancer Properties.
Avneet Saini, Pratibha Sharma, Simran Preet, Neha Singla, Praveen Rishi. Indian Patent Office, Application No. 202011015631, 9 April 2020.

Research Projects

Machine Learning and AI-Guided Design and Validation of Cost-Effective Next-Generation Antimicrobial Peptides Against Multidrug Resistant Pathogens. (ICMR) (2025-2028) Rs 1.2 crore.
Peptide-Functionalized Nanoconjugates for Biomedical Surfaces: Advanced Infection-Resistant Implant Technologies. (ICMR-DHR) (2025-2028) Rs. 50,00,000. As Mentor
Development of an eco-friendly, biodegradable antimicrobial packaging material. (DST-UT) (2024) Rs. 2,00,000.
Development of a novel antibacterial and antibiofilm coating for biomaterial implants and medical devices. (ICMR) (2022-2025) Rs 50,00,000.
Development and biovalidation of a sustainable antimicrobial peptide conjugated Collagen scaffold against infectious bacterial pathogens. DST-UT (2022) Rs 1,20,000.
Antimicrobial surface coatings for public places in the city beautiful (Co-PI) DST-UT (2021) Rs 1,50,000.
Evaluation of a colon targeted nisin loaded nano-formulation for anticancer therapy. (Co-PI) DST-UT (2021) Rs 1,50,000.
Development of peptide functionalized antifouling graphitic nano coating. (WOS-B, DST) (2021-2024) as Mentor
Studies on the consequences and prevention of the intra cellular amyloid B- aggregation and cognitive decline in progression of Alzheimer’s disease. Department of Science & Technology-Cognitive Science Research Initiative (2019-2022) as Mentor
Design and Development of Novel Peptides/Peptoids against selected pathogens. Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO) (2017-2021) Rs 59, 52, 876/-.

Group Members

PhD Students Ongoing

Abhishek, 2025
Umang Mudgil, 2025
Ikshika Sharley, 2023
Mayank Maan, 2021
Sandeep Saini, 2018

Masters Students

Mehak, 2025-26, Vanshika, 2025-26
Kunal, 2024-25, Aastha, 2023-24
Mahima, 2022-23, Prachi, 2022-23, Hemant, 2021-22
Chakshu Sharma, 2020-21, Piyush, 2019-2020
Ruby Siddiqui, 2018-2019, Puneet Kaur, 2017-18
Aindrilla Chatterjee, 2016-17, Aakarshan Datta, 2016-17
Reetika Sahore, 2015-2016
Sukriti Sharma, 2012-2013, Riteshwari Negi, 2011-2012
Rohit Bansal, 2011-2012, Tapish Malik, 2011-2012

Contact
Information

Department of Biophysics,

Basic Medical Science Block-2 (BMS Block-2), South Campus, Sec-25
Chandigarh-160014 (India)

avneet@pu.ac.in