Diabetes & Islet Biology Group
Anand Hardikar, PhD
Professor & Group leader | Diabetes & Islet Biology Group,
Molecular biomarkers theme leader
Professor | School of Medicine | Western Sydney University & THRI, WSU
Danish Diabetes & Endocrine Academy | Visiting ProfessorVice-President | Islet Society | Sweden
Anandwardhan A. Hardikar, PhD, received his Master's in Zoology (Genetics) and a PhD in Zoology from the University of Pune. After successful completion of his PhD work, carried out mainly at the National Center for Cell Science and partly at the WHO center, Catholic University of Louvain, Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium, he continued training in the field of pancreas biology and diabetes at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine, where he worked with Doris Stoffers. He then went on to Sydney, Australia to work with Prof. Bernie Tuch at the University of New South Wales where he pursued his research interests in transplantation of insulin-producing cells. After his research tenure in the laboratory of Marvin Gershengorn, Scientific Director, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, MD, he went on to start his group at the National Center for Cell Science, Pune, India and then at the Diabetes and Pancreas Biology Section at O’Brien Institute, St. Vincent’s Hospital and the University of Melbourne, in Melbourne, Australia. Anand is currently a visiting professor with the Danish Diabetes Academy, the vice president of Islet Society and a visiting faculty in India and Doha. He presently leads the Diabetes and Islet-biology Group at Western Sydney University and is the founding director of the molecular biomarker training program.
Mugdha Joglekar, PhD
JDRF International Advance Postdoctoral /Transition Award Fellow, Senior Research Fellow (WSU) and Regulatory RNAs and Gut Health group leader.
Mugdha Joglekar received a PhD in pancreas developmental biology where she was trained in understanding the potential of microRNAs in human pancreas development and differentiation. She then trained in the immunology of diabetes with Prof. Helen Thomas and Prof. Thomas Kay at the St Vincent's institute Melbourne, where she received the JDRF International post-doctoral fellowship. She joined the University of Sydney to continue research in biomarkers of diabetes progression and epigenetics of gene regulation. She has been a JDRF USA Advanced Post-doctoral fellow and is currently a Transition fellow funded through the JDRF International, USA. Mugdha's experience and expertise lie in the immunology of diabetes, pancreas developmental biology, microRNA/ncRNA biomarkers of diabetes progression, data analytics and bioinformatics. Mugdha leads research related to epigenetic regulation of gut cells and immunomodulatory microRNAs in diabetes. She leads the Immunobiology and epigenetics research with her focus on understanding the immunomodulatory role of microRNAs and non-coding RNAs in human islet cells.
Wilson Wong, PhD
JDRF International Post-doctoral Research Fellow, WSU School of Medicine Theme leader: LncRNAs and data analytics, Diabetes and Islet Biology Group.
Wilson Wong is trained in miRNA and lncRNA biology through a project that aims to generate a microRNA profile of human cells and tissues from a biobank of around 700 human tissues. These analyses using machine learning algorithms, facilitate identification of ncRNA molecules that are associated with and potentially modulating the expression of pro-endocrine cells. He is currently involved in research funded through the Helmsley Trust, USA and JDRF Australia, that aims to develop a nanochip for rapid and efficient assessment of miRNA biomarkers associated with Type 1 diabetes. He also leads research in identifying and validating lncRNA variants that predict the quality of human islets prior to their isolation from cadaveric donor pancreas. Wilson's key strengths lie in wet lab as well data analytics and bioinformatics.
Ho Pham, PhD
Post-doctoral Research Fellow, WSU School of Medicine
Ho is a post-doctoral fellow working in the area of gut metabolites, microbiota and short-chain fatty acids in diabetes. He is currently involved in analyzing the role of SCFAs in a range of different research projects related to gut health, autoimmunity/Type 1 Diabetes as well as adiposity and Type 2 diabetes in mouse models and in clinical samples. His experience and expertise in microbial (16s) and SCFA analysis as well as cellular and molecular biology techniques. Ho is currently involved in identifying exogenous RNA regulators of gut cell biology. He is establishing spectrometry-based screening tools to understand the role of exogenous regulatory molecules in diabetes.
Madhuri Venigalla, PhD
Data Coordinator, School of Medicine & Translational Health Research Institute, Western Sydney University
Madhuri joined our group as a Data Coordinator on a research project funded through the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International. She is involved in biomarker research wherein she would link current Type 1 Diabetes status to heel-prick samples for assessing the potential of molecular biomarkers (measured at birth) in predicting future progression to autoimmunity/ Type 1 diabetes. Madhuri is also involved in working on another collaborative project (led by Dist. Prof. David Simmons) on data coordination in a clinical study related to using Apps in metabolic health. She has a PhD from Western Sydney Uniersity with extensive training and experience in database management, patient records and molecular biology.
Pooja Suresh Kunte
Research Scholar - PhD program in Type 1 Diabetes
Pooja is a highly motivated and talented young researcher with training in bioinformatics and experience in clinical and basic research in diabetes. She is currently enrolled as a PhD student in type 1 diabetes research at the School of Medicine Western Sydney University. Pooja's research is focussed on molecular biomarkers of diabetes progression and extensively uses data-driven approaches to identify predictive signatures of future disease. She is supervised by Prof Anand Hardikar and Dr Mugdha Joglekar, for her PhD program within the Diabetes & Islet Biology Group , School of Medicine, Western Sydney University.
Mya Sara
Research Scholar - M.Phil-PhD program Biomarkers in Diabetes Complications
Mya Sara is a talented and highly organised research scholar with an aim to understand non-invasive or minimally-invasive biomarkers associated with and predictive of progression to Diabetic retinopathy (DR). She is supervised by Dr. Mugdha Joglekar along with Dr. Morven Cameron and Prof. Anand Hardikar as co-supervisors. Mya is developing skills in retinal biology (with Cameron lab, WSU SOM) and biomarker analyses (Joglekar/Hardikar lab, WSU SOM) for her MPhil-PhD program. She will identify early predictors of future DR through in vitro cell and organ culture systems, animal models, and clinical study samples through collaborating clinicians at Western Sydney University. Mya aims to bridge mass spectrometry- and transcriptomics-derived biomarkers to generate a multi-omics view of DR-prediction.
Aditya Nachanekar
Research Scholar - PhD program Immunology and Type 1 Diabetes
Aditya brings in experience in cell and molecular biology through his previous trainings at Symbiosis Center for Stem Cell Research (SCSCR) and at the Sanjay Gandhi Post Graduate Institute for Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS) Lucknow, India. With his strong background in regenerative biology, he would be exploring and validating immunomodulatory mechanisms using human islet-derived cells. Aditya aims to generate transcriptomics, Proteomics and flow-cytometry data to discover and identify mediators of immune moduclation. He is supervised primarily by Dr. Mugdha Joglekar along with Dr. Wilson Wong and Prof. Anand Hardikar as co-supervisors.
Hrishikesh Hardikar
Research Scholar - PhD program Exogenous microRNAs in gut health and Diabetes
Hrishikesh has a strong background in biology, and an interest (and training) in machine learning. He has completed several courses in R, and Python through John Hopkins and Michigan University after his training from Fergeusson College, Pune, India. He is working on identifying novel exogenous microRNAs that are associated with human health and disease. Hrishikesh is supervised by Prof. Anand Hardikar, and co-supervised by A/Prof. Alexie Papanicolau and Dr. Mugdha Joglekar. His project is aligned with a recently funded Novo Nordisk Foundation collaborative grant.
Some of our past members of the Hardikar Lab who have or continue to work with the group are listed here. Current research is based on the contribution of these and other young researchers who have been trained in our lab over the past two decades. Some past members are continuing in a new role within our groups.
Isabelle El-Azzi
Islet proteomics
Mya Sara
Project-Telomeres & Diabetes
Vinushan Kuganathan
Diabetes/Islet Biology
Ehsan Alvandi
Diabetes and Cancer
Isabelle El-Azzi
Islet proteomics
Livi Tennakoon
Technology and Diabetes
Vinushan Kuganathan
Diabetes/Islet Biology
Vijit Saini
Stem/progenitor cells and diabetes
Amasha Gunetilleke
ncRNA and data analytics
Seth Hennessy
Regulatory RNAs and the gut
Janhavi Suryawanshi
Gut regulators
Patrick Zhu
Stem
Khang Dinh
lncRNA/ data analytics
Ashley Garea
Regulatory RNAs and the gut
Aashrinee De Silva Abeweera Gunaseara
miRNA regulation
Jay McIntosh
Gut regulators
Charlotte X Dong
scRNA/ data analytics/microRNAs
Shihana Fathima
miRNA biomarkers (Kidney)
Jennifer Barraclough
miRNA biomarkers (ACS)
Cody Lee Maynard
microRNA/cfDNA biomarkers
Sarang Satoor
T2D biomarkers, gallbladder
Shihana Fathima
miRNA biomarkers (Kidney)
Luke Carroll
Pancreatic stem cell differentiation
Emma Scott
miRNA biomarkers (glycemic variation)
Ryan Farr
miRNA, cfDNA, human islet and animal models (T1D research projects)
Michael Williams
Adipose-derived islet progenitor cells
Ella Somerville Gover
microbiota/T2D
Sundy Yang
Pancreatic prognitors, lineage commitment and differentiation
Amaresh Ranjan
endothelial cell bioengineering, glycemic variation, RNA-biomarkers
Tejaswini Sharangdhar
pancreatic progenitor/stem cells
Nicola Hetherington
pancreatic progenitor cells
Subhshri Sahu
Islet progenitors, gallbladder
Malati Umrani
Pancreas progenitor cells
Vishal Parekh
hUVEC, cord blood, progenitors
Holly Kristensen-Walker
microbiota/T2D
Dhawal Jain
Bioinformatics, ncRNA biology
Maithili Dalvi
Human pancreas progenitor cells
Youjin Sohnderella
RNA biomarkers
Amrutesh Puranik
Animal studies, obesity, ins resistance
Anja S⌀rensen
microRNAs (DDA visiting fellow)
Sachin Kadam
Pancreatic progenitor cells
Feifei Cheng
CUHK Global Scholarship Research Excellence Visiting fellow.
Smruti Phadnis
Pancreatic progenitor biology
Sophie Breedveld
Visiting Bachelor of Science student from University of Virginia
Research fellows/staff/students who have been trained in specific techniques or workflows in our lab are listed below:
Researcher name | Date of lab induction for training | Affiliation |
Madhuri Venigalla | 01/05/2023 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Linh Nguyen | 28/02/2023 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Seth Hennessy | 29/11/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Mahek Thanki | 29/11/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Isabelle El-Azzi | 29/11/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Yiwei (Jenny) He | 29/11/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Pamela Acosta Reyes | 25/11/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Ritesh Chimoriya | 25/11/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Pooja Suresh Kunte | 25/09/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Mya Sara | 17/06/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Jay McIntosh | 17/06/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Aashrinee De Silva Abeweera Gunasekara | 17/06/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Patrick Zhu | 24/01/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Janhavi Suryawanshi | 24/01/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Vinushan Kuganathan | 24/01/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Amasha Gunetilleke | 24/01/2022 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Ashley Garea | 14/09/2021 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Khang Huynh Dinh | 14/09/2021 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Nicole Lingyun Kong | 17/05/2021 | WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Ehsan Alvandi | 1/12/2020 | Ingham Institute / WSU, Sydney, Australia |
Sally Vuong | 31/01/2020 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Manana B. Vinholes | 31/01/2020 | Australia |
Dheerja Lakhiani | 13/01/2020 | Australia |
Charlotte DONG | 11/12/2019 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Alissa Chaitarvrnkit | 6/12/2019 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Mariah Taleb | 6/12/2019 | UTS, Sydney, Australia |
Glena Travis | 5/09/2019 | Australia |
Sophie Breedveld | 28/05/2019 | University of Virginia, USA |
Fahmida Khan Ema | 7/02/2019 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Prapti Pandya | 10/12/2018 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Thanh Huyan Phan | 20/11/2018 | Australia |
Shannon Themsa | 20/11/2018 | Australia |
Feifei Cheng | 16/10/2018 | CUHK, Hong Kong |
Amita Limaye | 3/08/2018 | Australia |
Arpita Poddar | 5/02/2018 | RMIT, Melbourne, Australia |
Sonia Isaacs | 14/08/2017 | UNSW, Sydney, Australia |
Fathima Shihana | 22/06/2017 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Anja Elaine Sorensen | 4/04/2017 | RUC, Denmark |
Ho Trong Pham | 1/03/2017 | UTS, Sydney, Australia |
Sathya Perera Wedithanthrige | 22/01/2017 | UTas, TAS, Australia |
Caroline Taylor | 8/01/2017 | La Trobe, Melbourne, Australia |
Sonika Singh Virk | 3/01/2017 | Australia |
Zhong Yan Gan | 3/01/2017 | Australia |
Liang Wu | 3/01/2017 | Australia |
Georgia Rankin | 3/01/2017 | Australia |
Cody-Lee Maynard | 5/12/2016 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Mohammad Abdul Wahab | 11/07/2016 | Sidra Medical Research Institute, Qatar |
Jen Barra | 1/06/2016 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Malati Umrani | 1/05/2016 | National Center Cell Science, India |
Vijit Saini | 18/02/2016 | UTS, Sydney, Australia |
Emma Scott | 6/01/2016 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Aria Ahmed-Cox | 18/11/2015 | UNSW, Australia |
Huda Wazzan | 26/10/2015 | RMIT, Melbourne, Australia |
Abdullah Abuberhal | 22/07/2015 | Dubai, UAE |
Dario Gerace | 17/07/2015 | UTS, Sydney, Australia |
Ki Wook Kim | 17/07/2015 | UNSW, Australia |
Amit Lalwani | 17/07/2015 | WIMR, Sydney, Australia |
Wan Jun Gan | 17/07/2015 | Australia |
Shaoping Zhang | 17/07/2015 | University of Auckland, NewZealand |
Jingjing Ge | 17/07/2015 | SVI, Melbourne, Australia |
Snuthamol Sithara | 17/07/2015 | Australia |
Viviane Delghingaro Augusto | 17/07/2015 | ANU, Canberra, Australia |
Rodnigo Carlessi | 17/07/2015 | Australia |
Ycuneu Chau | 7/07/2015 | Australia |
Blake Cochran | 17/07/2015 | UNSW, Australia |
Jessica Beilharz | 17/07/2015 | Australia |
Liming Hon | 17/07/2015 | Australia |
Vanitha Bhoopalan Bhoopalan | 1/07/2015 | Australia |
Puteri Shahirah Ghazali | 10/06/2015 | UAE |
Asmaa Shakiruddin | 10/06/2015 | Sidra Medical Research Institute, UAE |
Dana Al Riggal | 10/06/2015 | Canada |
Liisa Kautto | 26/02/2015 | Macquarie University, Australia |
Hasinika KAH Gamage | 26/02/2015 | Macquarie University, Australia |
Raymond Wei Wern Chong | 26/02/2015 | Macquarie University, Australia |
Daniel Bucio Noble | 26/02/2015 | Macquarie University, Australia |
Ella Somerville Glover | 26/02/2015 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Mellisa Giovanni Soesanta | 6/01/2015 | Western Sydney University, Australia |
Michaela Shaw | 6/01/2015 | Australia |
Pip Simpson | 1/11/2014 | Australia |
Erandi Hewawasam | 26/05/2014 | ANU, Canberra, Australia |
Carah Figueroa-Crisostomo | 16/05/2014 | UNSW, Australia |
Andy Ho | 16/05/2014 | UNSW, Australia |
Luke Carroll | 6/01/2014 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Auvro Mridha | 6/01/2014 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Hoang (Tamia) Nguyen | 26/11/2013 | Australia |
Holly Kristensen-Walker | 25/11/2013 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Sally Yunsun Kim | 1/08/2013 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Devaki Bapat | 1/08/2013 | National University of Singapore, Singapore |
Naga Deepa Kandula | 10/05/2013 | Giessen, Germany |
Amira Akil | 4/03/2013 | UNSW, Australia |
Ryan Farr | 4/03/2013 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Erin Bell | 1/01/2013 | University of Melbourne, Australia |
Michael Williams | 24/09/2012 | O'Brien Institute, Melbourne, Australia |
Ru-Dee Ting | 24/09/2012 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Sarang Satoor | 24/07/2012 | National Center for Cell Science, India |
Andrzej Januszewski | 24/07/2012 | University of Sydney, Australia |
Mattew Wong | 24/07/201 | UNSW, Australia |
Parking is available in the designated P1 and P2 parking lots.
The Hardikar Laboratory (Islet Biology and Diabetes Group) is located on level 1 (30.1.35) of the Ainsworth Building, Western Sydney University, Campbelltown campus
Acknowledgement of traditional owners: With respect for its Aboriginal cultural protocol and out of the recognition of its location on the traditional lands, the Hardikar Laboratory at the School of Medicine, Western Sydney University acknowledges the Darug, Eora, Dharawal (also referred to as Tharawal) and Wiradjuri people and thank them for their support of its work in their lands (Greater Western Sydney and beyond). We pay our respect to Elders - past, present, and emerging.