Sohinee Sarkar

Dr Sarkar is a senior research fellow at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia. She is actively engaged in collaborating with academic and industry stakeholders and leads multiple projects for the development of novel therapeutics/vaccines to tackle antimicrobial resistance.

Dr Sohinee Sarkar is a Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne, Australia (Honorary Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne). Her research focuses on developing novel therapeutics and vaccines against critical antibiotic-resistant pathogens that cause diseases such as gastritis, urinary tract infections and complicated respiratory infections. Major projects include:

Biotherapeutics for the prevention of stomach cancer and other Helicobacter associated diseases.
Stem cell powered drug discovery platform for non-tuberculous mycobacteria.
Preclinical infection models for the validation of novel antimicrobials (genitourinary, respiratory and gastrointestinal tract infections).
Host-pathogen interactions of critical human pathogens such as antibiotic resistant Escherichia coli, Helicobacter pylori, Mycobacterium abscessus.
Mucosal immune responses to the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

Education

PhD in Microbiology (2014), University of Queensland. Australia
Master of Biotechnology Advanced (2009), University of Queensland, Australia
Bachelor of Science. Biotechnology (2007), Manipal University, India

Media engagement on various projects

https://twitter.com/10NewsFirstMelb/status/1560525979478532096

https://www.facebook.com/QUTBrisbane/videos/meet-the-mortal-enemy-of-sup...

https://www.mtpconnect.org.au/Story?Action=View&Story_id=505

https://medicalxpress.com/news/2022-08-immune-cell-paves-treatments-comm...

Download SohineeSarkar_herald sun article.pdf (299.52 KB)

Stem-cell based infection model for new drug discovery for non-tuberculous mycobacteria

Selected publications

Complete works on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.com.au/citations?user=srguAukAAAAJ&hl=en

S. Sarkar, G. A. Talesh, T. R. Menheniott, P. Sutton, Targeting Host Sulphonyl Urea Receptor 2 Can Reduce Severity of Helicobacter pylori Associated Gastritis. Gastro Hep Advances 2, 721-732 (2023).
S. Tosif, E. R. Haycroft, S. Sarkar, Z. Q. Toh, L. A. H. Do, C. M. Donato, K. J. Selva, M. Hoq, I. Overmars, J. Nguyen, Virology and immune dynamics reveal high household transmission of ancestral SARS‐CoV‐2 strain. Pediatric Allergy and Immunology 33, (2022).
S. Sun, M. See, H. T. Nim, K. Strumila, E. S. Ng, A. Hidalgo, M. Ramialison, P. Sutton, A. G. Elefanty, S. Sarkar, Human pluripotent stem cell-derived macrophages host Mycobacterium abscessus infection. Stem Cell Reports 17, 2156-2166 (2022).
J. Qin, K. A. Wilson, S. Sarkar, B. Heras, M. L. O'Mara, M. Totsika, Conserved FimH mutations in the global Escherichia coli ST131 multi-drug resistant lineage weaken interdomain interactions and alter adhesin function. Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal 20, 4532-4541 (2022).
Z. Q. Toh, J. Anderson, N. Mazarakis, M. Neeland, R. A. Higgins, K. Rautenbacher, K. Dohle, J. Nguyen, I. Overmars, C. Donato, Reduced seroconversion in children compared to adults with mild COVID-19. medRxiv, 2021.2010. 2017.21265121 (2021).
M. R. Neeland, S. Bannister, V. Clifford, J. Nguyen, K. Dohle, I. Overmars, Z. Q. Toh, J. Anderson, C. M. Donato, S. Sarkar, Children and adults in a household cohort study have robust longitudinal immune responses following SARS-CoV-2 infection or exposure. Frontiers in immunology 12, 741639 (2021).
H. Liu, S. Sarkar, K. Azzopardi, S. Day, S. Yeow, S. Ranganathan, P. Sutton, A. R. E. S. T. f. C. Fibrosis, A bacterial stimulation assay for bronchoalveolar lavage immune cells from young children with cystic fibrosis. Scandinavian Journal of Immunology 94, e13040 (2021).
S. Tosif, M. R. Neeland, P. Sutton, P. V. Licciardi, S. Sarkar, K. J. Selva, L. A. H. Do, C. Donato, Z. Quan Toh, R. Higgins, Immune responses to SARS-CoV-2 in three children of parents with symptomatic COVID-19. Nature communications 11, 5703 (2020).
S. Chung Nien Chin, L. O’Connor, M. Scurr, J. T. Busada, A. N. Graham, G. Alipour Talesh, C. P. Tran, S. Sarkar, T. Minamoto, A. S. Giraud, Coordinate expression loss of GKN1 and GKN2 in gastric cancer via impairment of a glucocorticoid-responsive enhancer. American Journal of Physiology-Gastrointestinal and Liver Physiology 319, G175-G188 (2020).
U. Arshad, S. Sarkar, G. Alipour Talesh, P. Sutton, A lack of role for antibodies in regulating Helicobacter pylori colonization and associated gastritis. Helicobacter 25, e12681 (2020).
P. Dhar, S. Sarkar, G. Z. Ng, P. Kalitsis, M. A. Saeed, M. A. McGuckin, J. A. Ellis, P. Sutton, Effect of MUC1 length polymorphisms on the NLRP3 inflammasome response of human macrophages. Human immunology 80, 878-882 (2019).
S. Sarkar, M. L. Hutton, D. Vagenas, R. Ruter, S. Schüller, D. Lyras, M. A. Schembri, M. Totsika, Intestinal colonization traits of pandemic multidrug-resistant Escherichia coli ST131. The Journal of infectious diseases 218, 979-990 (2018).
S. Sarkar, D. Vagenas, M. A. Schembri, M. Totsika, Biofilm formation by multidrug resistant Escherichia coli ST131 is dependent on type 1 fimbriae and assay conditions. FEMS Pathogens and Disease 74, ftw013 (2016).
S. Sarkar, L. W. Roberts, M. D. Phan, L. Tan, A. W. Lo, K. M. Peters, D. L. Paterson, M. Upton, G. C. Ulett, S. A. Beatson, Comprehensive analysis of type 1 fimbriae regulation in fimB‐null strains from the multidrug resistant Escherichia coli ST131 clone. Molecular Microbiology 101, 1069-1087 (2016).
S. Sarkar, G. C. Ulett, M. Totsika, M.-D. Phan, M. A. Schembri, Role of capsule and O antigen in the virulence of uropathogenic Escherichia coli. PloS one 9, e94786 (2014).
M.-D. Phan, K. M. Peters, S. Sarkar, S. W. Lukowski, L. P. Allsopp, D. G. Moriel, M. E. Achard, M. Totsika, V. M. Marshall, M. Upton, The serum resistome of a globally disseminated multidrug resistant uropathogenic Escherichia coli clone. PLoS genetics 9, e1003834 (2013).
M. Totsika, S. A. Beatson, S. Sarkar, M.-D. Phan, N. K. Petty, N. Bachmann, M. Szubert, H. E. Sidjabat, D. L. Paterson, M. Upton, Insights into a multidrug resistant Escherichia coli pathogen of the globally disseminated ST131 lineage: genome analysis and virulence mechanisms. PloS one 6, e26578 (2011).