Karnika Thakur
Assistant Professor
PhD Biotechnology (Panjab University); CSIR-Senior Research Fellow (CSIR-SRF)
Karnika Thakur is an Assistant Professor at the School of Biotechnology, Shoolini University. She holds a PhD in Biotechnology from Panjab University, with her doctoral research carried out at the CSIR-Institute of Himalayan Bioresource Technology, Palampur. She is a recipient of the CSIR-Senior Research Fellowship (CSIR-SRF). Earlier, she completed her M Tech in Biotechnology and B Tech in Bioinformatics from Jaypee University of Information Technology and was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Gold Medal for academic excellence.
Her research interests span plant-microbe interactions, molecular biology, genomics, transcriptomics, metagenomics, and bioinformatics, contributing to interdisciplinary advances in agricultural and microbial biotechnology. She has published extensively in high-impact SCIE- and Scopus-indexed journals and authored multiple Springer book chapters, with active participation in national and international scientific forums.
With over eight years of post-PhD experience across academia, R&D, and government-funded programs, she has contributed to large-scale national initiatives, including the rollout of the ROTAVAC® rotavirus vaccine under the public health system of the Government of India. Her project experience includes next-generation sequencing, genome assembly and annotation, waste valorisation, and enzyme bioprospecting, effectively integrating wet-lab experimentation with computational analysis.
Beyond academia, she remains actively engaged in capacity building through organising workshops and internships and mentoring students in laboratory skills, data analysis, and research ethics, underscoring her commitment to nurturing skilled, research-oriented learners.
Publications
- Thakur, K. et al. (2020). Genomic evidence for bacterial cellulose synthesis in Acetobacter pasteurianus RSV-4. International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 156, 598-607. (IF: 8.025)
- Thakur, K. et al. (2020). Metagenomic bioprospecting of landfill microbial communities for novel enzymes. World Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology, 36, 34. (IF: 4.28)
- Vashisht, A., Thakur, K. et al. (2019). Waste valorization using ethanol-tolerant Acetobacter pasteurianus for acetic acid production. Science of the Total Environment, 690, 956-964. (IF: 10.7)
- Thakur, K. et al. (2013). De novo transcriptome sequencing of Venturia inaequalis, the apple scab pathogen. PLOS ONE, 8, e53937. (IF: 3.752)
- Jha, G., Thakur, K. et al. (2009). Pathogenicity mechanisms and plant defense responses in the Venturia-apple pathosystem. Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology. (IF: 3.411)
Book Chapters
- Gunda, T.J., Jasrotia, N., Eshawu, A.B., Dhar, H., Thakur, K. (2026). Integrating IoT and bioinformatics for nutrient monitoring in hydroponic systems. In Transforming Medicinal Plant Agriculture. Springer, Singapore.
- Yadav, R., Gupta, P., Chhabra, R., Thakur, K., Dhar, H. (2024). Transcriptomics of host–pathogen interactions. In Biotechnological Advances for Disease Tolerance in Plants. Springer, Singapore.
- Thakur, A., Sanju, S., Shukla, P.K., Thakur, K. et al. (2024). Effector-mediated pathogenicity. In Biotechnological Advances for Disease Tolerance in Plants. Springer, Singapore.
- Kumar, S., Rana, T., Thakur, K., Kumari, R., Hallan, V. (2022). Genomics of biotic stress resistance in Malus domestica. In Genomic Designing for Biotic Stress Resistant Fruit Crops. Springer, Cham.
- Chownk, M., Thakur, K. et al. (2019). Applications and future perspectives of synthetic biology systems. In Current Developments in Biotechnology and Bioengineering. Elsevier.
Patents & Intellectual Property
- Granted International Patent (PCT): Method for Detecting Fungal Pathogens (WO/2011/098907), inventors Karnika Thakur and Gopaljee Jha, filed by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research. (Status: Active)
- Copyrighted Software Tool: PathDec – a PERL-based bioinformatics tool developed for fungal pathogen detection using in silico RFLP pattern comparison; part of the above patented technology.
Contact Details
E mail id: karnikathakur@shooliniuniversity.com
LinkedIn profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/karnika-thakur-8945373b/
Google Scholar profile: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=X6sAWFIAAAAJ&hl=en
SCOPUS ID: 35489143600
ORCID: 0000-0003-3859-4783