Chemistry
The high quality advanced research pursued by the faculty members supplement and complement the teaching and training endeavors of the department. The department is a recognized research centre of Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam. The centre receives support in the form of research grants from funding agencies like Department of Science and Technology (DST), Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), University Grants Commission (UGC) and Kerala State Council for Science, Technology and Environment (KSCSTE).
Research in the Department of Chemistry is centered mainly on two areas;
(i) Chemical Biology (ii) Molecular Modeling and Computational Chemistry.
Research in the area of biological chemistry is headed by Dr. Franklin J and Dr. Jinu George. The research activity is targeted at the development of novel synthetic therapeutic agents against cancer cell proliferation. Cancer is a global health problem and a leading cause of death worldwide. The mortality rate is still high all across the globe. Cancer drug targeting is challenged by problems like drug resistance and low bioavailability. The group is engaged in the synthesis of heterocyclic systems and multicomponent reactions (MCR) enabling the detection and treatment of cancer more efficient.
Investigations in the area of Computational Chemistry is supervised by Dr. Abi T G. The research group specialized in Computational Quantum Chemistry, Molecular Simulations, Reaction Mechanism Studies and Drug Design. The group uses a wide variety of computational codes for performing the theoretical and computational chemistry research. The group has expertise in using commercial softwares such as Gaussian 09, Turbomole and StarDrop and Free-Academic Softwares such as GAMESS, Autodock, GROMACS, NAMD, MODELER and OPEN3DQSAR. The group is currently running a Research Based Certificate Course in Molecular Docking and Drug Design. The group offer consultancy and hands on training workshops in computational quantum chemistry and computer Aided Drug Design (CADD). from SH College & Other Institutions. The research group is seeking and offering effective collaborations with other experimental interdisciplinary research groups in India and abroad.
