Research
As the Director of the Optical Microscopy and Image Analysis services within the Microscopy and Image Analysis Core Facility, my current focus is as follows:
- Training researchers in the best utilization of microscopy and image analysis options available at WCM
- Acquiring and maintaining high-end microscopy and image analysis equipment
- Ensuring that researchers can get the best possible quality of images from their samples (consulting and assisting, as necessary, from the stage of sample preparation and dye choice, through image acquisition and then, analysis and visualization of the imaging data)
- Assisting researchers with the microscopy and image analysis aspects of their grant applications, research papers and presentations
Also, since 2020, my interest and work at WCM has included:
- Institution-wide advocacy for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging for all
Bio
Currently, I serve as the Director of Optical Microscopy and Image Analysis services within the Microscopy and Image Analysis Core Facility, Weill Cornell Medicine. My graduate research on organization and dynamics of biological membranes using fluorescence spectroscopy was conducted at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, India. My postdoctoral research at Columbia and Cornell University medical colleges focused on the study lipid and cholesterol trafficking in cells using fluorescence microscopy. I helped establish Multiphoton Microscopic research here at Weill Cornell in collaboration with Professor Watt Webb, the inventor of this technique at Cornell University, Ithaca. Our focus was to evaluate the ability of multiphoton microscopy to provide histopathological diagnosis in fresh, unlabeled animal and human tissue (so-called “optical biopsy”). In addition to research and core facility administration, I contribute significantly in teaching optical microscopy, histology, and the status of diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging in the STEM fields.
Distinctions:
- Young Scientist Award of the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) (1995)
- Norman and Rosita Winston Foundation Fellowship in Biomedical Research (1997-1998)
- K12 Career Development Award, Clinical and Translational Science Center, WCMC, NY (2008-2010)
- Gastrointestinal inflammation & neoplasia research published in Nov 2012 cited in the Editorial entitled “Looking Forward to 2013—Saluting the Exceptional Year in 2012” in Cancer Prevention Research (Jan 2013)
Selected Publications:
Jain M, Robinson BD, Scherr DS, Sterling J, Lee MM, Wysock J, Rubin MA, Maxfield FR, Zipfel WR, Webb WW, Mukherjee S.(2012). Multiphoton microscopy in the evaluation of human bladder biopsies. Archives of pathology & laboratory medicine 136(5):517-26.(PMID: 22540300)
Makino T, Jain M, Montrose DC, Aggarwal A, Sterling J, Bosworth BP, Milsom JW, Robinson BD, Shevchuk MM, Kawaguchi K, Zhang N, Brown CM, Rivera DR, Williams WO, Xu C, Dannenberg AJ, Mukherjee S. (2012) Multiphoton tomographic imaging: a potential optical biopsy tool for detecting gastrointestinal inflammation and neoplasia. Cancer Prevention Research 5(11):1280-90. (PMID: 22961775)
Jain, M., Robinson, B. D., Shevchuk, M. M., Aggarwal, A., Salamoon, B., Dubin, J. M., Scherr, D. S. and Mukherjee, S. (2015) "Multiphoton microscopy: a potential intraoperative tool for the detection of carcinoma in situ in human bladder" Arch Pathol Lab Med. 139: 796-804. (PMID: 26030249)
Jain M, Robinson BD, Aggarwal A, Shevchuk MM, Scherr DS, Mukherjee S. (2016) Multiphoton microscopy for rapid histopathological evaluation of kidney tumours. BJU international 118(1):118-26. (PMID: 26575175)