Center for Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology

Kunal Bhattacharya

Prior Title and Affiliation

Research Associate
Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Environmental Health
Center for Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology

Short Bio

Dr. Kunal Bhattacharya was a research associate at the Center of Nanotechnology and Nanotoxicology. His primary focus was on the risk assessment of commercial products and environmental contaminants comprising of engineered nanomaterials.

Dr. Bhattacharya was involved with the Nanyang Technological University–Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Initiative for Sustainable Nanotechnology, working on both the SUNPrint project studying the health risks assessment of nanoparticles emitted from printers and photocopiers (PEPs) in human exposures, and the SusFood (sustainable food) project evaluating the toxicity of organic nanomaterials with applications in food industry and nutraceuticals.

He received his doctoral degree from the University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany (2008), with magna cum laude in the field of nanotoxicology. Previously, he had been working as a research associate at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Sweden (2013-2017), in EU FP7-NANOREG, Horizon2020 GRAPHENE flagship and Swedish national MISTRA Environmental nanosafety projects. He also acted as a principal investigator in the research grant from ForskaUtanDjurförsök’ (2017) to establish human ‘lung-on-a-chip’ model for toxicity screening in engineered nanomaterials. He completed his postdoctoral work at the Institute of Environmental Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Sweden (2012-2013), and the Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland (2008-2011), in the field of nanotoxicology. He has also worked at the Indian Institute of Toxicological Research (formerly, Indian Toxicology Research Institute), Lucknow, India (2002-2004), as a research assistant focusing on the risk assessment of asbestos fibers in humans.

Research Interests

Dr. Bhattacharya is interested in studying the cellular interaction, toxicity, and clearance mechanisms of commercial and pristine nanomaterials in the respiratory, digestive, and immune systems of the body based upon their physicochemical properties and life-cycle. He is also interested in the biomedical application of biodegradable nanomaterials.

Selected Publications

  1. Bhattacharya K, Kiliç G, Costa PM, Fadeel B. Cytotoxicity and cytokine profiling of nineteen nanomaterials enables hazard ranking and grouping based on inflammogenic potential. Nanotoxicology. 2017 Aug;11(6):809-26.
  2. El-Sayed R, Bhattacharya K, Gu Z, Yang Z, Weber JK, Li H, Leifer K, Zhao Y, Toprak MS, Zhou R, Fadeel B. Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes Inhibit the Cytochrome P450 Enzyme, CYP3A4. Sci Rep. 2016 Feb:6:21316.
  3. Bhattacharya K, Mukherjee SP, Gallud A, Burkert SC, Bistarelli S, Bellucci S, Bottini M, Star A, Fadeel B. Biological Interactions of Carbon-Based Nanomaterials: From Coronation to Degradation. Nanomedicine. 2016 Feb;12(2):333-51.
  4. Bottini M, Bhattacharya K, Fadeel B, Magrini A, Bottini N, Rosato N. Nanodrugs to target articular cartilage: An emerging platform for osteoarthritis therapy. Nanomedicine. 2016 Feb;12(2):255-68.
  5. Bhattacharya K, El-Sayed R, Andón FT, Mukherjee SP, Gregory J, Li H, Zhao Y, Seo W, Fornara A, Brandner B, Toprak MS, Leifer K, Star A, Fadeel B. Lactoperoxidase-mediated degradation of single-walled carbon nanotubes in the presence of pulmonary surfactant. Carbon. 2015;91:506-17.
  6. Bhattacharya K, Sacchetti C, El-Sayed R, Fornara A, Kotchey GP, Gaugler JA, Star A, Bottini M, Fadeel B. Enzymatic ‘stripping’ and degradation of PEGylated carbon nanotubes. Nanoscale. 2014;6(24):14686-90.