Sophia Borate

About me

Sophia completed her PhD in Biotechnology from the National Centre for Cell Science, India in April 2019. Sophia’s PhD research focus was on generation, in-depth characterization and differentiation of hiPSCs (human induced pluripotent stem cells) from adult stem cells. After completing her PhD, she worked on developing 3D human skin equivalents in vitro for a CRO- Jai Research Foundation, Vapi, India. In July 2022, Sophia joined Evren Alici's group as a Postdoctoral researcher.

Sophia's main research interests include developing iPSC (induced pluripotent stem cell) lines from blood cells and working on iPSC derived NK cells in vitro with special emphasis on use of bioreactors to scale up the differentiation.
Sophia has very recently also started working on exploring Exosomes as delivery agents to enhance various features of NK cells.
In another project, Sophia is also trying to build on non-integrative method to reprogram human blood cells to iPSCs.

Have conducted theory and practical courses- Botany and Environmental Biology for Bachelors in Biotechnology in Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Pune, India from Jan 2013 to April 2013.

Article: CELL BIOLOGY AND TRANSLATIONAL MEDICINE, VOL 14: STEM CELLS IN LINEAGE SPECIFIC DIFFERENTIATION AND DISEASE. 2021;1347:29-43

Fernandes SS; Limaye LS; Kale VP
Article: STEM CELL RESEARCH. 2020;44:101772

Tembe S; Fernandes S; Khan N; Melinkeri S; Kale V; Limaye L
Article: CRYOBIOLOGY. 2019;90:21-29

Fernandes S; Khan N; Kale V; Limaye L
Article: JOURNAL OF TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE. 2019;13(8):1482-1496

Fernandes S; Vinnakota R; Kumar J; Kale V; Limaye L
Article: STEM CELL RESEARCH. 2019;35:101392

Fernandes S; Tembe S; Singh S; Vardhan S; Nair V; Kale V; Limaye L
Article: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. 2018;8(1):5705

Shinde P; Fernandes S; Melinkeri S; Kale V; Limaye L
Article: STEM CELL RESEARCH. 2018;27:1-4

Fernandes S; Tembe S; Shinde P; Melinkeri S; Kale V; Limaye L
Article: STEM CELL RESEARCH. 2018;26:80-83

Fernandes S; Shinde P; Khan N; Singh S; Vardhan S; Nair V; Kale V; Limaye L
Article: JOURNAL OF TISSUE ENGINEERING AND REGENERATIVE MEDICINE. 2017;11(11):3111-3123

Talwadekar M; Fernandes S; Kale V; Limaye L
Article: STEM CELL RESEARCH. 2017;18:60-63

Fernandes S; Talwadekar M; Agarwal R; Nair V; Kale V; Limaye L