Dr Abhishek Gupta

Dr Abhishek Gupta

Senior Lecturer in Physiology and Pharmacology

  • Email address a.gupta@wlv.ac.uk
  • Phone number 01902 32 2673
  • Location Room: MA122a, School of Pharmacy, Wulfruna Street, City Campus, Wolverhampton WV1 1LY
  • Faculty Faculty of Science and Engineering
  • Institute School of Pharmacy
  • Areas of expertise
    • Development and characterisation of biosynthetic hydrogels with a potential antimicrobial wound management applications
    • Controlled release delivery systems for wound management
    • Application of Cyclodextrins as drug carriers
    • Development and characterisation of metal nanotechnology for biomedical applications
    • Natural products in wound healing
    • Non-antibiotic antimicrobial agents for infection control
    • Odour masking in stoma bags
    • Skin irritation in stoma bag users
    • An alternative to routine dressings for wound management.
    • The contribution of environmental and genetic factors  in Criminal behaviour
    • Isolation of genomic DNA from dried blood stains using Phenol free organic solvent extraction method and its application in DNA recovery from dried blood strains exposed to external environmental conditions
    • Personal identification using third level details (poroscopy) in the finger prints
    • Criminal behaviour and genetics

Abhishek qualified as a pharmacist in 1998 in India. He graduated with a B.Sc degree with Biochemistry in 2001 and completed an MSc in 2004. Abhishek qualified the National Eligibility Test (NET) in 2003. He was awarded the Junior Research Fellowship (JRF) in 2004 organised by the University Grant Commission (UGC), India.

Following this, Abhishek became a Researcher at the University of Wolverhampton where he gained an MPhil in 2008. He completed his PhD at  the University of Wolverhampton in the area of the development and characterisation of biosynthetic hydrogels for wound management applications. Abhishek completed the Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice in Higher Education and is a fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA). Before taking the position of Senior Lecturer in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Wolverhampton within the Faculty of Science and Engineering (FSE), Abhishek served as a Teaching Associate in FSE and as a Lecturer specialising in Anatomy and Physiology within the Faculty of Education, Health, and Wellbeing (FEHW).

In addition to teaching, Abhishek is an active researcher. His principal research interest is in the areas of the development and characterisation of advanced dressings for wound management. In light of the emerging issue of multidrug resistance, Abhishek is actively working in the area of non-antibiotic therapies, combination therapy of antibiotic-antibiotic and antibiotic-non-antibiotic therapy. Abhishek has published and shared his research findings on the application of non-antibiotic antimicrobials, like metals (silver) and natural and biological products like curcumin, in wound management. His research work also involves synthesis of metal nanoparticles using natural compounds, following the green chemistry approach, for biomedical applications including wound management.

Moreover, Abhishek has worked in the field of personal identification, document examination and relationship between behaviour and genetics. His research in the area of personal identification underpinned the reliability and reproducibility of fingerprint pore area. Abhishek examined the reliability of pore size as a tool in personal identification using photomicrographic images of inked prints, latent prints, direct microscopic images and live scans. 

 Completed PhD projects:

  • Co-supervisor of a PhD student project on "Liposome-loaded biosynthetic bacterial cellulose hydrogels for wound management applications".
  • Co-supervisor of a PhD student working on "Bio-active Strategies: Bacterial Cellulose Dressings for Combating Fungal Wound Infections".
  • Advisor of a PhD student working on “Screening and evaluation of multifunctional excipients: A novel approach for the local delivery of chlorhexidine against Streptococcus mutans biofilms”.

Fellow of Higher Education Academy (FHEA)

  • D-Pharmacy (Government Medical College, Patiala, India)
  • B.Sc. Biochemistry (Kurukshetra University, India)
  • M.Sc. Forensic Science (Punjabi University, Patiala, India)
  • PG Certificate in Criminal Justice (Liverpool Hope University, Liverpool, UK)
  • Ten-print Examiner training at Florida Division of the International Association for Identification (Fort Lauderdale, Florida, USA)
  • MPhil- Topic: The reliability of fingerprint pore area in personal identification (University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK)
  • PG Certificate in Academic Practice in Higher Education (University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK)
  • PhD- Topic: Development and characterisation of biosynthetic hydrogels for wound management applications (University of Wolverhampton, Wolverhampton, UK)

Publications

  • Chopra, P., Sehgal, T., Yadav, R., Meena, S., Maitra, S., Soni, K.D., Subramanium, A., Prakash, S., Mathur, P., Mittan, S., Lee, C.S., Kaushik, A., Gulia, K., Mostafavi, E., Gupta, A., Trikha, A., Gupta, R., Chosdol, K., Mohan, A., Mani, K., Sinha, S. and Datta, S.K. 2023. A combination of inflammatory and hematological markers is strongly associated with risk of death in both mild and severe initial disease in unvaccinated individuals with COVID-19 infection. eJIFCC. Accepted- In Press.
  • Pasaribu, K. M., Ilyas, S., Tamrin, T., Radecka, I., Swingler, S., Gupta, A., Stamboulis, A. G. and Gea, S. 2023. Bioactive bacterial cellulose wound dressings for burns with collagen in-situ and chitosan ex-situ impregnation, International Journal of Biological Macromolecules, 230, p. 123118, [online] 
    https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0141813022032652
  • Swingler, S., Gupta, A., Gibson, H., Kowalczuk, M., Adamus, G., Heaselgrave, W. and Radecka, I. 2022. Thymoquinone : Hydroxypropyl-β-Cyclodextrin Loaded Bacterial Cellulose for the Management of Wounds. Pharmaceutics, 14, 2816. https://doi.org/10.3390/pharmaceu-tics14122816
  • Chopra, D.S., Gupta, A., Singh, D. and Singh, N. 2022. Anti-inflammatory potential of Ginseng for Wound healing. In: Ginseng in Medicine, IntechOpen, London. DOI: 10.5772/intechopen.101167, https://www.intechopen.com/chapters/79331
  • Swingler, S., Gupta, A., Gibson, H., Heaselgrave, W., Kowalczuk, M., Adamus, G. and Radecka, I. 2021. The Mould War: Developing an Armamentarium against Fungal Pathogens Utilising Thymoquinone, Ocimene, and Miramistin within Bacterial Cellulose Matrices. Materials, 14(10), 2654. https://doi.org/10.3390/ma14102654
  • Zięba, M., Włodarczyk, J., Gupta, A., Pastusiak, M., Chaber, P., Janeczek, H., Musioł, M., Sikorska, W., Kaczmarczyk, B., Radecka, I., Kowalczuk, M., Savickas, A., Savickiene, N. and Adamus, G. 2021. Bioresorbable Electrospun Mats of Poly(D, L)-lactide / Poly[(R, S)-3-hydrox-ybutyrate] Blends for Potential Use in the Treatment of Difficult-to-Heal SkinWounds, European Polymer Journal, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eurpolymj.2021.110334
  • Swingler, S., Gupta, A., Gibson, H., Kowalczuk, M., Heaselgrave, W. and Radecka, I. 2021. Recent Advances and Applications of Bacterial Cellulose in Biomedicine. Polymers, 13(3), https://doi.org/10.3390/polym13030412
  • Kwiecień, I., Niewolik, D., Ekere, A. I., Gupta, A. and Radecka, I. 2020. Synthesis of hydrogels made of poly-γ-glutamic acid (γ-PGA) for potential applications as probiotic delivery vehicles. Applied Sciences, 10(8), https://doi.org/10.3390/app10082787
  • Gupta, A., Briffa, S.M., Swingler, S., Gibson, H., Kannapan,V., Adamus, G., Kowalczuk, M., Martin, C. and Radecka, I. 2020. Synthesis of Silver Nanoparticles Using Curcumin-Cyclodextrins Loaded into Bacterial CelluloseBased Hydrogels for Wound Dressing Applications. BioMacromolecules, 21(5), pp. 1802–1811, https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.biomac.9b01724
  • Gupta, A., Keddie, D.J., Kannappan, V., Gibson, H., Khalil, I.R., Kowlaczuk, M., Martin, C., Shuai, X. and Radecka, I. 2019. Production and characterisation of bacterial cellulose hydrogels loaded with curcumin encapsulated in Cyclodextrins as wound dressings. European Polymer Journal, 118, pp. 437-450.
  • Gupta, A., Kowlaczuk, M., Heaselgrave, W., Britland, S.T., Martin, C. and Radecka, I. 2019. The production and application of hydrogels for wound management- A review. European Polymer Journal, 111, pp.134-151.
  • Khalil, I.R., Khechara, M.P., Kurusamy, S., Armesilla, A.L., Gupta, A., Mendrek, B., Khalaf, T., Scandola, M., Focarete, M.L., Kowalczuk. And Radecka, I. 2018. Poly-Gamma-Glutamic Acid (γ-PGA)-Based Encapsulation of Adenovirus to Evade Neutralizing Antibodies. Molecules, 23(10), doi: 10.3390/molecules23102565.
  • Gupta, A., Low, W.L., Britland, S.T., Radecka, I., and Martin, C. 2017. Physicochemical characterisation of biosynthetic bacterial cellulose as a potential wound dressing material. British Journal of Pharmacy, 2(2), pp. S37-38.
  • Gupta, A., Low, W.L., Radecka, I., Britland, S.T., Amin, M.C. and Martin, C. 2016. Characterisation and in vitro antimicrobial activity of biosynthetic silverloaded bacterial cellulose hydrogels. Journal of Microencapsulation, 33(8), pp. 725-734.
  • Martin, C., Low, W.L., Gupta, A., Amin, M.C., Radecka, I., Britland, S.T., Raj, P. and Kenward, K.M. 2015. Strategies for antimicrobial drug delivery to biofilm. Current Pharmaceutical Design, 21(1), pp. 43-66.
  • Martin, C., Low, W.L., Gupta, A., Amin, M.C., Radecka, I., Raj, P., Britland, S.T. and Kenward, K.M. 2013. Liposomal Delivery of Antimicrobial Agents. In: Advances in Liposome Research, New York: Nova Science Publishers, pp. 27-62
  • Gupta, A., Harvey-Vallende, L., Singh, J.P. and Garg, J. 2011. Aetiology of minor crimes - Are Individuals committing minor crimes influenced more by Environmental factors or Genetic traits?. Journal of Forensic Research, 2(4), DOI: 10.4172/2157-7145.1000127.
  • Delazar, A.,  Delnavazi, M. R., Nahar, L.,  Moghadam, S. B., Mojarab, M., Gupta, A., Williams, A. S., Rahman, M.M. and Sarker, S.D.  2011. Lavandulifolioside B: A new phenylethanoid glycoside from the aerial parts of Stachys lavandulifolia Vahl. Natural Product Research, 25(1), pp. 8-16.
  • Gupta, A., Buckley,K. and Sutton, R. 2010. The effect of substrate on the reproducibility of inked fingerprint pore dimensions examined using photomicrography. Reprinted in The Print, 26(3), pp. 2-5.
  • Gupta, A. and Sutton, R. 2010. Pore sub-features reproducibility in direct microscopic and Livescan images - Their reliability in Personal Identification. Journal of Forensic Science, 55(4), pp. 970-975.
  • Gupta, N. and Gupta, A. 2009. Forgery by Scanning - A Case Report. Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal, 42(3), pp. 195-199.
  • Gupta, A., Buckley,K. and Sutton, R. 2008. Latent fingermark pore area reproducibility. Forensic Science International. 179(2), pp. 172-175.
  • Gupta, A., Buckley,K. and Sutton, R. 2007. The effect of substrate on the reproducibility of inked fingerprint pore dimensions examined using photomicrography. Fingerprint Whorld. 33(128), pp. 156-163.
  • Gupta, A., Gupta,N. and Garg, R.K. 2006. Criminal behaviour and Genetics -  A Review. The Indian Journal of Criminology and Criminalistics. 27(2), pp. 58-64.
  • Gupta, A., Garg, R.K., Singh, A. and Balgir, P. 2004. Phenol-free organic solvent extraction method for isolation of genomic DNA from blood stains. International Journal of Medical Toxicology and Legal Medicine. 7(1), pp. 24-26.

Books Published

  • Gupta, A. (2009) Poroscopy: The reliability of fingerprint pore area in personal identification. (VDM Verlag Dr Müller Aktiengesellschaft & Co, Germany) ISBN 978-3639-181159.

Prestigious Awards:

  • Awarded the “Hind Rattan Award” by NRI Welfare Society, India at the 41st International Convention of NRIs on the 14th April 2022.
  • Awarded the “International Education Award” at the Global Education Summit & Conference on Oxford University Programs at St Hilda College, University of Oxford, UK on the 26th September 2022.
  • Awarded “Prof. Mariapia Viola Magni EBTNA Award” at the European Biotechnology Congress at Ljubljana, Slovenia on 4th-6th October 2023.

Professional Achievements:

  • Qualified UGC-NET (UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION - NATIONAL ELIGIBILITY TEST FOR LECTURERSHIP) examination in December 2003. Information available about this exam on - http://www.ugc.ac.in/ .
  • Qualified UGC-JRF (UNIVERSITY GRANTS COMMISSION – JUNIOR RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP) held on 20th June 2004, http://www.ugc.ac.in/.

 Editorial roles:

Media coverage:

Newspaper coverage:

  • Express and Star Newspaper, 7th January 2022, page 31, “Researcher set to improve lives with wound dressings”.
  • Express and Star Newspaper, 14th December 2021, page 14, “Doctor is humbled by award honour”.