Deeksha Prasad, mentored by Dr Sayan Basu & Dr Vivek Singh was awarded PhD by the Manipal Academy for Higher Education (MAHE).
Her work titled ‘Identification and validation of potential biomarkers of dry eye disease and understanding its mechanism in experimental models’ integrates clinical tear proteomics to identify and validate biomarkers and to develop in vitro and in vivo dry eye models to uncover mechanisms linking tear hyperosmolarity, inflammation, and ocular surface damage across disease subtypes.
Dry Eye Disease (DED) lacks reliable early diagnostic biomarkers and mechanism-based therapies. Deeksha's work identifies tear-derived inflammatory and chromatin-associated markers and develops experimental models that improve understanding, enabling earlier diagnosis and targeted treatment strategies.
'This work brings together patient-derived tear biomarkers and experimental models to bridge clinical observation with mechanism, advancing the path toward objective diagnostics and targeted therapies for dry eye disease,' says Deeksha.
