Visiting Scientist — Office of Scientific Coordination

NO PHOTO AVAILABLE

Arjun Sharmah, Ph.D.
(870) 543-7121
NCTRResearch@fda.hhs.gov  

Back to NCTR Principal Investigator page

About  |  Publications 

Background

Arjun Sharmah received his Bachelor of Science in 2003 and his Master of Science in Chemistry in 2005 from Tribhuvan University, Nepal. He received his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis in March 2016 where his research focused on the synthesis of inorganic and organic (liposomes) nanostructures, surface modifications, characterization and study of the effects of nanomaterials on X-ray radiation driven reactive oxygen species (ROS) chemistry at nanoscale regime. In addition to using existing chemical assays, he developed new assays to study the catalytic effect (termed as chemical enhancement) as well as physical enhancement of ROS (specifically, hydroxyl radicals) caused by such nanostructures under X-ray irradiation. As a graduate student at UC Davis, he also received an outstanding teaching assistant award in 2014. He undertook his postdoctoral training at UC Davis in the Department of Chemistry and the Department of Plant Biology, where he worked to develop nanoscale biosensor for sensing the plant stress hormone abscisic acid (ABA), and theoretical simulations for the interaction of X-rays with nanomaterials of different structural configurations. He also has experience in assessing the patentability of inventions at the UC Davis Office of Research where he completed his intellectual property internship.

Research Interests

• Study of use and efficacy of nanomaterials and ionizing radiation for targeted drug delivery and cancer treatment.
• Analytical method development.
• Synthesis of higher-order nanostructures and their detailed characterization.
• Toxicity of nanomaterials and their environmental impact.
• Protein chemistry and molecular conjugation for spectroscopic and imaging applications. 
• Theoretical study of interaction of radiation with nanomaterials and reaction kinetics.

Professional Societies/National and International Groups

American Chemical Society
Member
2017 – Present

Selected Publications

Towards Development of Fluorescence Quenching-Based Biosensors for Drought Stress in Plants.
Sharmah A., Kraus M., Cutler S.R., Siegel J., Brady S.M., and Guo T.
Anal. Chem. 2019, 19 (24), 15644-15651.

Sealable Spherical Mesoporous Silica Shell Nanoreactors as Fiducial Nanoscale Probes for X-rays.
Peck K.A., Su M., Lien J., Sharmah A., and Guo T.
J. Phys. Chem. A. 2018, 122(43):8686-8692, doi: 10.1021/acs.jpca.8b07968 [Epub Oct 18, 2018].

Theoretical Study of X-ray Induced Energy Transfer (XIET) from Nanomaterial Donors to Nanomaterial Acceptors.
Sharmah A., Lien J., Su M., and Guo T.
J. Phys. Chem. C. 2018, 122(32):18640-18650, doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.8b01696 [Epub Apr 11, 2018].

Concentration-Dependent Association Between Weakly Attractive Nanoparticles in Aqueous Solutions.
Sharmah A., Mukherjee S., Yao Z., Lu L., and Guo T.
J. Phys. Chem. C. 2016, 120(35):19830-19836, doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.6b06062 [Epub Aug 16, 2016].

X-ray-Induced Energy Transfer between Nanomaterials Under X-ray Irradiation.
Sharmah A., Yao Z., Lu L., and Guo T.
J. Phys. Chem. C. 2016, 120(5):3054-3060, doi: 10.1021/acs.jpcc.5b11859 [Epub Feb 2, 2016].

Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectroscopy Investigation of Radical Production by Gold Nanoparticles in Aqueous Solutions Under X-ray Irradiation.
Chang J., Taylor R.D., Davidson R.A., Sharmah A., and Guo T.
J. Phys. Chem. A. 2016, 120(18):2815-23, doi: 10.1021/acs.jpca.6b01755 [Epub Apr 28, 2016].

Influence of Particle Size on Persistence and Clearance of Aerosolized Silver Nanoparticles in the Rat Lung.
Anderson D.S., Patchin E.S., Silva R.M., Uyeminami D.L., Guo T., Das G.K., Brown J.M., Shannahan J., Gordon T., Chen L.C., Pinkerton K.E., and Van Winkle L.S.
Toxicol. Sci. 2015, 144(2):366-81. doi: 10.1093/toxsci/kfv005 [Epub Jan 9, 2015].

Persistence of Silver Nanoparticles in the Rat Lung: Influence of Dose, Size, and Chemical Composition.
Anderson D.S., Silva R.M., Lee D., Edwards P.C., Sharmah A., Guo T., Pinkerton K.E., Van Winkle, L.S.
Nanotoxicology. 2015, 9(5):591-602. doi: 10.3109/17435390.2014.958116 [Epub 2014 Sep 18, 2014].

Chemical Enhancement by Nanomaterials under X-ray Irradiation.
Cheng N.N., Starkewolf Z., Davidson R.A., Sharmah A., Lee C., Lien J., and Guo T.
J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2012, 134(4):1950-3. doi: 10.1021/ja210239k, [Epub Jan 19, 2012].