Jyotsna Batra

Positions
- NHMRC Peter Doherty Fellow, IHBI, Faculty of Health, QUT
- Senior Research Fellow, APCRC-Q
Related websites and profiles
Qualifications
- PhD, Asthma Genetics, Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology, University of Pune, Delhi, India, 2008
Molecular studies on the genes involved in eosinophil trafficking in asthma - Master of Science, Biochemistry, Kurukshetra University, India, 2002
- BSc Life Sciences, MDU, Rohtak, Haryana, India, 2000
Biography
A/Prof Batra has been continuously involved in scientific research since 2002. The focus of her PhD thesis was on asthma, which is a widespread respiratory tract ailment that affects nearly 20% of the world’s population. Her focus on large-scale population and family based studies, led to the identification of some novel features in various key genes (viz. UGRP1, NAT2, NOS2A, CCR3, CCR5, Eotaxin, MCP3, MCP1, LELP1, IL-10, IL-21, CHIA) associated with asthma. She identified individuals homozygous for CCR5∆32 deletion — the first report from the Indian subcontinent.
Most importantly, A/Prof Batra and her research group identified a novel asthma associated genetic signature — a loss of function polymorphism in the Inositol polyphosphate 4 phosphatase (INPP4A) gene. This was accomplished through a project to utilise microarray data from a mouse model of asthma to identify genetic factors responsible for causing asthma in the Indian population. Her group is the first in the world to show a link between the Inositol signalling pathway and genetic susceptibility to asthma.
A/Prof Batra has applied her knowledge on asthma genetics to various hormone dependent cancers. Studying the genetic variation in Kallikrein genes has been a major focus for her current postdoctoral fellowship, which is now being expanded to genome-wide association studies and pathway analysis. In addition to researching the relevant literature and experimental design, she is responsible for in-house DNA quality control, selection, and prioritization of genetic variants, establishment of a genetic database, and optimisation of Massarray sequenom and other polymorphism detection systems and setting up and maintaining the national and international collaborations.
A/Prof Batra is the Co-PI on a collaborative project with the UK group to replicate the hits identified from the Genome Wide Association Studies. Her collaborative research has lead to two publications in Nature Genetics.
Awards and grants
Awards
2012 | Poster Judge for the ASMR student conference |
2011 | Finalist Women in Technology Rising Star Award |
2011 | The Cancer Council Queensland Travel Award |
2011 | NHMRC Biomedical Overseas Fellowship (Offer not accepted) |
2011 | NHMRC Training Fellowship (Peter Doherty) |
2010 | Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia Travel Grant |
2008 | Queensland University of Technology Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation Postdoctoral Fellowship in Cancer Research |
Research interests
genetics, kallikreins, prostate cancer, single nucleotide polymorphisms, molecular biology
Current research projects
Biomarkers
- The Role of Kallikrein Gene Variants in Prostate Cancer Etiology, Detection and Disease Progression
Therapeutics
- In-depth association and funcitonal studies assessing the role of novel single nucleotide polymorphisms in PSA and other Kallikrein genes in prostate cancer
Top publications
- Eeles R...Batra J, Clements J-- Spurdle A et al (2013) Identification of 23 new prostate cancer susceptibility loci using the iCOGS custom genotyping array. Nat Genet. 2013 Apr;45(4):385-91, 391e1-2 (Cit-35)
- Patnala R, Clements J, Batra J, [2013] Candidate gene association studies: a comprehensive guide to useful in silico tools, BMC Genetics, 14, p1-11. (Cit-3)
- Batra J, et al (2007) Association of Inducible Nitric Oxide Synthase (iNOS) with Asthma Severity, Total Serum IgE and Blood Eosinophil Levels. Thorax; 62(1):16-22. (Cit-28)
- Batra J, Lose F, Chambers S, Gardiner R, Aitken J, Yaxley J, Clements J, Spurdle A, [2011] A replication study examining novel common single nucleotide polymorphisms identified through a prostate cancer genome-wide association study in a Japanese population, American Journal of Epidemiology, 174 (12), p1391-1395
- Batra J, Nagle CM, O'Mara T, Higgins M, Dong Y, Tan O, Lose F, Skeie LM, Srinivasan S, Bolton KL, Song H, Ramus SJ, Gayther SA, Pharoah PD, Kedda M, Spurdle A, Clements J, [2011] A Kallikrein 15 (KLK15) single nucleotide polymorphism located close to a novel exon shows evidence of association with poor ovarian cancer survival, BMC Cancer, 11, p1-11
Collaborators
- Dr Amanda Spurdle (QIMR)
- Prof Rosalind Eeles (ICR)
- Prof Sunita Saxena (IOP)
Professional memberships and associations
Current | Australian Society of Human Genetics |
Current | American Society of Human Genetics |
Current | Prostate Cancer Collaborative Research Alliance |
Current | Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre - Queensland |
Current | Australian Society for Medical Research |
Current | FIT Member, American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology |
Current | Student Member, Indian Society of Human Genetics |
Current | Life-time Member, Association of Clinical Biochemists of India |