Dr Abhishek Bajpai

Plant science and biodiversity restoration

• Enhancing the germination and growth of Australian native plant species.
• Developing technologies to improve the quality of various Australian native plants facing challenges of biodiversity loss.

Dr. Abhishek Bajpai completed his doctorate in the field of plant molecular biology under Prof. David Craik at the Institute for Molecular Bioscience at The University of Queensland.

After completing his PhD in mid-2023, he joined Dr Jitka Kochanek, the leader of the Plant Performance Laboratory within the Spinifex Team to work on improving the health of Australian native plant species. Currently, Dr Bajpai is working on a project to improve the germination and health of native Australian plants with Greening Australia and Bulugudu Ltd.

Dr Bajpai's interest lies within the fields of plant science and biotechnology. He also pursued a Master of Biotechnology from Vellore Institute of Technology in India with a master's thesis focused on recombinant gene expression in plants completed at Chulalongkorn University, Thailand. 

Key Publications

Abhishek Bajpai. (2023). Nematicidal properties of natural cyclotides and expression of therapeutic cyclotides in plants. PhD thesis, Institute for Molecular Bioscience, The University of Queensland​

Abhishek Bajpai, Mark A. Jackson, Yen-Hua Huang, Kuok Yap, Qingdan Du, Tevin Chui-Ying Chau, David J. Craik, Edward K. Gilding. (2023). Nematicidal activity of cyclotides: Toxicity against Caenorhabditis elegans. Journal of Natural Products, 86, 5, 1222-1229. doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.2c01124 

Abhishek Bajpai, Edward Gilding, Mark Jackson, David Craik. (2022). Hairy roots as a therapeutic peptide expression platform. Talk presented at the 5th International Society for Plant Molecular Farming (ISPMF), Rome, Italy. Published conference abstract

Qingdan Du, Yen-Hua Huang, Abhishek Bajpai, Majbrit Frosig- Jorgensen, Guangzu Zhao, and David J. Craik. (2020). Evaluation of the in Vivo Aphrodisiac Activity of a Cyclotide Extract from Hybanthus enneaspermus. Journal of Natural Products. 83, 12, 3736–3743. doi: https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.jnatprod.0c01045

Abhishek Bajpai (2018). Establishment of the protocol for induction of hairy roots in Arachis hypogaea using Agrobacterium rhizogenes. Master thesis, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand