Shevanuja Theivendran

Design of novel nano-platforms for biomedical applications

Nanotechnology revolutionizes the trends in biomedical applications. In particular, nanomaterial-based cancer treatment and immunotherapy are hot topics of interest. By paying attention to the molecular-level details of cancer as well as the changes in the tumor microenvironment, novel nanoparticles can be designed (for example: for in-situ capture of generated tumour associated antigens (TAA) and for the regulation of macrophage phenotypes) for treating cancer. Oral delivery of nanotherapeutics and nanovaccine is another topic of broad interest that can maximize patient comfort, reduce medical expenses and reduce complications in administration. In this regard, nanomaterials can be carefully designed to overcome the challenges in the oral delivery of drugs, adjuvants, and genetic materials. Cutting-edge nanotechnology and nanochemistry are combined to develop silica-based delivery systems for cancer vaccines or cancer treatment. 

Shevanuja Theivendran finished her bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering at the University of Mississippi, USA, with 3 years of research experience in synthesizing and characterizing Gold Nanomaterials. During her bachelor's degree, she got a wonderful opportunity to associate with a world-leading expert in the field of crystallization, Prof. Allan Myerson from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston, USA, as a research intern. She was also awarded Taylor Medal in 2016, the university's highest academic award which is awarded as a recognition for her meritorious studies. Thereafter, she got admitted to the Ph.D. program at UQ with the prestigious RTP scholarship in 2018. Shevanuja did her Ph.D. under the supervision of Prof. Chengzhong Yu, Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), focusing on the design of nanoparticles for the capture and delivery of in-situ generated tumour associated antigens (TAA)  and the regulation of tumor microenvironment for cancer immunotherapy. She is currently working as a post-doctoral research fellow at AIBN, the University of Queensland. Her current research focuses on the development of nanomaterial-based oral DNA vaccine in collaboration with N4 Pharma and the development of novel nanoplatforms for the regulation of tumor microenvironment by targeting different components of cancer and its microenvironment for cancer treatment.

Industry

​Shevanuja is always open to collaborations and industry engagements. She is currently working on the development of DNA nanovaccines in collaboration with the industry partner N4 Pharma, UK.

Key Publications

1. Shevanuja Theivendran, Zhengying Gu, Jie Tang, Yannan Yang, Hao Song, Yang Yang, Min Zhang, Dan Cheng and Chengzhong Yu; (2022) Nanostructured Organosilica Nitric Oxide Donors Intrinsically Regulate Macrophage Polarization with Potent Anti-Tumor Immunity. ACS Nano, 16, 10943-10957 (Impact Factor – 14.588)
2. Shevanuja Theivendran and Chengzhong Yu; (2021) Nanochemistry Modulates Intracellular Decomposition Routes of S‐ Nitrosothiol Modified Silica‐Based Nanoparticles. Small, 2007671. (Impact Factor – 11.459)
3. Shevanuja Theivendran, Jie Tang, Chang Lei, Yannan Yang, Hao Song, Zhengying Gu, Yue Wang, Yang Yang, Lei Jinb and Chengzhong Yu; (2020) Post translational modification-assisted cancer immunotherapy for effective breast cancer treatment. Chemical Science, 11, 10421-10430. (Impact Factor – 9.346)
4. Shevanuja Theivendran, Jun Zhang, Cheng Tang, Mohammad Kalantari, Zhengying Gu, Yannan Yang, Ekaterina Strounina, Aijun Du, Chengzhong Yu; (2019) Synthesis of biphenyl bridged dendritic mesoporous organosilica with extremely high adsorption of pyrene. Journal of Material Chemistry A, 7, 12029-12037. (Impact Factor – 10.733)
5. Min Zhang, Zan Dai, Shevanuja Theivendran, Zhengying Gu, Liang Zhao, Hao Song, Yannan Yang, Chengzhong Yu; (2021) Nanotechnology enabled reactive species regulation in biosystems for boosting cancer immunotherapy. Nano Today, 36, 101035. (Impact Factor – 16.907)
6. Praneeth Reddy Nimmala, Shevanuja Theivendran, Giovanni Barcaro, Luca Sementa,  Chanaka Kumara , Vijay Reddy Jupally,  Edoardo Apra , Mauro Stener, Alessandro Fortunelli and  Amala Dass (2015) Transformation of Au 144 (SCH 2 CH 2 Ph) 60  to Au 133 (SPh-tBu) 52 Nanomolecules: Theoretical and Experimental Study, The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters, 6(11); 2134-2139. 
7. Amala Dass, Shevanuja Theivendran,  Praneeth Reddy Nimmala ,  Chanaka Kumara , Vijay Reddy Jupally, Alessandro Fortunelli, Luca Sementa, Giovanni Barcaro,  Xiaobing Zuo , and Bruce C. Noll (2015) Au 133 (SPh-tBu) 52  Nanomolecules: X-ray Crystallography, Optical, Electrochemical, and Theoretical Analysis, Journal of American Chemical Society, 137(14); 4610-4613. 
8. Amala Dass, Tanya C. Jones, Shevanuja Theivendran, Luca Sementa, and Alessandro Fortunelli (2017) Core Size Interconversions of Au 30 (S-tBu) 18 and Au 36 (SPhX) 24 , Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 121 (27); 14914-14919. 
9. Shevanuja Theivendran and Amala Dass; (2017) Synthesis of Aromatic Thiolate-Protected Gold Nanomolecules by Core Conversion: The Case of Au 36 (SPh-tBu) 24 . Langmuir DOI: 10.1021/acs.langmuir.7b01017. Online Publication Date: July 17 th 2017 
10. Naga Arjun Sakthivel, Shevanuja Theivendran, Vigneshraja Ganeshraj, Allen G. Oliver, and Amala Dass; (2017) Crystal Structure of Faradaurate-279: Au 279 (SPh-tBu) 84 Plasmonic Nanocrystal Molecules. Journal of American Chemical Society, 139 (43), pp 15450–15459. 
11. Shevanuja Theivendran, Le Chang, Aneek Mukherjee, Luca Sementa, Mauro Stener, Alessandro Fortunelli, and Amala Dass; (2018) Principles of Optical Spectroscopy of Aromatic Alloy Nanomolecules: Au 36–x Ag x (SPh-tBu) 24 , Journal of Physical Chemistry C, 122 (8), pp 4524–4531.
12. Shevanuja Theivendran, Jun Zhang, Cheng Tang, Mohammad Kalantari, Zhenying Gu, Yannan Yang, Yang Yang, Ekaterina Strounina, Aijun Dub and Chengzhong Yu; (2019) Synthesis of biphenyl bridged dendritic mesoporous organosilica with extremely high adsorption of pyrene, Journal of Material Chemistry A, 19 (7), pp 12029-12037.