Dr. Pathak received his undergraduate degree (B.Sc.) in Chemistry and Biology from the University of Rajasthan and a master's degree (M.Sc.) in Chemistry from the Jiwaji University Gwalior. In the year 2006, he enrolled for a Ph.D. degree in the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay under the supervision of Prof. C. P. Rao. During his Ph.D. tenure from 2006 to 2011, he worked on the synthesis and bio-interaction aspects of protein/enzyme mimic supramolecular system, such as calix[4]arene in a pathological context. He then moved to the United States and joined Nanotherapeutic Lab at the University of Georgia as a postdoctoral fellow. There he worked on the design, synthesis, and therapeutic aspects of platinum-based prodrugs, polymeric NPs, and mitochondria-targeted formulations against various cancers. In continuation of his interest and to gain further expertise in the aspects of translational therapeutics, he joined the Ohio State University in 2015 and was awarded the prestigious Pelotonia Postdoctoral Fellowship by the Comprehensive Cancer Center for transitioning from a postdoc Fellow to an independent researcher. In the year 2017, Dr. Pathak joined the Department of Chemical Sciences at IISER Berhampur as Assistant Professor and established a Laboratory of Biological Chemistry and Nanomedicine in this new and evolving Institute. In 2018, Dr. Pathak was awarded the prestigious Ramanujan Fellowship, early career research award by SERB-DST. During Aug-2024-July 2025, Dr. Pathak worked as Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Vanderbilt University, Nashville Tennessee, USA. In 2025, Dr. Pathak was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor.
Dr. Pathak’s current research interests align with the interfaces of synthetic inorganic & organic chemistry, biology, and nanotechnology. His research objectives are the design, synthesis, and characterization of medicinally important chemical compounds and their nanoformulations for targeted delivery in cancer.

Metal-Drug Conjugates and Their Lipid-Polymer Blended Nanoscale Composites for Drug Delivery: 

Cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed disease in India. In recent times, India has been ranked as 2nd in terms of high cancer-related mortality to incidence ratio. The exact mechanism for the cellular action of many important anticancer drugs remains unknown. Investigating and understanding the mechanistic aspects of newly designed drug conjugates for targeted action is required for improving the therapeutic regimen for cancer. 

Metal ions with distinct features, such as multi-valency, biocompatibility, and therapeutic relevance, can be used to develop new drug conjugates as a combination therapeutic regimen. We plan to engineer the individual drugs on to a single metal ion platform in a manner that the drugs stabilize to form a new species designated as metal-drug conjugates (MDCs). These conjugates will be entrapped into stable nanoparticle core for sustained and efficacious deliver

 Multifaceted Platinum-Based Therapeutics and Engineering of Antibody-Drug Conjugates for Targeted Therapy of Cancer: 

Targeted therapies have emerged as an attractive approach to cancer treatment and offer the ability to deliver potent cytotoxic drugs specifically to tumor site and reduces side effect. However, this type of therapy is still not much explored for treatment of various cancer. Of late, the interest to use, platinum (Pt) based chemotherapeutic drugs have emerged as adjuvant therapy for many cancers including breast and pancreatic cancer treatment. Among Pt based drugs, cisplatin and oxaliplatin are the most effective chemotherapeutic agents used to treat 50% of all cancers including breast cancer. 

However, in recent times platinum agents faces tremendous challenge of drug resistance, severe toxicity and side effects. In this scenario, a targeted delivery of platinum drugs using completely biological systems, expected to revolutionize treatment regimens for many solid tumors. Antibody-drug-conjugates (ADCs) can be an endowed molecular approach to deliver highly potent drugs using monoclonal antibodies to the targeted tissues. This project is in collaboration with cancer biologist and translational research scientist and aimed to develop platinum-based ADCs for better therapeutic outcomes in men and women suffering from cancer.