We are pleased to announce an open call for papers to an honorary themed collection in Nanoscale celebrating Professor Rohit Srivastava’s 50th birthday and his contribution to disease
The collection is guest edited by Professor Rajendra Prasad (Indian Institute of Technology (BHU), Varanasi, India) Professor Amnon Bar-Shir (Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel), Professor Berivan Cecen (New Jersey Institute of Technology, United States) and Professor Volkan Cecen (New Jersey Institute of Technology, United States).
During his 20-year productive career, Professor Rohit Srivastava (Vigyan Shri awardee) has made numerous seminal contributions to translational biomedical research and innovative start-ups, advancing affordable and early-stage disease diagnosis. His work has transformed our understanding of fundamental aspects of developing safe nanomedicines and medical devices. More recently, he has extended his work in conceptualising and translating innovative collaborations to solve various healthcare problems.
NanoBios members and many top leaders from around the world are celebrating his 50th birthday in 2026. We hope that you will join us in celebrating his achievements and continued contributions to the field by supporting this themed collection in honour of Professor Srivastava’s 50th birthday.
The themed collection will focus on recent developments and innovations in nanoscience and nanotechnology for affordable disease diagnosis. This themed collection will include but is not limited to the following topics:
- Nanoimaging and therapeutics
- Nanoengineered and bio-conjugated systems
- Medical devices in diagnosis and 3D Printing
- Molecular imaging techniques for cancer detection
- Theranostics particles for image guided cancer therapy
- Optotheranostics and targeted drug delivery
Submit your research
We encourage submissions of primary research articles and these should fit within the scope of Nanoscale. Please inform the Editorial Office at nanoscale-rsc@rsc.org as soon as possible if you plan to submit to the themed collection. Please see the journal webpage for more information on the journal’s scopes, standards and author guidelines. Please ensure that during the submission process you indicate that this is an open call submission for a themed collection.
About our Guest Editors
Dr Rajendra Prasad is group leader of the Bright-NanoGhost group at the School of Biochemical Engineering, IIT (BHU) Varanasi, India. His lab is developing biomimetic nanovesicles and ionizable lipid nanoparticles for solid tumor imaging and therapeutics. His research mainly focuses on overcoming the bioengineering and biological barriers that often prevent cancer nanomedicines from reaching their targeted site. Recently, Dr. Rajendra and group have developed biomimetic platforms for diagnosing solid tumor at an early stage with precise targeting and specific biodistribution in vivo models. Dr. Rajendra is a well-trained scientist for early-stage cancer diagnosis using Nano-Contrast and Molecular Imaging approaches. Apart from research, Dr. Rajendra serves as an editorial board member for journals like Nanotheranostics (Associate Editor), Nano Letters (Early Career Advisory Board Member) and npj Imaging. Currently, he is editing a special issue at Nanoscale.
Amnon Bar-Shir is an Associate Professor at the Weizmann Institute of Science (Rehovot, Israel). He received his B.Sc. (2002), M.Sc. (2004), and Ph.D. (2009) from Tel Aviv University. He then pursued postdoctoral training at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he pioneered the development of genetically engineered MRI reporters. Since joining the Weizmann Institute in 2014, Prof. Bar-Shir has led an interdisciplinary research program combining synthetic chemistry, molecular and cellular biology, and advanced MRI methodologies. His work focuses on developing innovative molecular probes—including small molecules, supramolecular assemblies, nanomaterials, and engineered proteins—for noninvasive in vivo imaging of biological processes. Prof. Bar-Shir has been awarded multiple competitive grants, including the ERC Starting Grant (2015) and ERC Consolidator Grant (2022). His contributions have been recognized with several distinctions, including the NIH Pathway to Independence Award (2014), the Krill Prize for Excellence in Scientific Research (2019), and the ICS Excellent Young Scientist Prize (2021).
Dr. Berivan Cecen is an Associate Professor at the Stem Cell and Tissue Engineering Research and Application Center at Istinye University in Istanbul, Turkey. She also serves as the Director of the Graduate Program in Biomedical Engineering at New Jersey Institute of Technology in New Jersey, USA. Her research areas include 3D bioprinting, microfluidics, organ-on-a-chip, cell and tissue culture, advanced microscopy, and spectrophotometry. These efforts aim to develop and characterize biomaterials, identify tissues and cells, and enhance methods in drug discovery and regenerative medicine. Dr. Cecen has a comprehensive background in tissue engineering, with specific expertise in biomaterials characterization, survey research, and tissue and cell identification, aimed at advancing these fields. As a mentor at multiple universities, she laid the foundation for her proposed research by developing microfluidic systems, hydrogels, and other tissue-related factors relevant to human health, particularly those involving substance-use-related cancer cells. She has built strong collaborations with community providers to facilitate participant recruitment and long-term tracking, as documented in her publications. Additionally, Dr. Cecen has managed projects—including staffing, research protections, and budgeting—collaborated with other researchers, and published several peer reviewed articles. These experiences emphasized the importance of regular communication among team members and realistic planning of research timelines and budgets. Her current application naturally extends from her prior work. Throughout her career, she has mentored undergraduate and graduate students, guiding them through projects suited to their experience levels and helping them develop critical research skills. She has involved these students at every stage of her research projects, each of which addresses key scientific questions and leads to publications.
Professor Volkan Cecen received his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from Dokuz Eylul University (Turkey) in 2006. In 2007, he became a postdoctoral associate with Professor Dr. Igor Krupa at the Polymer Institute of the Slovak Academy of Sciences in Bratislava (Slovakia). He worked on the preparation and properties of highly electrically and thermally conductive polymeric nanocomposites. Afterward, he joined Professor Dr. Christian Friedrich’s group and worked as an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow from 2009 to 2011 at the Institute for Macromolecular Chemistry, the University of Freiburg in Germany. His research activities were at the crossroad of macromolecular chemistry, rheology, processing, and structure development in polymers. His research focused on preparing graphene-based carbon fillers, characterizing them, and incorporating them into polymers. He was then awarded a Research Fellowship for Experienced Researchers by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation in 2013, and he spent it at the Freiburg Materials Research Center, University of Freiburg. During his initial and subsequent research stays in Freiburg, he had the opportunity to work with Professor Dr. Rolf Mülhaupt’s group. After two postdoctoral stays (in Slovakia and Germany), he rejoined Dokuz Eylul University in 2014 for a tenured position and stayed there until spring 2018. In 2018, Dr. Cecen worked as a visiting professor in the team of Professor Dr. Nicholas Kotov at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA). His 1-year research interests mainly focused on the bioinspired synthesis of aramid nanofibers (ANFs), the design of ANF-based biomimetic composites, and the application of these materials in electrochemical storage. His primary research interests included the scaleup and development of zinc-ion (Zn-ion) and lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries in intelligent autonomous systems (drones, robots, and self-driving vehicles) and electric vehicle technologies, respectively. In 2021, Dr. Cecen joined Professor Dr. Yury Gogotsi’s Nanomaterials Group (NMG) at Drexel University for 6 months. At Drexel, he was a visiting professor and focused on synthesizing 2D Metal Carbides and Nitrides (MXenes) and developing new materials, especially solid MXene electrolytes and sulfur cathodes for high-energy rechargeable batteries. He proposed several nanostructured designs to take small steps toward enhancing the ionic conductivity of the solid electrolyte and the structural stability of the sulfur cathode. Between 2021 and 2025, Dr. Cecen lectured in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at Rowan University (USA) as an adjunct faculty member and visiting professor. He has been working in the Biomedical Department at the New Jersey Institute of Technology since 2025.
