This textbook for undergraduate students aims at providing an in-depth understanding of the relationship between diet, nutrients, health, diseases, and drug treatment. The book presents a comprehensive but detailed view of the field of Nutritional Biochemistry; balancing the historical with contemporary findings, the descriptive with the experimental, structure with function as well as the mechanistic and the clinical aspects of any particular nutrient. Though the major emphasis of the book is on Nutritional Biochemistry, the book also attempts to provide an insight into other related and relevant areas. Amongst the topics that are covered are: nutraceuticals, food, and nutrient interactions; the newly emerging field of the human microbiome, its interdependence on diet and human health as well as the public health concerns which is a looming burden of non-communicable diseases. Each chapter begins with an insight into the history of discovery and structure of the nutrient, its absorption, and metabolism, physiological functions, ending with diseases associated with nutrient deficiency/toxicity along with a clinical perspective. Apart from this, the book emphasizes the biochemical basis of physiological responses and correlates the same with symptoms identifying the pathophysiology. This textbook caters to students of undergraduate courses like Biochemistry, Biomedical Sciences, Biological Sciences, Life Sciences, Home Science; Nutrition and Dietetics, Clinical Nutrition and Dietetics, and Nursing.
Prof. Darshan Malik received her Ph.D. from College of Basic Sciences, &Humanities, CCS Haryana Agriculture University, Hisar and is currently teaching at the Department of Biochemistry, Shivaji College, University of Delhi, India. She has been an active academician for the past 3 decades and has strived for all round excellence of the students and the institution. She has a distinguished record in both teaching and research and has been conferred with various prestigious awards notably "Meritorious college lecturer award" in 2016 by Directorate of Higher Education, Govt. of NCT, Delhi and "Bharat Vikas Award" by the Institute of Reliance at Bhubaneswar, India in 2017 for her work on bioremediation. She was awarded Erasmus Mundus Fellowship in 2009 by Norwegian University of Science & Technology to work on phospholipid signalling. Prof. Malik is an active researcher in the area of public health biology, lifestyle based disorders and bioremediation technology with more than 25publications in international/ national peer reviewed journals. She has mentored number of students and supervised a Ph.D. student. She has co-authored and co-edited several books and book chapters. Prof. Malik is a member of the editorial board of several national journals, a scientific magazine and various scientific bodies.
Dr. Nandita Narayanasamy received her Ph.D. from Maharaja Sayajirao Gaekwad University, Vadodara, India and is currently an Associate Professor, Department of Biochemistry, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi. Her passion is teaching and she has more than 30 years of teaching experience. She works on a trans disciplinary approach blending Biochemistry, Nutrition and traditional knowledge systems to understand and focuses on preventive measures to address contemporary public health problems like lifestyle disorders and environmental health concerns. She has published several research articles in peer-reviewed national and international journals, authored/and reviewed several book chapters and edited scientific magazines. Dr Narayanasamy has mentored a number of graduate students and supervised a Ph.D. student. She is also a member of several scientific bodies. She has made the conscious decision to choose a profession as an undergraduate teacher as that offers the opportunity to mould young minds at the very beginning of their pursuit of scientific research. Her effort as a teacher has been recognized and was awarded the Indian National Science Academy (INSA) best teacher award in the year 2016. She is one of the first few undergraduate teachers in the country to get this award.
Dr. Pratyusha Vavilala received her Ph.D. from Jawaharlal Nehru University, India and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Shaheed Rajguru College of Applied Sciences for Women, University of Delhi. She has been teaching for several years and works towards integrating modern teaching methods with the classical approaches to develop a scientific temperament among the students. Her research interests have been primarily focussed on nutritional assessment, therapeutic nutrition and fungal membrane dynamics. She has participated and won awards at various international and national conferences. Dr. Vavilala has published several articles in international peer reviewed journals and authored book chapters. She is member of the review board of an international scientific journal and has reviewed numerous research articles for prestigious international journals. Apart from this, she has also edited scientific magazines.
Dr. Jayita Thakur received her Ph.D. from the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India, and is currently an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Shivaji College, University of Delhi. She has been teaching for almost a decade. Her areas of research interest include public health, bioremediation technology, cellular and molecular biology and bioinformatics. Dr. Jayita Thakur has mentored a number of students in undergraduate research. She has published several articles in international peer reviewed journals, authored and edited several book chapters as well as scientific magazines. She is also a member of several scientific bodies.
Dr. Nimisha Sinha received her Ph.D. from Department of Biochemistry, University of Delhi, India and is currently an Assistant Professor at Department of Biochemistry, Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi. She has been teaching for almost a decade. Dr. Sinha is passionate about teaching and looks forward to inspiring young minds to achieve and go beyond their current capabilities. Her research interests include Recombinant DNA Technology with specialization in construction of phage displayed genomic, gene fragment and antibody libraries for the purpose of identification of novel molecules as drugs against tuberculosis. She has published several research articles in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Sinha has mentored a number of students in undergraduate research. She is also a member of several scientific bodies and has been a part of committees involved in curriculum and syllabus designing at national level.
