Special Issue: Promising Contribution to Disease Diagnosis and Introduction of a Special Issue in Honour of Prof. Rohit Srivastava’s 50th Birthday

Despite tremendous progress in biomedical research especially early-stage disease diagnosis, the translation pace has remained relatively slow. Moreover, bridging laboratory-scale products to the market and taking them to the clinic is also an urgent need for better and affordable healthcare. Among the top global leaders in biomedical research, Prof. Rohit Srivastava has been developing nanotechnological innovations and startups for affordable diagnostics.

Prof. Rohit Srivastava, Vigyan Shri awardee and a well-known translational scientist, has served as Head of the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay), where he is a Himanshu Patel Chair Professor in the same department. Recognised as one of India’s most prolific minds in translational healthcare and medical nanotechnology, he leads the NanoBios Lab, which has spearheaded a revolution in affordable healthcare innovation, driven by his commitment to addressing the pressing needs of under-resourced and rural communities in India. His research spans both fundamental and translational sciences, covering point-of-care diagnostics, smart therapeutics, biosensors, drug delivery systems, and medical devices. What sets him apart is his relentless focus on converting lab-based research into real-world medical solutions, a vision that has led to the creation of more than 25 startups, multiple licensed technologies, and wide-scale impact. Among these innovations, technologies such as UChek (a smartphone-based urine analysis system), ToucHb (a non-invasive haemoglobin measurement device), CareMother (a mobile platform for high-risk pregnancy screening), and SYNC (a portable blood diagnostic platform) have already been commercialised and deployed across India and other developing regions. CareMother alone has reached over a million women, helping prevent numerous maternal and neonatal complications. Prof. Srivastava is also translating technologies like lipid profile tests, CKD panels, smart nebulizers, microneedle-based pain relief systems, Psoriasis treatment Kit, biodegradable bone screws, fertility management, and digital health platforms from concept to clinic. His team has secured multiple rounds of support, including BIRAC BIG grants and investor funding exceeding USD 5 million, accelerating lab-to-market transitions. With over 300 peer-reviewed publications, 250+ patent filings, and 90+ granted patents in India and internationally, Prof. Srivastava’s academic and intellectual footprint is exceptional.

About this collection

During his 20 years productive career, Prof. Rohit Srivastava has made numerous seminal contributions to the translational biomedical research and innovative startups, advancing the 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 conceptualizing and translating innovative collaborations to solve various healthcare problems. Many top leaders from the world are celebrating his 50th birthday in beginning 2026. We hope that you will join us in celebrating his achievements and continued contributions to the field and supporting the special issue in honour of Prof. Rohit’s 50th birthday. The special issue focuses on attracting the scientific community to submit their research, review, mini-review, perspective, etc., on the recent developments and innovations for disease diagnosis. This special issue will cover the following topics.

Nanoimaging and therapeutics
Biomimetic nanomedicine
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

Guest Editors

Prof. Amnon Bar-Shir
Associate Professor 
Department of Molecular Chemistry and Materials Science
Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel
Rehovot 7610001, Israel
E-mail:

Dr. Rajendra Prasad
Assistant Professor
Interventional Theranostics & Molecular Imaging Research
School of Biochemical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, 221005, (U.P.), India
E-mail:

Prof. Y. Shrike Zhang
Associate Professor
Harvard Medical School
Associate Bioengineer, Brigham and Women's Hospital
Affiliate Faculty, Harvard Stem Cell Institute
Affiliate Faculty, Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard
E-mail:  

Dr. Mark Woollam
Senior Research Scientist
Integrated Nanosystems Development Institute (INDI)
Department of Chemistry & Chemical Biology
Indiana University Indianapolis, IN 46202 USA
Email:

Dr. Berivan Cecen
Director of Graduate Programs
Department of Biomedical Engineering
New Jersey Institute of Technology
Newark, NJ 07102
E-mail: 

Important Dates:
The first submission date: 20/12/2025
The closing date for submission: 20/12/2026

Manuscript submission information

All the invited and contributed manuscripts will undergo the standard peer-review procedure of the Journal Nanotheranostics, and will be scrutinized by expert reviewers in the field. Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page https://www.ntno.org/ms/author.

Manuscripts for this special issue should be submitted online at https://www.ntno.org/ms/submit  (mentioning “Special Issue of Special Issue in Honour of Prof. Rohit Srivastava’s 50th Birthday” in the cover letter to identify the manuscript).

For any inquiries about the appropriateness of contribution topics, please contact the guest editors  via above emails.