Experience

NII - National Institute of Immunology

• Research Services
• 100 - 200 Employee

• Faculty Member

  • Aug 2016 - Present

  Scientific research: Metabolic plasticity. Metabolic plasticity allows organisms to adapt to nutritional challenges and variability. Losing this plasticity is underlies metabolic disorders associated with chronic disorders and ageing. The premise of our work is that alternative pathways, which enable metabolic plasticity, will provide an opportunity to address metabolic derangements. We aim to describe these pathways in molecular details to identify actionable nodes. We use a combination of technologies ranging from functional genomics, molecular biology, and immunological assays to understand how vitamin D affects muscle metabolism. Our studies suggest that the myopathies associated with vitamin D deficiency are a culmination of a multi-organ metabolic defect. We are currently elucidating alternative pathways that circumvent the need for vitamin D for muscle function. With this study, we aim to generate conceptual a framework that may be applicable to other metabolic disorders associated with chronic disorders and ageing. Show less



North Carolina State University

• Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina Area

• Research Scholar

  • Jan 2016 - Jul 2016

  During my short stay in the lab, I handled two distinct projects: 1) Generated cerebral organoids from human embryonic stem cells and characterized them by microscopy. 2) Cloned chromatin modfier genes from S. pombe to express in S. cerevisiae. During my short stay in the lab, I handled two distinct projects: 1) Generated cerebral organoids from human embryonic stem cells and characterized them by microscopy. 2) Cloned chromatin modfier genes from S. pombe to express in S. cerevisiae.



The National Institutes of Health

• United States
• Biotechnology Research
• 700 & Above Employee

• Visiting Fellow

  • Dec 2009 - Dec 2015

  The goal of my postdoctoral research in Dr. Richard Maraia’s lab at NICHD/NIH is to understand the mechanism of transcription termination by pol III. Using a solid phase transcription assay I discovered two distinct mechanisms for pol III termination that are responsive to a stretch of oligo(dT) on non-template strand. Unlike any other RNA polymerase, pol III termination is independent of an RNA hairpin or protein factors. I also discovered a novel eukaryotic transcription termination intermediate (a pre-termination complex) using the pol III system. In a second project, I addressed the link between RNA polymerase III transcription regulation and tRNA processing. Using a combination of yeast genetics, Next Generation Sequencing based assay development, and molecular biology, we found that isopentenyl adenosine modification of tRNAs responds to the transcription levels of pol III Show less



Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology

• Research Services
• 300 - 400 Employee

• Research Scholar

  • Mar 2004 - Oct 2009

  My PhD project was to understand the role of chromatin structure in regulation of RNA polymerase III transcription during environmental stress. I developed chromatin immunoprecipitation assays that can distinguish dynamics of two closely spaced nucleosomes and discovered that the repression of a pol III transcribed gene is associated with sliding of a nucleosome to the promoter region of the gene. My PhD project was to understand the role of chromatin structure in regulation of RNA polymerase III transcription during environmental stress. I developed chromatin immunoprecipitation assays that can distinguish dynamics of two closely spaced nucleosomes and discovered that the repression of a pol III transcribed gene is associated with sliding of a nucleosome to the promoter region of the gene.