Research Associate in Neuroscience
I am a geneticist by training who has found his true calling in neuroscience. Over the last 14 years, my research has meandered through classical Drosophila genetics, high throughput human genomics, mouse developmental genetics as well as 2D and 3D stem cell models of the human brain. In addition to an elaborate molecular biology skillset, I have built up an extensive expertise in molecular neuroscience, functional genomics, stem cell culture and transgenic mouse models.
In my PhD, I have worked on retrotransposons, studying the role of Alu repeats in shaping stress responsive gene regulatory networks in humans. I discovered a novel 9kb, Alu dense 3’UTR which belongs to an orphan cytochrome P450 gene CYP20A1, is exclusive to the higher primates and has evolved as an endogenous miRNA sponge.
In my first postdoc at the University of South Carolina, I worked on TGF-beta signaling in cardiovascular development and disease using a plethora of transgenic mouse models. In 2021, I joined the lab of M. Chiara Manzini at Rutgers University to work on a rare genetic cause of intellectual disability (ID) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD) using transgenic mice as well as human iPSC models. There, I developed a medium throughput luciferase based functional assay for screening variants of uncertain significance discovered through whole exome sequencing in children with ASD/ID, characterized CC2D1A interactome in human cells as well as mouse hippocampus using IP followed by MS-MS and set up and managed an entire project to characterize CC2D1A KO iPSCs and NGN2-excitatory induced neurons using morphological, molecular and electrophysiological markers.
I had a diploma in Fine Arts in my past life. Currently, just read, cook and take some long walks in Central Park.