Postdoc at Feng Zhang lab @broadinstitute and @mitbiology PhD @ccmb_csir in Sankar lab @Sankar_Lab Curious about Biology!
Hyderabad
Joined June 2017
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Thank you, TNQ Technologies, for this honor and opportunity. I am thrilled and humbled to be among the finalists for the Inspiring Science Award 2024. I want to thank my mentor @sankarfr1 , collaborators, co-authors, friends, and family for their support and guidance. (1/n)
The third finalist of the #InspiringScienceAward 2024 is @Pradeepkumar_2 for his paper 'Distinct localization of chiral proofreaders resolves organellar translation conflict in plants'.
Standard CAR-T acts like Velcro—getting stuck to tumor cells, wasting ammunition, & burning out.
A new @CellCellPress paper fixes this with AIR: a system that cleaves the CAR receptor post-activation. The T cell delivers its hit, detaches, and moves on to the next target.
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Cell-autonomous control of CAR signaling and receptor shedding via ADA... sciencedirect.com/science/ar…
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This NEJM case highlights a critical bottleneck in in vivo gene therapy. To bypass the genomic integration risks of viral vectors, the field urgently needs to advance non-viral delivery tools capable of handling transient cargo like mRNA or RNP complexes.
Researchers at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia have reported the first documented case of a brain tumor linked to gene therapy.
A boy diagnosed with Hurler syndrome (a rare, progressive genetic disorder) received an experimental treatment at 13 months old. Doctors injected an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector directly into his brain to deliver a functional copy of the missing enzyme gene. The therapy successfully halted his cognitive decline.
Four years later, at age five, a routine MRI revealed a walnut-sized brain tumor. Genetic analysis confirmed that fragments of the therapeutic AAV had integrated into the child’s DNA and activated the cancer-promoting gene PLAG1, triggering tumor growth.
The tumor was surgically removed, and the boy is now thriving with advanced cognitive development for his age. Nevertheless, the case has prompted significant concern.
The FDA temporarily paused related clinical trials to investigate safety. While this remains an isolated incident, experts emphasize the need for improved gene promoter designs, stricter long-term monitoring, and enhanced vector safety in future AAV-based therapies.
Importantly, the boy’s medical team, his mother, and many leading gene therapy researchers continue to support the development of these treatments, viewing the case as a critical lesson rather than a reason to abandon a promising field that has already helped thousands of patients with rare genetic diseases.
This event highlights both the transformative potential and the ongoing safety challenges of in vivo gene therapies.
[Ahrens-Nicklas, R., Kotch, C., Roche, A. M., ... George, L. A. (2026). Neuroepithelial Tumor with AAV Integration after Intracisternal Magna Vector Delivery. New England Journal of Medicine]
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Receiving the AcSIR Best PhD Thesis Award feels surreal. My deepest gratitude to my PhD guide
@sankarfr1 for his unwavering support and to
@ccmb_csir for giving me the space to learn, fail, grow, and discover. This journey was truly rewarding. Thank you. 🙏
Many congratulations to @Pradeepkumar_2 and @meiosiva for the AcSIR Best Thesis Awards.
@CSIR_IND @AcSIR_India
Honoured and truly humbled to receive the AcSIR Best PhD Thesis Award. My heartfelt thanks to my PhD guide @sankarfr1 for shaping my journey and to @ccmb_csir for being my scientific home. This recognition belongs as much to them as it does to me. Forever grateful. 🙏😇
Huge kudos to @Pradeepkumar_2 for being recognized with the AcSIR Best Thesis Award!! 🌟 You're crushing it! #awardwinner @ccmb_csir @CSIR_IND @AcSIR_India @sankarfr1
Incredible story of bacterial defence against viral infection!
Kudos to @maxewilkinson !!
My favourite discovery ever has just come online. Can I please tell you about some seriously wacky molecular biology? The story starts with a reverse transcriptase that SOMEHOW defends bacteria from viruses.
(👇 I recommend sound ON for the video 🎹)
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I extend my heartfelt gratitude to each one of you. As I reflect on my tenure at CCMB, it’s hard to grasp that this chapter has come to a close. The journey of growth and learning here has been truly remarkable. The transformation I’ve undergone is profound,
Today we bid farewell to @Pradeepkumar_2 as he starts his postdoc journey @broadinstitute with @zhangf. It's been incredible having you in the lab, Pradeep! We'll miss you big time. Good luck, and keep shining! 🎉🌟 #Farewell #NewBeginnings
@ccmb_csir @sankarfr1
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Why are some non-antibiotic drugs toxic to bacteria 💊☠️🦠? Do they work like standard #antibiotics (ABX)? Our latest work by @MarianaNoto published @ScienceMagazine addresses this fundamental question (1/n)
science.org/doi/10.1126/scie…
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This was started as a discussion with my guide
@sankarfr1. Happy to see this in its final form, and I learned a lot while preparing it. On a lighter note, we prepared this video of Paul Berg meeting Donald Crothers in a parallel world and discussing the progress on DTD!
It took nearly half a century to identify and fully appreciate the hidden connection between the early work of Paul Berg and Donald Crothers, with their paths intersecting via an achiral bridge in protein biosynthesis
Video Credits @HeyGen_Official @Pradeepkumar_2
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The end of my PhD saga is in sight. I’m ready to face the viva and move on to the next chapter of my life.
"Believe you can and you’re halfway there." – Theodore Roosevelt
@ccmb_csir @Sankar_Lab #acade
Pradeep Kumar (Registration No. 10BB19J03024) Ph.D. student of AcSIR will defend thesis entitled “Mechanistic and functional insights into chiral proofreading during protein synthesis” on February 27, 2024 at CSIR- Centre for Cellular & Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. Ph.D work was completed under the supervision of Dr. Rajan Sankaranarayanan, Professor, AcSIR/ @CSIR_IND @ccmb_csir
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Thankyou @TNQTechnologies for the award and @DJuliusSF for delivering such a fantastic and inspiring science story of how we sense pain!
The finalists and winner of the Inspiring Science Award 2024 receiving their medals from David Julius at this year's lectures.
@abhinav_512, @Shruti__apte, @Pradeepkumar_2, @DilipMenon10, @SarangiSitanshu, Gaurav Singh, @pranjul8765, @Vish_varsh
#InspiringScienceAward
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Happy to announce that our efforts to establish elemental mapping for cryo-EM ❄️ by EELS 🌈 are now shared on bioRxiv: biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
Congratulations to @zoliviapg and co-authors!
But wait - Can we map elements in 3D?
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Congratulations Sitanshu.. wish you many more✌️
The fifth finalist of the #InspiringScienceAward 2024 is @SarangiSitanshu for his paper 'KIR signaling is regulated by electrostatic interaction of its cytosolic tail with the plasma membrane despite being neutral polyampholyte'.
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Biological constellations!! Can see these beautiful movies for hours...
Muyuan has been working on this for some time, it's cool to see a manuscript: How to create full, atomic resolution scenes of biomolecules in Unreal Engine and fly around them in real-time. Really cool stuff with untapped potential.
eman2.org/unreal_render
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
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An excellent resource for learning croEM!!
Thanks to @MRC_LMB for sharing this.
This quoted post is unavailable.
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Happy to share that this work found its place at
@eLife
Kudos to the team for the tireless efforts!!!
@ccmb_csir @CSIR_IND @AcSIR_India
elifesciences.org/reviewed-p…
I am excited to share a part of my thesis work. Here, we have identified that D-aminoacyl-tRNA deacylase2 (DTD2), a chiral proofreader involved in removing D-amino acids mistakenly attached to tRNAs, protects plants from multiple toxic reactive aldehydes. (1/n)
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Interesting!
bioRxiv has launched a pilot to provide AI-generated summaries for all preprints thanks to @Science_Cast. We hope this will increase a preprint’s reach.
Feedback welcome below.
Full announcement: connect.biorxiv.org/news/202…
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Do checkout our new lab website designed by brilliant @J_S_Mukul to know the science we are excited about.
Hello #scitwitter ! We're excited to announce the launch of our new lab website 🎉 Come check it out to learn more about us and what we do!
Suggestions are welcome.
#NewWebsite @sankarfr1 @ccmb_csir
sankarslab.weebly.com/
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I am excited to share a part of my thesis work. Here, we have identified that D-aminoacyl-tRNA deacylase2 (DTD2), a chiral proofreader involved in removing D-amino acids mistakenly attached to tRNAs, protects plants from multiple toxic reactive aldehydes. (1/n)
We are excited to share our latest study on how an archaeal derived chiral proofreader imparts multialdehyde stress tolerance to land plants. Out now in @biorxiv!! This work was done in collaboration with Imran Siddiqi's lab. @ccmb_csir
biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/…
