Binukumar BK, Ph.D

Principal Investigator

Email: binukumar@igib.res.in, binukumar@igib.in

Binu received his Ph.D. degree in Molecular Neurobiology from Postgraduate Institute Of Medical Education& Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, India. He completed his postdoctoral work with Dr. Kuo-Ping Huang, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD), National Institutes of Health(NIH), USA; 2011- 2012, and Harish C. Pant, The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS), NIH, USA;2012-2016. In December 2016, he joined as a Senior Scientist at the CSIR-Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology (IGIB).

Mukesh Kumar, M.Sc.

Ph.D. Student

Email: sainimuk77@gmail.com

Mukesh graduated with a bachelor's in science from Maharshi Dayanand University in Rohtak and a master's in biotechnology from Madurai Kamaraj University in Madurai. He is interested in modelling Wilson's disease (WD) in hepatocytes and neurons generated from patient-induced pluripotent stem cells and exploring the various functional aspects of ATP7B variations involved in WD. Besides, he works in WD-specific iPSCs' genetic correction using CRISPR-cas9 approach.

Mukesh enjoys writing poetry to express himself, and when he's not in the lab, he prefers spending time outdoors.

Sangita Paul, M.Sc.

Ph.D. Student

Email: sangitapaul.199322@gmail.com

Sangita studied at Tezpur University in Assam for her undergraduate degree in Bioscience and Bioinformatics and her master's degree in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. She began her career with Dr. Binukumar's group as a Ph.D. student since she was passionate about neuroscience. Currently, she is interested in researching the interactions between type 2 diabetes mellitus and alzeihmer disease differently regulated protein kinases (AD). She enjoys playing badminton and table tennis in her free time when she is not on bench. She enjoys gardening and music too.

Bhaskar Jyoti Saikia, M.Sc

Ph.D. Student
Email : bhaskarsaikia93@gmail.com

Bhaskar obtained his bachelor's in Bioscience and Bioinformatics and master's in Molecular Biology and Biotechnology from Tezpur University, Assam. His interest in stem cell-based therapies in treating disorders related to genome aberration made him join Dr. Binukumar's research group.
His current work includes functional validation of novel ATP7B gene variants involved in the Hepatic and Neuro manifestations of Wilson's Disease (WD). He is also interested in using the CRISPR gene-editing technique in induced pluripotent stem cell-derived hepatocytes from patients with WD and developing a liver-like organoid.
In his leisure time, he likes to spend most of his time outdoors or binge-watching movies. He often represents IGIB in many sports tournament and holds a winning streak too .

Srishti Sharma, M.Sc

Ph.D. Student
Email : srisharma12@gmail.com

Srishti earned her bachelor's and master's degrees from the University of Delhi's Department of Biochemistry. While her research began with an understanding of biomolecules and proteins, she wanted to expand her knowledge of genomics. She then decided to begin her career as a Ph.D. student with Dr. Binukumar BK. Srishti's current research interests include developing iPSCs and organoids relevant to the human midbrain, as well as studying the neurogenomics elements of Wilson's illness.
She enjoys reading books and taking photographs in her own time.

Juhi Bhardwaj, M.Sc

Ph.D. Student
Email : juhibhardwaj250@gmail.com

Juhi completed her bachelor of Science degree in Life Science from the University of Delhi and a Master of Science degree in Zoology from the University of Allahabad. She is interested in exploring crosstalk between Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and Alzheimer’s disease. In particular, she is interested in neurocircuits and/or molecular pathways that are primarily targeted in Type 2 Diabetes-related neurodegeneration and how they can be restored. Juhi is an avid reader, a portrait artist, a musicophile and a big Sci-fi movie fan.