Thakur Neurodegeneration lab is located at IISER-Thiruvananthapuram. Our campus is nestled in the lush green forests of western ghats. We carry out research in the field of Parkinson's disease. With the increase in the average life span of humans, age-associated neurodegenerative diseases are on a rapid rise. Parkinson’s disease (PD), a progressive, debilitating movement disorder, is one of the most common age-associated neurodegenerative diseases. It happens due to progressive loss of dopamine-producing neurons in the substantia nigra region of the brain, resulting in dopamine deficiency. Due to this, patients suffer from several motor symptoms such as tremor, rigidity, inability to initiate movements, impaired posture and balance, all of which result in decreased quality of life. Despite being known to modern medicine for the last 200 years, to date, there is no cure for PD. This problem is compounded by a lack of complete understanding of disease pathogenesis and the inability of presently available animal models to accurately mimic key disease features. 

Major research projects in the lab focus on

a) Developing better mouse models of PD and utilizing them to decipher the disease mechanisms

b) Developing therapeutics and neuroprotective agents for PD

c) Understand the impact of metabolic disturbances, such as Diabetes, on PD

d) Impact of cell biological processes such as lipid alterations, post-translational modifications, neuroinflammation on PD progression

For a better insight into our research, look at the recent publications. While no approaches are out of bounds to achieve these goals, core experimental tools used in the lab are stereotaxic surgery, behavioral analysis, histology, and molecular biology. We are also expanding into machine learning, AI and data science. 

The lab is funded by grants from Parkinson's Foundation USA, DBT-Wellcome Trust India Alliance, Cure Parkinsons's Trust UK, SERB, IndiaBiosciences and IISER-Thiruvananthapuram intramural funds. 

We are looking for bright and motivated people to join our lab for various positions. Please see here for more details.