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"Studying brain & behaviour, scribbling poems, and always looking up at the stars."
Hi, I’m Rahul! I am currently pursuing my PhD in Biology (Neurosciences) at the Ashoka University. I studied Biomedical Sciences at the University of Delhi and went on to do my Master’s at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. I’m fascinated by how organisms behave and how the brain adapts to different situations to help us survive and thrive. Neuroscience is my happy place, and I love sharing that excitement through science outreach. Outside of the lab, I’m usually looking up at the night sky—I’m a big-time stargazer and an unapologetic selenophile. I also enjoy getting lost in books and scribbling down poems whenever inspiration strikes.
Hi, I’m Rahul! I am currently pursuing my PhD in Biology (Neurosciences) at the Ashoka University. I studied Biomedical Sciences at the University of Delhi and went on to do my Master’s at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. I’m fascinated by how organisms behave and how the brain adapts to different situations to help us survive and thrive. Neuroscience is my happy place, and I love sharing that excitement through science outreach. Outside of the lab, I’m usually looking up at the night sky—I’m a big-time stargazer and an unapologetic selenophile. I also enjoy getting lost in books and scribbling down poems whenever inspiration strikes.
Curriculum Vitae
Curriculum Vitae
Rahul Kumar
Contact no: +91-9810350803
⧫ Emails:
rahul.kumar_phd22@ashoka.edu.in
EDUCATION
● PhD Scholar- Ashoka University, Sonipat, Haryana, India.
(Aug 2022- Present)
Neuroscience of Sleep and Adaptive Behaviour Research, Department of Biology.
Research advisor: Dr. Krishna Melnattur, Assistant Professor, Dept. of Biology & Psychology, Ashoka University.
● MSc- Biology (By Research), Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India
(July 2017- July 2021)
Research thesis: Understanding the mechanism of localization of eomesoderminA and its co-localization with germplasm in the early zebrafish embryo.
Research advisor: Dr. Sreelaja Nair, Associate Professor, IIT-B.
● BSc-(H) Biomedical Science, Acharya Narendra Dev College, University of Delhi, India.
(June 2014- June 2017)
Undergraduate Research: Understanding the wound healing and morphological pattern of regeneration in the earthworm (Eisenia fetida).
Research advisor: Dr. M.C. Arunan, CUBE-Kishore Bharti Fellow.
RESEARCH PUBLICATION
● 2020- T. Menon, A. S. Borbora, R. Kumar, & S. Nair. (2020). Dynamic optima in cell sizes during early development enable normal gastrulation in zebrafish embryos.
Developmental Biology. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2020.09.002
AWARDS & ACHIEVEMENTS
● 2021-2022- 'SK Mahajan Award for Popularisation of Scientific Pursuit' by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, for leadership in science outreach and encouraging a scientific approach in education.
● 2020- 'CUBE-CURE Kishore Bharati STEM Leadership Award' by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, for mentoring and leadership roles in the model system-based collaborative undergraduate research in 2018-19.
● 2017- 'DD Kosambi Young Scientist Award' by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science Education, TIFR, for my contribution to collaborative undergraduate research during my BSc.
INVITED TALKS & PRESENTATIONS
● 2023- Invited speaker at IISER-Pune. Workshop for Maharashtra State University teachers on ‘Effective science teaching’
● 2022- Invited alumni talk at Dev Samaj Modern School, Sukhdev Vihar, New Delhi. (Topic: Science- classrooms to home labs.)
● 2021- Invited online talk at K J Somaiya College of Science and Commerce, Mumbai. (Topic: Importance of model system-based research in Biological Sciences.)
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
1) Ashoka University, Rajiv Gandhi Education City- Sonipat, India.
(August 2022- Present)
PhD, Neuroscience and Behavior, Dr Krishna Melnattur’s lab.
➢ Project: To understand the effects of sleep perturbation on Learning and Memory in Drosophila melanogaster.
2) Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India.
(April 2018- July 2021)
Master’s thesis research in Dr Sreelaja Nair’s lab. (3-year full-time research-based M.Sc. Program)
➢ Project: Understanding the mechanism of localization of eomesoderminA and its co-localization with germplasm in the early zebrafish embryo: Our study found that the localisation of eomesA mRNA depends on the same cytoskeletal elements as the germplasm localisation.
➢ Project (Contributed to): Effect of cell size on gastrulation and development in zebrafish embryos: We found that altered cell size affects the early cell migration movements to cause gastrulation defects in the embryos.
3) Research work in Dr Shamik Dasgupta’s lab at TIFR.
(July 2017- March 2018)
➢ Project: State-dependent changes in the olfactory receptors of the Drosophila olfactory neurons in a fed vs starved state.
4) Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, India
(April 2016- June 2016)
Research Internship in wildlife conservation under Prof. Qamar Qureshi.
➢ Project: Monitoring the source population of tigers, co-predators, and prey at Kanha Tiger Reserve, Madhya Pradesh, India.
RESEARCH/TECHNICAL SKILLS
● Animal behaviour and genetics in Fruit flies (Drosophila melanogaster) and zebrafish (Danio rerio). Created UAS-Gal4 derived expression lines in flies and CRISPR/Cas9 mediated mutation in zebrafish, micro-dissection of fly brains, and microinjection in zebrafish embryos.
● Cell Biology/Molecular Biology skills: Single-molecule fluorescent in-situ hybridisation, Immunohistochemistry, time-lapse imaging of live embryos, RNA/DNA extraction, cDNA synthesis, qPCR analysis, In-silico RNA secondary structure prediction.
ADDITIONAL QUALIFICATIONS
2021, December- JGEEBILS/TIFR-GS2022 National Examination.
Qualified for the National Level Biology Entrance Examination conducted by the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai.
2021, September- Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL-iBT), Total Score- 113/120.
(Individual section scores- Listening-30, Reading-29, Writing-28, Speaking-26)
2015- Certificate course in Bioinformatics and in-silico Drug Discovery.
Completed the add-on course offered jointly by Acharya Narendra Dev College and Bhaskaracharya College at the University of Delhi to learn the fundamentals of bioinformatics and in-silico analysis to understand evolution and phylogeny.
Where I belong...
Where I belong...
Sleep & Adaptive Behaviour Lab, Ashoka University, Summer of 2023.
Dr. Krishna Melnattur's lab webpage: https://melnatturlab.weebly.com/
Current University
Current University
Alma mater
Alma mater
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PhD Scholar, Department of Biology,
Ashoka University, Plot no.2, Rajiv Gandhi Education City,
Rai, Sonipat, Haryana, India - 131029
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