Dr. Prashant Kumar

Ph.D. (Max-Planck, Germany)

DST-Ramanujan Fellow, Gov of India

RESEARCH DIRECTOR, Karkinos Foundation

Email: prashant.kumar@karkinosfoundation.org

Dr. Prashant Kumar received his Ph.D. in 2009 from the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Department of Molecular Biology, Berlin, Germany. Following this, Dr. Kumar did his postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Prof. Karl Simin at the Department of Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts (UMASS) Medical School, Worcester, USA, where he established a novel mouse model of malignant breast cancers.

In June 2012, he joined Prof. Jean-Paul Thiery, a world-renowned authority in the area of EMT (Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition) at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A-STAR Singapore. At A-STAR, Dr. Kumar discovered a panel of urinary biomarkers for the early diagnosis of bladder cancer. This biomarker panel was licensed. His work was successfully translated from bench to bed and a spin-off diagnostic company BioCheetah Pte Ltd, Singapore has been set up to develop and commercialize non-invasive, protein-based diagnostic applications. He was also involved in the establishment of a culture method to assess circulating tumor cells (CTCs) from breast cancers. This new technique provides an opportunity to analyze CTC clonal heterogeneity and adapt therapeutic modalities in refractory breast and lung cancer patients.

In 2015, Dr. Kumar moved to India after securing a highly competitive and prestigious Ramanujan Fellowship awarded by the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India. He established his laboratory at the Institute of Bioinformatics (IOB), Bangalore, India where his lab works on developing reliable methods to isolate and enrich CTCs to advance precision medicine in cancers. Dr. Kumar has been recently awarded the highly prestigious National Award for Excellence in Academic Clinical Research 2021 from the Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) as a recognition for excellence in Academic Clinical Research. In the year 2021, he moved to Somaiya Vidyavihar university (SVU) and joined as a Dean Research of the university and Director of Somaiya Institute of research and consultancy (SIRAC).

He serves on the Editorial Board of Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, Annals of Research in Oncology and Cancer Molecular Targets and Therapeutics, Frontiers in Oncology and Frontiers in Pharmacology; and, on the scientific advisory committee of various Industry and private organizations.

PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS:

  • Research Director, Karkinos Healthcare, Mumbai, July 2022-current
  • Dean Research & Director SIRAC, Somaiya Vidhyavihar University, Mumbai, May 2021-July 2022
  • Faculty at Institute of Bioinformatics, Bangalore, June 2015-April 2021
  • Visiting Scientist at Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) and Translational Research Institute (TRI), Queensland University of Technology (QUT), 37 Kent St Woolloongabba QLD 4102, Australia, 2017-present
  • Adjunct Faculty at Manipal University, Manipal; KIIT University, Bhubaneswar and AMRITA University, Coimbatore, 2016-present
  • Research Scientist 'II', Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB) A*STAR, Singapore, 2012-2015
  • Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Cancer Biology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, USA, 2009 – 2012

HONORS AND AWARDS:

  • Recipient of prestigious National Award for Academic Clinical Research awarded by Indian Society of Clinical Research (ISCR), March 2021
  • Recipient of prestigious Ramanujan Fellowship awarded by Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India Dec 2015
  • NIH-Fellowship (to pursue postdoctoral research at University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMASS), Department of Cancer Biology, Worcester, USA) Oct 2009 to March 2012
  • Awarded Magna Cum Laude for Ph.D. Thesis, 2009
  • International Max-Planck Fellowship (to pursue Ph.D. at Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Dept. Molecular Biology, Berlin, Germany) Feb 2005 to Sept 2009
  • Junior Research Fellowship, Indian Institute of Sciences, Bangalore, India, 2003 – 2005
  • Department of Biotechnology Fellowship, Government of India sponsored fellowship in M.Sc. Biotechnology conducted by Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Roorkee, 1999-2002 (All India Rank: 20)
PUBLICATIONS: Research papers: 59; Book chapters: 5; Letter to editor: 3; Patents: 3

KEY RESEARCH ARTICLES:

  1. Badarinath, K., Dam, B., Kataria, S., Zirmire, R. K., Dey, R., Singh, R., Masudi, T. A., Sambath, J., Kumar, P., Gulyani, A., He, Y., Krishna, S., Jamora. C. (2022). Snail maintains the stem/progenitor state of skin epithelial cells and carcinomas through the autocrine effect of the matricellular protein Mindin. Cell Reports. [PubMed].
  2. Jain, A., Sambath, J., Sathe, G., George, I. A., Pandey, A., Thompson, E. W., Kumar, P*. (2022). Pan-cancer quantitation of epithelial-mesenchymal transition dynamics using parallel reaction monitoring-based targeted proteomics approach. Journal of Translational Medicine. [PubMed] (*Corresponding Author)
  3. Bernardino, R.M.M.*, Leão, R., Henrique, R., Pinheiro, L. C., Kumar, P., Suravajhala, P., Beck, H. C., Carvalho, A. S, Matthiesen, R.*. (2021). Extracellular vesicle proteome in prostate cancer: A comparative analysis. International Journal of Molecular Science. [PubMed].
  4. Gondkar, K., Sathe, G., Joshi, N., Nair, B., Pandey, A., Kumar, P*. (2021). Integrated phosphoproteomic analysis of DKK3 signaling reveals activated kinase in the most aggressive gallbladder cancer. Cells. [PubMed]. (*Corresponding Author)
  5. Sheth, H., Kumar, P., Shreenivas, A., Sambath. J., Pragya, R., Madre, C., Athikari, N., Khandare, H., Peshattiwar, V., Datar, R., Limaye, S. (2020). Excellent response with Alpelisib and Bicalutamide for advanced Salivary Duct Carcinoma with PIK3CA mutation and high androgen receptor expression – A Case Report. JCO Precision Oncology. [PubMed]
  6. Deb, B., Patel, K., Sathe, G., Kumar, P.*. (2019). N-Glycoproteomic Profiling Reveals Alteration in Extracellular Matrix Organization in Non-Type Bladder Carcinoma. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 8(9). [PubMed] (*Corresponding Author)
  7. Balakrishnan, A., Koppaka, D., Anand, A., Deb, B., Grenci, G., Viasnoff, V., Thompson, E., Gowda, H., Bhat, R., Rangarajan, A., Thiery, J. P., Babu, G., Kumar, P.*. (2019). Circulating Tumor Cell cluster phenotype allows monitoring response to treatment and predicts survival. Scientific Reports. 9:7933. [PubMed] (*Corresponding Author)
  8. De, T., Goyal, S., Balachander, G., Chatterjee K., Kumar, P.*, Babu, G.*, Rangarajan, A.*. (2019). A novel ex vivo culture system using 3D polymer scaffold to enrich and expand circulating tumor cells from breast cancer patients exhibits dynamic E-M phenotypes. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 8(9). [PubMed] (*Corresponding Author)
  9. Sharma, J., Deb, B., George, I. A., Kapil, S., Coral, K., Kakkar, N., Pattanaik, S., Mandal, A. K., Mavuduru, R. S., and Kumar, P.*. (2019). Somatic mutations profile of a young patient with metastatic urothelial carcinoma reveals mutations in genes involved in ion channels. Frontiers in Oncology. [PubMed] (*Corresponding Author)
  10. Subbannayya, T., Leal-Rojas, P., Zhavoronkov, A., Ozerov, I. V., Korzinkin, M., Babu, N., Radhakrishnan, A., Chavan, S., Raja, R., Pinto, S. M., Patil, A. H., Barbhuiya, M. A., Kumar, P., Guerrero-Preston, R., Navani, S., Tiwari, P. K., Kumar, R. V., Prasad, T. S. K., Roa, J. C., Pandey, A., Sidransky, D., Gowda, H., Izumchenko, E. and Chatterjee, A. (2019). PIM1 kinase promotes gallbladder cancer cell proliferation via inhibition of proline rich Akt substrate of 40 kDa (PRAS40). Journal of Cell Communication and Signaling. 13,163-177. [PubMed]
  11. Saha, M., Kumar, S., Bukhari, S., Balaji, S. A., Kumar, P., Hindupur, S. K., Rangarajan, A (2018). AMPK-AKT double negative feedback loop in breast cancer cells regulates their adaptation to matrix deprivation. Cancer Research. 78, 1497-1510. [PubMed]
  12. Akalay, I., Tan, T. Z., Kumar, P., Janji, B., Mami-Chouaib, F., Charpy, C., Vielh, P., Larsen, A. K., Thiery, J. P., Sabbah, M. and Chouaib, S. (2015). Targeting WNT1-inducible signaling pathway protein 2 alters human breast cancer cell susceptibility to specific lysis through regulation of KLF-4 and miR-7 expression. Oncogene. 34:2261-2271. [PubMed]
  13. Goel, L. H., Pursell, B., Chang, C., Shaw, L., Mao, J., Simin, K., Kumar, P., Kooi, C., Shultz, L., Greiner, D., Norum, J., Toftgard, R., Kuperwasser, C. and Mercurio, M. A. (2013). GLI1 regulates a novel neuropilin-2/a6 1 integrin based autocrine pathway that contributes to breast cancer initiation. EMBO Mol Med. 5:488-508. [PubMed]
  14. Kumar, P., Mukherjee, M., Johnson, J. P., Patel, M., Huey, B., Albertson, D. G. and Simin, K. (2012). Cooperativity of Rb, Brca1, and p53 in Malignant Breast Cancer Evolution. PLoS Genet. 8. [PubMed]

PATENTS:

  • Predictive Biomarker for concurrent chemoradiation therapy resistance in cervical cancer patients and methods of use thereof, Indian patent no: 404113; 2022, Richa Chauhan, Irene A George, Prashant Kumar
  • Biomarker Discovery in the urine of early-stage Bladder cancer patients (Singapore Patent Application No: 201308203-7), 2013 Jean Paul Thiery, Prashant Kumar, Jayantha Gunaratne
  • US Provisional Patent Application No: IMC/P/07991/00/SG PCT extension USA October 2014 Jean Paul Thiery, Prashant Kumar, Jayantha Gunaratne

PEER REVIEW ACTIVITIES:

  • Associate editor: Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, 2022
  • Managing Editor: Frontiers in Bioscience 2018-present
  • Assistant Editor: Science India 2018
  • Editorial board member of the American Journal of Cancer Prevention, Trends Journal of Sciences Research (TJSR)
  • A reviewer of a peer reviewed scientific journals: Molecular Oncology, Nanomedicine, Oncotarget, Scientific Reports, PLOS one, Proteomics, Clinical Proteomics, Clinical Research
  • Expert reviewer: BIRAC Scheme, Belgium Foundation against cancer