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Dr Prashanth Kumar Joins as Dean - Research & Director - Somaiya Institute for Research And Consultancy.

Date

18th May 2021

Relevant Person(s)

Dr Prashanth Kumar

Area of Interest

Education

Institution(s)

Somaiya Vidyavihar University

With the aim of promoting The Technology, Innovation, and Education (TIE) Programs and nurturing creative leaders across disciplines. Dr. Prashant has joined Somaiya Vidyavihar University as the Dean - Research & Director, Somaiya Institute for Research And Consultancy.

Dr. Prashant Kumar brings along with him, vast expertise & accomplishments in the field of Cancer Biology. Alongside holding a Master's degree in Biotechnology.

Dr. Kumar is also a recipient of a Ph.D. from the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology, Department of Molecular Biology, Berlin, Germany, 2009. 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’s lab at the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology (IMCB), A-STAR Singapore. Prof. Thiery is a world-renowned authority in the area of EMT (Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition). At A-STAR, Dr. Kumar discovered a panel of urinary biomarkers for the early diagnosis of bladder cancer. This marker panel was licensed and is currently being pursued for the development of a novel point-of-care (POC) diagnostic platform. 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 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, Government of India (DST). He established his laboratory at the Institute of Bioinformatics, 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 Indian Society for Clinical Research (ISCR) as a recognition for excellence in Academic Clinical Research.

It gives us great pleasure in welcoming Dr. Prashnat Kumar and wishing him a long & successful career with Somaiya Institute for Research And Consultancy (hyperlink for SIRAC) & Somaiya Vidyavihar University.

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