Dr. Mandar V Deshmukh

The lab of Dr. Deshmukh explores the structural and molecular basis of evolutionary divergence in the noncoding RNA-mediated gene silencing pathway across organisms. He utilizes state-of-the-art biomolecular NMR techniques coupled with molecular biology, biochemistry, and biophysics to elaborate on the structure and function of several important high molecular-weight proteins and nucleic acids. His lab employs an innovative biomolecular NMR approach to study inter-domain orientations and dynamics in multi-domain proteins such as RDE-4, DRB4, and DRB2. The studies performed by his group deciphered the initiation of the non-coding RNA-mediated gene regulation pathway in various species. His work revealed that the subtle differences in structure and dynamics in highly homologous proteins incite the evolutionary divergence in the RNAi pathway. His work distinctively helps to extend our understanding of one of the basic biological processes that have direct implications in infection, cancer, and development.
He was invited as a speaker at prestigious biomolecular NMR meetings such as ICMRBS, Dallas, USA (2014), APNMRS, Hong Kong (2015), ICMRBS, Kyoto, Japan (2016), Indo-German Workshop, Leipzig, Germany (2017), APNMRS, Singapore (2019), and 22nd ISMAR/9th APNMRS in Osaka, Japan (online) (2021). In recognition of his contributions to the field of biomolecular NMR spectroscopy and structural biology, he was conferred with the 2019 Prof. Subramaniam NMRS Award by the National Magnetic Resonance Society (NMRS), India.