Krishna Kumar
Encyclopedia
Krishna Kumar is an India
n chemist
whose research spans organic chemistry
, chemical biology
, bioorganic chemistry
, biophysics
and cell biology
.
He is currently Professor
of Chemistry
and was Chemistry Department Chair from 2006 until 2009 at Tufts University
.
and got his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry with honors from St. Stephen's College, Delhi
and a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry (1996) from Brown University
.
Kumar has given proteins hyperstable folding
properties by inserting fluorinated amino acids into them. Recent studies by his research team have shown that fluorination of biologically active antimicrobial peptides is an effective strategy for improving their stability and antimicrobial therapeutic value.
In addition to antibiotics, Kumar's work includes the design of fluorinated drug delivery systems using lipids as carriers, and potential cancer drugs and imaging agents. His laboratory has also invented methods for cell surface engineering and imaging of cancer cells with metastatic potential.
shows 45+ peer-reviewed papers published at Tufts. The 10 most cited are
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
n chemist
Chemist
A chemist is a scientist trained in the study of chemistry. Chemists study the composition of matter and its properties such as density and acidity. Chemists carefully describe the properties they study in terms of quantities, with detail on the level of molecules and their component atoms...
whose research spans organic chemistry
Organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the scientific study of the structure, properties, composition, reactions, and preparation of carbon-based compounds, hydrocarbons, and their derivatives...
, chemical biology
Chemical biology
Chemical biology is a scientific discipline spanning the fields of chemistry and biology that involves the application of chemical techniques and tools, often compounds produced through synthetic chemistry, to the study and manipulation of biological systems. This is a subtle difference from...
, bioorganic chemistry
Bioorganic chemistry
Bioorganic chemistry is a rapidly growing scientific discipline that combines organic chemistry and biochemistry. While biochemistry aims at understanding biological processes using chemistry, bioorganic chemistry attempts to expand organic-chemical researches toward biology...
, biophysics
Biophysics
Biophysics is an interdisciplinary science that uses the methods of physical science to study biological systems. Studies included under the branches of biophysics span all levels of biological organization, from the molecular scale to whole organisms and ecosystems...
and cell biology
Cell biology
Cell biology is a scientific discipline that studies cells – their physiological properties, their structure, the organelles they contain, interactions with their environment, their life cycle, division and death. This is done both on a microscopic and molecular level...
.
He is currently Professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
of Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry is the science of matter, especially its chemical reactions, but also its composition, structure and properties. Chemistry is concerned with atoms and their interactions with other atoms, and particularly with the properties of chemical bonds....
and was Chemistry Department Chair from 2006 until 2009 at Tufts University
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
.
Career
Prior to Tufts University, he was at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
and got his Bachelor's degree in Chemistry with honors from St. Stephen's College, Delhi
St. Stephen's College, Delhi
St. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi located in Delhi, India. The college admits both undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees under the purview of the University. Famous for its rich history and many traditions, St...
and a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry (1996) from Brown University
Brown University
Brown University is a private, Ivy League university located in Providence, Rhode Island, United States. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III ,...
.
Kumar has given proteins hyperstable folding
Protein folding
Protein folding is the process by which a protein structure assumes its functional shape or conformation. It is the physical process by which a polypeptide folds into its characteristic and functional three-dimensional structure from random coil....
properties by inserting fluorinated amino acids into them. Recent studies by his research team have shown that fluorination of biologically active antimicrobial peptides is an effective strategy for improving their stability and antimicrobial therapeutic value.
In addition to antibiotics, Kumar's work includes the design of fluorinated drug delivery systems using lipids as carriers, and potential cancer drugs and imaging agents. His laboratory has also invented methods for cell surface engineering and imaging of cancer cells with metastatic potential.
Awards, honors, affiliations and positions
- Award for Excellence in the Chemical Sciences, Indian Society of Chemists and Biologists (2011)
- Global Indus Technovator Award, MIT IBC (2006)
- Technology Investigation Award, Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center (2005)
- MIT Technology ReviewTechnology ReviewTechnology Review is a magazine published by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It was founded in 1899 as "The Technology Review", and was re-launched without the "The" in its name on April 23, 1998 under then publisher R. Bruce Journey...
TR100TR35The TR35 is an annual list published by MIT Technology Review magazine, naming the world's top 35 innovators under the age of 35.Some of the most famous winners of the award include Larry Page and Sergey Brin , Linus Torvalds , Jerry Yang , Jonathan Ive , Mark Zuckerberg...
Award (2003) - DuPont Young Professor Award, E. I. DuPontDuPontE. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company , commonly referred to as DuPont, is an American chemical company that was founded in July 1802 as a gunpowder mill by Eleuthère Irénée du Pont. DuPont was the world's third largest chemical company based on market capitalization and ninth based on revenue in 2009...
de Nemours & Co. (2003–2006) - NSF CAREER Award, National Science FoundationNational Science FoundationThe National Science Foundation is a United States government agency that supports fundamental research and education in all the non-medical fields of science and engineering. Its medical counterpart is the National Institutes of Health...
(2002–2007) - Guest Professor, Westfälische Wilhelms–UniversitätUniversity of MünsterThe University of Münster is a public university located in the city of Münster, North Rhine-Westphalia in Germany. The WWU is part of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, a society of Germany's leading research universities...
, Münster, Germany (2000) - Teaching with Technology (TTT) Fellow, Academic Technology, Tufts U (1999)
- Professor of Chemistry, Tufts UniversityTufts UniversityTufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
(2006–present) - Chairman, Department of Chemistry, Tufts UniversityTufts UniversityTufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
(2006–2009) - Member, Cancer Center, Tufts Medical CenterTufts Medical CenterTufts Medical Center is a medical institution in Boston, Massachusetts occupying space between Chinatown and the Theater District....
- Visiting Scientist, Center for Cancer Research, MITDavid H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer ResearchThe David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research is a cancer research center affiliated with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States...
(2004–2005) - Adjunct Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Tufts UniversityTufts UniversityTufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
(2002–present) - Assistant and Associate Professor of Chemistry, Tufts UniversityTufts UniversityTufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
(1998–2005) - Vice President, Society of Fellows, The Scripps Research InstituteThe Scripps Research InstituteThe Scripps Research Institute is an American medical research facility that focuses on research in the basic biomedical sciences. Headquartered in La Jolla, California, with a sister facility in Jupiter, Florida, the institute is home to 3,000 scientists, technicians, graduate students, and...
(1996–98) - Chancellor of the Exchequer, St. Stephen's College, DelhiSt. Stephen's College, DelhiSt. Stephen's College is a constituent college of the University of Delhi located in Delhi, India. The college admits both undergraduates and post-graduates, and awards degrees under the purview of the University. Famous for its rich history and many traditions, St...
(1990–91)
Publications
Web of ScienceWeb of Science
ISI Web of Knowledge is an academic citation indexing and search service, which is combined with web linking and provided by Thomson Reuters. Web of Knowledge coverage encompasses the sciences, social sciences, arts and humanities. It provides bibliographic content and the tools to access, analyze,...
shows 45+ peer-reviewed papers published at Tufts. The 10 most cited are
- Bilgiçer, B.; Fichera, A.; Kumar, K. "A Coiled Coil with a Fluorous Core."J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 4393-4399. Discussed by : "Fluorous Peptides." by Stu Borman, C&EN 2001, 79(20), 41-42; "Heart Cut" Chemical Innovation 2001, 31 (11), pp. 10. ; "Steps Towards Nanotechnology" by Jeffrey Soreff, Institute for Molecular Manufacturing (IMM), IMM Report No. 26, October 23, 2001.
- Bilgiçer, B.; Xing, X.; Kumar, K. "Programmed Self-Sorting of Coiled Coils with Leucine and Hexafluoroleucine Cores." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 11815-11816. Discussed by: Science & Technology Roundup, C&EN 2001, 79 (49), p. 35.
- Yoder, N. C.; Kumar, K. "Fluorinated Amino Acids in Protein Design and Engineering." Chem. Soc. Rev. 2002, 31, 335-341.
- Bilgicer B, Kumar K "Synthesis and thermodynamic characterization of self-sorting coiled coils " TetrahedronTetrahedronIn geometry, a tetrahedron is a polyhedron composed of four triangular faces, three of which meet at each vertex. A regular tetrahedron is one in which the four triangles are regular, or "equilateral", and is one of the Platonic solids...
2002 58( 20) 4105-4112 - Bilgiçer, B.; Kumar, K. "De Novo Design of Defined Helical Bundles in Membrane Environments." Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 2004, 101, 15324-15329.
- Myers, K. E.; Kumar, K. "Fluorophobic Acceleration of Diels-Alder Reactions." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2000, 122, 12025-12026.
- Xing, X.; Fichera, A.; Kumar, K. "A Novel Synthesis of Enantiomerically Pure 5,5,5,5',5',5'–Hexafluoroleucine." Org. Lett. 2001, 3, 1285-1286.
- Meng, H.; Kumar, K. "Antimicrobial Activity and Protease Stability of Peptides Containing Fluorinated Amino Acids" J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2007, 129, 15615-15622. Discussed by: "Fluorous Peptides Get Ready to Heal" by Stephen Ritter, C&EN 2007, 85 (37), pp. 36–37; "Putting the "F" in peptides" by Randall C Willis; Drug Discovery News 2007, December.
- Montanari V.; Kumar, K. "Just Add Water: A New Fluorous Capping Reagent for Facile Purification of Peptides Synthesized on the Solid Phase." J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2004, 126, 9528-9529
- Wang P, Fichera A, Kumar K, et al. "Alternative translations of a single RNA message: An identity switch of (2S,3R)-4,4,4-trifluorovaline between valine and isoleucine codons " (2004)Angewandte Chemie International Ed. 43 (28) 3664-3666