Kumar Somyajit is an Associate Professor at the Functional Genomics and Metabolism Research Unit, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (since August 2021).
Kumar studied Biochemistry and Cell Biology and has been interested in understanding the essential processes that ensure the integrity of the human genome. He obtained his Ph.D. (2009-2015) studying DNA repair by homologous recombination from Prof. Ganesh Nagaraju lab, Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India. Kumar carried out his postdoctoral studies with Prof. Jiri Lukas at the University of Copenhagen (2015-2021), where he focused on the fundamental regulation of human DNA replication under cell (patho)physiological conditions. During this time, he identified novel cell-intrinsic regulation(s) of DNA replication speed and established such regulations as a key genome surveillance mechanism.
In 2021, he was awarded the Lundbeck Foundation Fellowship to establish his research group at SDU.
DNA replication is essential for a cell to multiply and transfer genetic information to its daughters. However, endogenous and exogenous threats challenge accurate genome duplication, with errors causing developmental defects and cancer. How DNA replication responds to endogenous threats, such as the metabolic rewiring characteristic of early development and tumorigenesis, remains poorly understood. Kumar with his team aims to identify the mechanism(s) that functionally align natural fluctuations in cell metabolic pathways to genome surveillance during DNA replication, both locally (at the levels of individual replications forks) and globally (throughout the nucleus- metabolic oscillations, cell cycle state and DNA damage response). His lab utilizes mammalian cell culture models combined with biochemistry, high-content microscopy and quantitative cell biology at single-cell resolution, and single-molecule DNA replication analysis to define mechanisms coupling metabolism and genome integrity during early development and cancer transformation.
Head of research: Associate Professor Kumar Somyajit
Researchers and research group: Kumar Somyajit Lab
Groupwebpage: www.somyajitlab.com
A complete list of publications by Kumar Somyajit can be found here.
Part of the Research section Functional Genomics at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
