Dr. Satish Khurana

Satish was born in Ludhiana and grew up in Punjab and Haryana. After completion of bachelors’ studies at the University College, Kurukshetra, he moved to the Department of Botany, North Campus, University of Delhi for his Masters’ studies. While working with plant tissue culture techniques in the lab of Prof. I Usha Rao, he got motivated to understand the differentiation plasticity in animal cells. After the completion of his Masters degree, he joined the National Institute of Immunology for a PhD focusing on mammalian stem cells. He was the first student in the lab of Dr. Asok Mukhopadhyay and started looking into the role of bone marrow derived progenitors in liver regeneration. Later, he developed interest in exploring developmental relations between hepatic and hematopoietic systems as they develop in close proximity in the fetal liver. He visited Stem Cell Institute of KU Leuven in Belgium in 2008 and decided to do a Post-doc with Prof. Catherine Verfaillie, starting in June 2009. His post doctoral work focused mostly on the cell-extrinsic regulation of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) function. He joined IISER Thiruvananthapuram in July 2015 and established a laboratory working towards uncovering the molecular and metabolic basis of functional regulation of HSCs developing embryonic and adult life. Work on adult neurogenesis began with interesting observations that point to differences in metabolic basis of functional regulation in different adult stem cell populations. Currently, a small part of the group focuses on studies on the two neurogenic niches in the mouse brain. Going forward, the group will keep focus on the metabolic aspect of adult stem cell function, extending into the metabolic pathologies that could alter stemness.Satish has strong interest in sports, history, architecture, music and cooking. Curiosity drives his life and work, learning new “anything little” is refreshing.

 

Education
B.Sc.: Kurukshetra University (1998-2001)
M.Sc.: University of Delhi (2001-2003)
Ph.D.: National Institute of Immunology (NII), New Delhi. 2003-2009.

Experience
Visiting Scholar: Stem Cell Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium (Aug 2008-Oct 2008)
Post-doctoral research: Stem Cell Institute, KU Leuven, Belgium (June 2009-July 2015) (FWO fellow from Oct 2010-July 2015)
Assistant Professor, School of Biology, IISER TVM (July 2015-January 2023)

​Associate Professor, School of Biology, IISER TVM (January 2023-Present)

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