JT

JAYARAMAN THANGAPPAN

Also known as: Jay

PharmCADD, Whitehead Institute, Pusan National University Chemical Engineering, Bioinformatics Centre Pondicherry, IGCAS

ORCID iD 0000-0002-4086-9398
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About

As a Principal Scientist in PharmCADD, I designed and evaluated several mRNA vaccine candidates for SARS CoV-2 and its subsequent major variant of concerns with their sub lineages which is in clinical trial phase I/II2a (EG-COVID) with EyeGene in South Korea, Australia, and South Africa. I have been leading and managing a group of RNA scientists conducting research on mRNA viral & cancer vaccine designs, siRNA/ASO designs, RNA 2D/3D structure modeling, and small molecule targeting.

At Rouskin's lab, I have trained in the following:
• Applying principles from the protein-folding field to understand RNA structure-function relationships at various levels in order to ultimately create alternative therapeutic approaches based on RNA.
• Reconstructing the available methods for high throughput sequencing of RNA to model RNA structure in vivo with the advancing technologies of mutational profiling, chemical probing, and target-specific sequencing.
• Developing methods to determine the structural patterns using RNAseq high-throughput data, that can be focused to look at questions like:
o How universal are RNA structures?
o How does RNA structure change in response to the cellular environment?
Ultimately, the goal of my research is to use RNA/protein structure-function relationship at the atomic level to design novel therapeutic approaches.

Prior to that, I graduated from the Biomolecular Engineering Lab (Specialization: Protein Engineering) at Pusan National University, South Korea. My Ph.D. work was focused on the development of methods that determine the macroscopic conformational features of transmembrane (TM) proteins. In particular, I have worked on an algorithm to investigate and visualize TM proteins macroscopically using Joint (J) coordinates and also quantified GPCRs conformational differences using J scores. Dedicated to answering fundamental questions concerning how structural patterns at the atomic as well as various coarse-grained levels dictate the spatial-structural organization and affect the functions of the biomolecules in terms of their conformation behaviors, I want to extend my expertise from the protein folding field into the RNA folding field. I am interested in how the structural patterns and RNA alternative splicing-induced conformational heterogeneities impact the protein structures and functions that are ultimately associated with various diseases including, cancer, infectious diseases, and neurodegenerative disorders.

Employment

  • PharmCADD Principal Scientist
    2020 - 2022
  • Whitehead Institute Postdoc Associate
    2018 - 2020

Education

  • Pusan National University Chemical Engineering Doctral
    2014 - 2018
  • Bioinformatics Centre Pondicherry MSc
    2011 - 2013
  • IGCAS BSc
    2008 - 2011

Projects & Funding

Projects & funding information is unavailable.

Publications (9)