
Neuro-Oncology Program
Dr. Atanu Ghorai
Research Scientist
atanu@ms-mf.org
https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kxtGyooAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao
Dr. Atanu Ghorai is a Research Scientist in Neuro-Oncology Program at Mazumdar Shaw Center for Translational Research (MSCTR). He completed his doctoral studies (Ph.D.) in Biophysics from the University of Kalyani, West Bengal, where he studied the cellular role of PARP-1 in DNA damage, repair, and apoptosis upon radiation treatment (high LET carbon ion beam/charged particle therapy vs low LET gamma radiation) in cancer cell lines. Before joining MSCTR, Dr. Ghorai spent almost six and a half years as a post-doctoral fellow in reputed institutes in India. Starting his post-doctoral training at TIFR, Mumbai (Mentor: Prof. B. J. Rao & Ullas S Kolthur), he initiated a couple of exciting and challenging projects to decipher the role of Sirt4 in nuclear DNA damage responses and understanding PARP-1 as a regulator of cellular energy homeostasis at the cellular and molecular level. Then, he moved into cancer biology at ACTREC, Navi Mumbai (Mentor: Dr. Shilpee Dutt), where he extensively worked in Glioblastoma (the deadliest form of brain tumor) to understand the cellular and molecular mechanism(s) of radio-resistance and recurrence using in vitro and in vivo orthotopic GBM mouse model. Apart from these, he also studied the metabolic alterations employed in drug-resistant leukemic (AML) cells. Dr. Ghorai has bagged several publications from his post-doctoral work in high-impact journals (as first author and co-authors). He was also a recipient of the prestigious National Post-doctoral Fellowship (NPDF) award by SERB, DST as well as the recipient of ACTREC-PDF. He is a life member of the Indian Society of Neuro-oncology (ISNO). Currently, Dr. Ghorai is fostering and leading a young team in the NeuroOncology Program at MSCTR with Dr. Ravi Sirdeshmukh (Principal Advisor) for carrying out clinically relevant projects in CNS tumors (mainly Glioblastoma) to understand its pathogenesis and treatment response/therapy resistance. Using multi-omics approaches and biochemical studies (at cellular and molecular level), his team is trying to identify and develop novel therapeutics and diagnostics for better patient outcomes.
Research interests:
Molecular players regulating PMT in GBM leading to therapy resistance; Immune microenvironment in GBM; GBM heterogeneity in 3D culture system (GBM organoid); Genome instability, senescence, DNA repair, and therapy resistance; Molecular profiling of aggressive pituitary adenomas (PAs)