Krishna Sreenivasan
Senior Research Scientist
Gothenburg
Summary
I’m Krishna Sreenivasan, Ph.D., a Senior Scientist at AstraZeneca, specializing in early drug discovery with a focus on cardiovascular and renal metabolism. With over a decade of experience, I excel in assay development, high-throughput screening, and oligonucleotide-based drug modalities. My expertise spans cancer biology to biomarker identification, complemented by my hands-on experience with animal models and a FELASA B certification. At the Max Planck Institute, I collaborated with Boehringer Ingelheim on innovative project targeting muscle atrophy and stem cell aging. I’m passionate about leveraging my skills from industry and academic research to drive impactful drug discovery.
Overview
17
17
years of professional experience
11
11
years of post-secondary education
2
2
Certifications
Work History
Senior Research Scientist
AstraZeneca
12.2022 - Current
- Optimize and design a screening pipeline for oligonucleotide-based modalities.
- Establish an assay to assess oligo safety to identify toxic oligonucleotides.
- Act as a liaison between discovery science and bioscience team, and coordinate projects.
- Experience in assay development and automation based screening tools.
- Spearheaded initiatives aimed at reducing environmental impact through sustainable practices within laboratory operations.
- Established collaborative partnerships with industry leaders and academic experts to drive innovation and knowledge sharing.
Research Scientist/Post Doctoral Fellow
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research
5 2017 - 08.2022
- Targeting necroptosis for reactivating cell death and immune response in evading cancer, cancer stem cells through small molecule inhibitor screen (2020-2022) (Project Lead).
- Identifying a role for necroptosis-mediated cell death in lung regeneration and pulmonary fibrotic diseases (2021-2022), (Project Lead).
- Understanding the role of paracrine signaling through exosomes in cancer progression and soluble biomarker identification (2020-2022) (Project Lead).
- Identified epigenetic function of Chd4 in lineage commitment and stem cell fidelity (Sreenivasan et al., 2021) (Project Lead).
- Elucidating the cross-talk between cell death pathways that aid in muscle stem cell (MuSC) plasticity and muscle regeneration in disease conditions like muscular dystrophy (Sreenivasan et al., 2020) (Project Lead).
- Delineating cancer stem cell (CSC) as a source of tumorigenesis in rhabdomyosarcoma (Preussner, J et al., 2018).
- Imaging expert and trainer for the laboratory.
- Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and proteomics.
- Assay development, project design, and implementation.
- Mentoring students and technical assistants.
- Mentored junior scientists, fostering professional growth and enhancing team capabilities.
- Developed novel research methodologies for improved data analysis and interpretation.
Doctoral fellow
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research
09.2011 - 05.2017
- Initiated collaboration between CNIC, Spain, and MPI-HLR, Germany on understanding how striated muscle identity is established during cardiac development and diseases (Gómez-Del Arco et al., 2016) (Collaboration).
- Established an assay to perform lentiviral-based RNAi screens to identify chromatin-modifying enzymes and epigenetic regulators of muscle stem cell self-renewal and differentiation (Sreenivasan K et al., 2017) (Project Lead).
- Established an internal collaboration to elucidate the role of Interleukin-6 (IL-6) cytokine-oncostatin M (OSM) signaling in mouse and human (Adrian-Segarra, J.M et al., 2018) (Collaboration).
- Established an industry-led collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim to perform high-content screening on muscle regulators to identify factors regulating aging associated with muscle pathologies (Industry Collaboration).
- Expert in assay development, tissue regeneration, primary stem cell isolation, maintenance, and differentiation.
- Demonstrated exceptional leadership qualities while managing multiple projects simultaneously under tight deadlines without sacrificing quality or accuracy.
Research Associate
Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry
01.2009 - 08.2011
- Investigated the role of DNA repair proteins in chromosome segregation defects, leading to aneuploidy and tumorigenesis.
- Established a synthetic lethal screening pipeline to assess the effect of genetic compensation during chromosome segregation.
- Expert in molecular cloning and techniques, including quantitative PCR, Western blot analysis, immunoassay like ELISA, and RNA/DNA/protein extraction and immunoprecipitation.
Junior Research Fellow
National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS)
06.2007 - 12.2008
- Investigated the role of endosomal tracking proteins via a functional RNAi screen in Drosophila.
- Acquired expertise in high-content RNAi screening.
- Expert in high-content imaging and image processing.
Education
Ph.D. - Cell Biology
International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) For Molecular Organ Biology
Bad Nauheim, Germany 05.2011 - 05.2017
Master of Science - Industrial Microbiology
University of Madras
Chennai, India 05.2005 - 06.2007
Bachelor of Science - Microbiology
Bharathidasan University
Tiruchirapalli,India 05.2002 - 05.2005
Skills
Assay development
High-content RNAi screening
Secretome-based biomarker discovery
Flow cytometry specialist
Isolation of primary stem cells
Animal Handling and surgery (FELASA B)
RNAseq and proteomics
Immunological assays
Cancer and exosome biology
Inflammation and cell death
Drug Discovery
Problem-solving proficiency
Excellent Communication
Critical Thinking
Training and mentoring
Certification
Animal Handling and Surgery FELESA A and D (2012 - Present)
Languages
Tamil
Native language
English
Proficient
C2
German
Beginner
A1
Hindi
Elementary
A2
Swedish
Beginner
A1
Publications
- PNAS, SIRT7 promotes lung cancer progression by destabilizing the tumor suppressor ARF. (Collaboration) doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2409269121
- Stem cell reports, Chd4 ensures stem cell lineage fidelity during skeletal muscle regeneration (Project Lead), doi: 10.1016/j.stemcr.2021.07.022
- Cell Reports, Attenuated Epigenetic Suppression of Muscle Stem Cell Necroptosis Is Required for Efficient Regeneration of Dystrophic Muscles (Project Lead), May 2020, doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2020.107652.
- Journal of Biological Chemistry, 7e AB loop of oncostatin M (OSM) determines species-specific signaling in humans and mice (Collaboration), December 2018, doi: 10.1074/jbc.RA118.004375
- Cell stem cell, Oncogenic Amplification of Zygotic Dux Factors in Regenerating p53-Deficient Muscle Stem Cells Defines a Molecular Cancer Subtype (Collaboration), October 2018, doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2018.10.011
- Cell Metabolism, 7e Chromatin Remodeling Complex Chd4/NuRD Controls Striated Muscle Identity and Metabolic Homeostasis (Collaboration), May 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.cmet.2016.04.008
- Methods in Molecular Biology, Systematic Identification of Genes Regulating Muscle Stem Cell Self-Renewal and Differentiation (Project Lead), March 2017, doi: 10.1007/978-1-4939-6771-1_19
- Nature Communication, Quantitative analysis of the TNF-α-induced phosphoproteome reveals AEG-1/MTDH/LYRIC as an IKKβ substrate (Collaboration), April 2015, doi: 10.1038/ncomms7658
Volunteer Experience
PhD and Post-doctoral representative, Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, 2013-2022
Organizing yearly soft skill workshops and retreats for PhD and postdoctoral students.
Acting as a liaison between students and faculty to solve any pertaining conflicts of interest., Establishing a post-doctoral association within the institute and providing a platform for career building.
Organizing career development events in close collaboration with Max Planck Academy and Max Planck Society PostdocNet.
Accomplishments
- Networking champion at Astrazeneca (2023) Act as representative to improve better communication within various teams within discovery science department.
Awards
- Best Poster award at the German Stem Cell Network (GSCN) conference (2016)
- Boehringer Ingelheim Fond Travel Grant (05/2008 - 06/2008)
- University Rank holder (2002 - 2007)
- Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) summer internship (05/2006 - 07/2006)
Timeline
Senior Research Scientist
AstraZeneca
12.2022 - Current
Doctoral fellow
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research
09.2011 - 05.2017
Ph.D. - Cell Biology
International Max Planck Research School (IMPRS) For Molecular Organ Biology
05.2011 - 05.2017
Research Associate
Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry
01.2009 - 08.2011
Junior Research Fellow
National Center for Biological Sciences (NCBS)
06.2007 - 12.2008
Master of Science - Industrial Microbiology
University of Madras
05.2005 - 06.2007
Bachelor of Science - Microbiology
Bharathidasan University
05.2002 - 05.2005
Research Scientist/Post Doctoral Fellow
Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research
5 2017 - 08.2022
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