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Akash Gunjan Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
akash.gunjan@med.fsu.edu
850-645-6445
Appointment:	Department of Biomedical Sciences
Courses:	Bioregulation; Special Topics in Biomedical Sciences
Research Lab Site

Job Description

Dr. Gunjan is a research scientist trying to understand how chromatin structure and its components contribute to the maintenance of genomic stability, especially in response to DNA damage. Genomic instability is a hallmark of cancer cells, and Dr. Gunjan’s research will improve our understanding of the basic mechanisms underlying cancer. Apart from research, Dr.Gunjan is involved in teaching various graduate level courses that draw upon his expertise in the fields of molecular biology, biochemistry and genetics. Dr. Gunjan also facilitates small group sessions in Biochemistry, Microanatomy, Microbiology, Pathology, Pharmacology and Physiology for first and second year medical students.

Biosketch

After finishing college in India, Dr. Gunjan moved to the United States to obtain his Ph.D. degree in biochemistry at the University of Mississippi Medical Center. He then moved to London, England, to carry out his post-doctoral research work at Cancer Research UK. Dr. Gunjan has more than 15 years of experience in the field of chromatin structure and function and 10 years in teh area of DNA damage and repair. He joined the faculty of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at Florida State University in March 2005.

Education

1991 – 1994 B.Sc. Nizam College, Hyderabad, India. Triple major – Genetics, Chemistry and Zoology

1994 – 1999 Ph.D. Department of Biochemistry, University of Mississippi Medical Center, USA

2000 – 2004 Post-doctoral Fellow, Cancer Research UK, United Kingdom

Service

Departmental committees

1.) Departmental Graduate Student Recruitment Committee (2006-2007)

2.) Departmental Graduate Admissions Committee (2006-2007)

3.) Departmental Graduate Program Committee (2006 – present)

4.) Departmental Faculty Search Committee (2006 – present)

5.) Departmental Promotion and Tenure Committee (2006 – present)

6.) Search Committee for the Rodger’s chair (2006 – present)

7.) Departmental Core Lab Faculty Users Committee (2006 – present)

8.) Departmental Executive committee (2007 – present)

9.) Organized the departmental seminar series for spring 2007.

College of Medicine committees

1.) College of Medicine Medical Student Admissions Committee (2006 – present)

2.) Ad hoc appeals committee to evaluate the decisions of the College of Medicine Student Evaluation & Promotion Committee (2008)

3.) Biomedical Sciences Chair Search Committee (2008 – present)

Honors/Awards

Nominated to Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, USA, 1996.

National Dean’s List student, USA, 1996-1997.

Awarded the Dean's Award for the Most Outstanding Ph.D. Student, University of Mississippi Medical Center, USA, May 2000.

Awarded the Imperial Cancer Research Fund (UK) post-doctoral fellowship (March 2000 - March 2003).

First Indian citizen to be awarded the prestigious European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) long-term post-doctoral fellowship (January 2001 - December 2002).

Awarded the Cancer Research UK post-doctoral fellowship (January 2003 - March 2005).

Awarded the 2004 Kirsten-Hardiman Redon Prize for his paper in Cell (Vol.115, pages 537-549) which "shows outstanding research novelty and contributes to advancing our knowledge of the causes and treatment of cancer".

Ranked among the top 12 candidates for the 2004 European Cell Signaler of the Year Award.

Awarded the prestigious 5-year David Phillips Career Development Fellowship from BBSRC, UK, which he had to turn down due to his move to Florida State University (June 2004-2009).

Memberships

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

Research Focus

In eukaryotes, the genomic material in the form of DNA is packaged with the help of highly basic histone proteins into a nucleoprotein structure called chromatin. Subtle defects in chromatin or changes in histone levels affect chromosome stability, DNA damage sensitivity and viability of cells. Hence, a proper chromatin structure is vital for preventing genomic instability, which is a characteristic of human cancer cells. The long-term goal of our laboratory is to understand how histones and chromatin structure contribute to the maintenance of genomic stability in the presence and absence of DNA damage. Our initial efforts are directed mainly towards the study of chromatin dynamics in the context of DNA damage and repair using the budding yeast and cultured mammalian cells as model systems.

Publications

Paik, J., Reddy, G.U., Kabbaj, M.M., Verreault, A., and Gunjan, A. (2009). Checkpoint kinases repress histone gene transcription in response to genotoxic agents that impede replication. Genes & Development. (Submitted)

Morillo-Huesca. M., Muñoz-Centeno, M.C., Singh, R.K., Reddy, G.U., Oreal, V., Liang, D., Maya, D., Gunjan, A., Géli, V., and Chávez, S. (2009). Accumulation of transcription-evicted histones induces a CLN3-dependent cell cycle delay in G1. PLOS Biology. (Submitted)

Smyth, F., Stack, A., Wang, H., Gunjan, A., and Kabbaj, M. (2009). The effects of social defeat on behavior and histone modifications in the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex. Neuropsychopharmacology. (Submitted)

Singh, R.K., Kabbaj, M.M., Paik, J., and Gunjan, A. (2009). Histone levels are regulated by phosphorylation and ubiquitylation dependent proteolysis. Nature Cell Biology. (In press)

Singh, R.K., Paik, J., and Gunjan, A. (2009). Generation and management of excess histones during the cell cycle. Frontiers in Bioscience. (In press)

Gunjan, A., Paik J., and Verreault, A. (2006). The emergence of regulated histone proteolysis. Current Opinion in Genetics and Development, 16: 112-118.

Gunjan, A., Paik, J. and Verreault, A. (2005). Regulation of histone synthesis and nucleosome assembly. Biochimie, 87: 625-635.

Gunjan, A., and Verreault, A. (2003). A Rad53 kinase-dependent surveillance mechanism that regulates histone protein levels in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Cell, 115: 537-549.

Gunjan, A., and Brown, D. T. (2001). Modulation of core histone acetylation by linker histone stoichiometry in vivo. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 276(5): 3635-3640.

Misteli, T., Gunjan, A., Hock, R., Bustin, M., and Brown, D. T. (2000). Dynamic binding of histone H1 to chromatin in living cells. Nature, 408: 877-881.

Gunjan, A., and Brown, D. T. (1999). Overproduction of H1 histone variants in vivo increases basal and hormone-induced activity of the mouse mammary tumor virus promoter. Nucleic Acids Research, 27(16): 3355-3363.

Gunjan, A., Alexander, B. T., Sittman, D. B., and Brown, D. T. (1999). Effects of H1 histone variant overexpression on chromatin structure. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 274(53): 37950-37956.

Brown, D. T., Gunjan, A., Alexander, B. T., and Sittman, D. B. (1997). Differential effect of H1 variant overproduction on gene expression is due to differences in the central globular domain. Nucleic Acids Research, 25(24): 5003-5009.

Akash Gunjan Ph.D.