Kasturi Mitra, PhD
WellcomeTrust-DBT India Alliance Senior Fellow
University of Alabama, Birmingham; Ashoka University, NCR-Delhi, India
She / Her / Hers
The cellular organelles, mitochondria, which are classically known as the powerhouse of the cells, respond to various stimuli and contribute to various cell fate decisions. This seminar will focus on how modulation of mitochondrial structure-function regulates cell cycle and stemness, and how environmental carcinogens may impact such a regulatory circuitry. The data presented are obtained employing cell biology and genetics/genomics tools in mammalian cells and Drosophila model.
About the Speaker: Dr Mitra is an Assistant Professor at UAB, Department of Genetics and a WellcomeTrust-DBT India Alliance Senior Fellow at Ashoka University, Department of Biology. Her long-standing interest is in various aspects of mitochondrial biology. After describing a non-canonical enzymatic role and localization of a canonical mitochondrial protein in sperm at CCMB, India, she established her own research on mitochondrial structure-function as a postdoctoral fellow in a microscopy lab at NIH, USA. Her research led to the pioneering discovery of an active role of mitochondrial structural changes in cell cycle regulation. Recently, her NIH funded lab discovered a mitochondria primed stem cell state and is sustained by nuanced regulation of mitochondrial structure-function and is enriched by exposure to a mild environmental carcinogen. She serves as reviewer for various leading journals like Nature Communications, Embo Reports, Oncogene, JCS etc. and national and international funding agencies. Currently, she serves as a lead guest editor of the special topic the Mitochondria in Stem Cell Regulation in Frontiers of Cell and Developmental Biology.
Thursday, January 13, 12:00-1:15 pm Eastern
*VIRTUAL ONLY*
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