Annual Meeting

A research journey spanning three countries

Meet a JBC Herbert Tabor Early Career Investigator Award winner
Nivedita Uday Hegdekar
March 18, 2022

Studying and working in a foreign country can be an enriching experience. No one understands this better than Rahul Kumar, who has studied in not one but three countries.

Kumar grew up in his native state of West Bengal, India. From a young age, he said, he was interested in understanding the whys behind disease pathologies. This inspired him to pursue a dual bachelor’s–master’s degree at the prestigious Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, known as IISER, in Kolkata. There, he majored in biological sciences with a chemistry minor.

Rahul Kumar
Rahul Kumar

“I greatly appreciated how IISER helped me build foundational scientistic knowledge and critical thinking,” Kumar said, "particularly the vibrant lab environment of Dr. Jayasri Das Sarma, where I did my master's thesis."

While he enjoyed scientific learning, Kumar was unsure whether pursuing a Ph.D. would be the right career step. A three-month research internship at the University of Southern California proved to be the turning point. In Jennie Chen’s lab, he studied the biosynthesis and cell biology of the protein rhodopsin.

“Dr. Chen gave me the freedom to explore and think creatively,” he said. “I got to design experiments to answer different research questions. It was a life-changing experience.”

Kumar then joined Peter McPherson’s lab at McGill University in Quebec, Canada, as a Ph.D. student. His doctoral work focused on studying the DENN domain containing proteins. Many of the mutations in these proteins cause neurodevelopmental disorders.

"A part of my studies was carried out on induced pluripotent stem cells derived from patient samples," Kumar said. “This was particularly exciting, as such findings will have clinical relevance for disease treatment.”

Kumar has collaborated on other projects, one of which earned him a Journal of Biological Chemistry Tabor award. He is on track to defend his Ph.D. next fall and plans to pursue postdoctoral research.

“I have learned so much in my current lab,” he said. “As a result, I feel prepared to step out of my comfort zone and explore newer avenues in cell biology.”

Outside the lab, Kumar enjoys participating in teaching opportunities at high schools and hiking with his friends. He has thoroughly enjoyed the experience of living abroad and hopes his next research stint will give him a new location to explore.

The pandemic presents a research opportunity

The COVID-19 pandemic presented an unexpected collaborative opportunity for Rahul Kumar and a fellow graduate student, Arbim Bayati. Together they investigated the molecular process by which SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus of COVID-19, gains access into cells.

Kumar produced the purified SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (the part responsible for the infectivity of the virus) that Bayati used to determine uptake of this protein by the cell. Simultaneously, Kumar performed infectivity experiments in cells using a SARS-CoV-2 pseudovirus (a harmless, nonreplicating virus in which the surface protein is replaced with the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein).

The researchers found that after engaging with the plasma membrane, SARS-CoV-2 undergoes a molecular process called clathrin-mediated endocytosis to enter the cell. Furthermore, Kumar demonstrated that when clathrin protein was removed, the infectivity of SARS-CoV-2 drastically reduced.

This work uncovered the mechanism by which SARS-CoV-2 enters a cell and demonstrates the importance of this process in viral infectivity. The findings were published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

Enjoy reading ASBMB Today?

Become a member to receive the print edition monthly and the digital edition weekly.

Learn more
Nivedita Uday Hegdekar

Nivedita Uday Hegdekar is a recent Ph.D. graduate in biochemistry and molecular biology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore.

Get the latest from ASBMB Today

Enter your email address, and we’ll send you a weekly email with recent articles, interviews and more.

Latest in People

People highlights or most popular articles

Pollard helps her students STEP this way
Research Spotlight

Pollard helps her students STEP this way

Oct. 15, 2024

Working to break the norms about who a scientist is, she helps young people from all backgrounds gain access to the lab.

Honors for Bassler, Hirschberg and Prinz
Member News

Honors for Bassler, Hirschberg and Prinz

Oct. 14, 2024

Bonnie Bassler is listed in Forbes’ 50 Over 50, Carlos Hirschberg is named an honorary professor at the Universidad Andres Bello of Chile, and William Prinz is one of 17 new fellows of the ACSB.

There and back again: A Barbadian biochemist’s tale
Profile

There and back again: A Barbadian biochemist’s tale

Oct. 9, 2024

Shane Austin’s linear academic journey to a Ph.D. focused on the study of mitochondria took him many thousands of miles from his island home.

Giving back to the community and advancing science go hand in hand
Profile

Giving back to the community and advancing science go hand in hand

Oct. 8, 2024

Ever since he was an undergraduate, MOSAIC scholar Donovan Argueta has worked to support equity in higher education.

Nobel honors discovery of microRNAs
News

Nobel honors discovery of microRNAs

Oct. 7, 2024

Ambros and Ruvkun win prize for medicine or physiology “for the discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation.”

Donald J. Graves (1933–2024)
Retrospective

Donald J. Graves (1933–2024)

Oct. 7, 2024

Two of Don Graves’ sons remember the father who worked in two Nobel labs — and inspired their careers in biochemistry.