Tezpur University

Molecular Genetics and Synthetic Biology Laboratory
Tezpur University
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Dr. Surya Prakash G. Ponnam

Assistant Professor
Date of Joining : 29th July, 2010.

Contact    :

Room # 306
Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology,
Tezpur University,
(A Central University established by an Act of Parliament)
Post: Napaam, Dist: Sonitpur, Assam, India. PIN: 784028,
Office Phone: +91- 3712 - 275413; Fax: +91- 3712 - 267005 / 6.

E-mail: surya_p@tezu.ernet.in, surya.bio1@gmail.com
Skype-id: prakash.ponnam1


Educational Qualification    :

  • Worked as DBT-Overseas Associate with Prof. Knut Stieger, Head of the Research group - "Retinal Gene Therapy Laboratory", Dept. of Opthalmology, UKGM, Justus-Liebig-University, Giessen, Germany (Nov 2016- Oct 2017).

  • Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D) in Human Molecular Genetics from L V Prasad Eye Institute Degree awarded by University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, India (2011).

  • Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Biochemistry from University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad (2004).

  • Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Genetics, Zoology & Chemistry from Nizam College (Autonomous), Osmania University, Hyderabad (2002).


Awards and Scholarships     :

  • Awarded the DBT-Overseas Associate for the year 2014-2015

  • Qualified the National level ICMR-Junior research fellowship (JRF) entrance examination and was awarded the fellowship in the year 2004

  • Qualified the National level CSIR Junior Research Fellowship Examination & SRF fellowship in the year 2005 and 2006 respectively.

  • Qualified the GATE examination in 2004.

  • Awarded the best scientific poster titled Molecular Genetic Analysis of Congenital Hereditary Cataractsin July 2008 at the Indian Eye Research Group held at Madurai, TN.

  • Awarded the “Early Career Research Award (ECR-SERB) by the Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of India (2018-19).

Currently Teaching :

  • Int.M.Sc.(Sem V) : Molecular Genetics # BI 322

  • PhD : Introduction to analytical techniques (CBCS): Course # BT 752

  • Regular M.Sc.(Sem I) : Genetics : Course # BT 447

  • Regular M.Sc.(Sem III) : Evolutionary Genetics: Course # BT 450

  • PhD : Evolutionary Genetics and Immunogenetics: Course # BT 717


Research Interests    :

Ours is a Human Molecular Genetics and Synthetic Biology Laboratory. The aim of our laboratory is to carefully deconstruct the role of hereditary units associated with various ophthalmic diseases/disorders, in order to understand their pathology and to manipulate these governing units so that we could find a way to cure them. We are currently focussing on two major human ocular disorders/diseases, i.e. Keratoconus (KC) and Macular corneal dystrophy (MCD). On one hand, we are performing the studies on the genetic and the epigenetic factors associated with KC in the population of Assam, India, while on the other hand, we are also work towards investigating the in vitro therapeutic approaches of editing the CHST6 gene associated with MCD through CRISPR-Cas9 technology. We encourage your financial contributions to our research from philanthropists/organizations/institutions in our efforts to find solutions to major human diseases/disorders. You may wish to contact Registar, TU or me for further information with respect to your financial contributions.

Current Research Projects    :

Project Title Funding Agency Amount (in INR) Duration Co-PI/PI
Diagnosis and Immunopathogenesis of Dengue Virus Infections; a longitudinal investigation into genotype diversity, diagnosis and immune response to dengue infections in Assam, Northeast India. DRDO 65.10 Lakhs 3 years Co-PI
Studies on genetic and epigenetic alternations on keratoconus patients from Assam, India. DBT/IIT-G 15.98 Lakhs 2.5 years (Apr 2019--) PI
In vitro studies to investigate the therapeutic approach of editing the defective exon 3 of the human CHST6 gene associated with Macular Corneal Dystrophy through the CRISPR-Cas9 technology. DST 45.94 Lakhs 3 years (Mar 2019--) PI

Conferences / Workshops attended     :

  1. Presented a scientific poster at "75th Annual meeting of Society of Biological Chemists (India)" held during 8-11th Dec, 2006 at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

  2. Attended a workshop titled "Good Clinical Practice" held on 23rd Dec, 2006 conducted by the Dept. of Clinical Research, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

  3. Presented a "Free paper" in a conference titled "Genomics: Impact on Human Health" held during 2-3rd Feb, 2007 organized by the Dept. of Zoology, Osmania University and Andhra Pradesh Academy of Sciences, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

  4. Presented a research paper at the 16th Annual meeting of "Indian Eye Research Group" held during 28-29th July, 2007 at L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

  5. Presented a scientific poster at the 5th International symposium titled "Genetics, health and Disease" held between 17-19th Feb, 2008 at Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab

  6. Received the award for best scientific poster presentation at the 17th Annual meeting of "Indian Eye Research Group" held on 26-27th July, 2008 organized by Dr. G. Venkataswamy Eye Research Institute, Arvind Medical Research Foundation, Madurai, Tamilnadu.

  7. Participated in Asia-ARVO (Asia-The Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology,2009) an International conference on research in vision and ophthalmology held between 15-18th Jan, 2009, Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh.

  8. Attended a workshop titled "Biostatistics for Healthcare" 2011 during 26th Jul 2011 to 27th Jul 2011 organized by DBT Nodal Cell (Tezpur University) at Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam.

  9. Member, Organizing Committee of "DST-INSPIRE Internship Science Camp"held between 11-16th Jun, 2012 organized by Tezpur University, under the aegis of Department of Science and Technology, Government of India held in Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam.

  10. Attended a workshop titled "Training of trainers in life skills" held between 10-14th Oct, 2011 organized by Rajiv Gandhi National Institute of Youth Development, Sriperumbudur, Tamilnadu at the Indian Institute of Entrepreneurship (IIE), Guwahati, Assam.

  11. Attended a workshop on "Tools of Proteomics"held on 21-22th Jun, 2012 sponsored by GE Health Care systems Ltd. and organized by the Dept. of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam held at Tezpur University, Napam, Assam.

  12. Attended a workshop on Intellectual Property Rights titled "Capturing Innovations for IPR Protection in Tezpur University" held on 8th Aug 2012 organized by MHRD IPR Chair, Tezpur University, Napam, Assam.

  13. Attended a workshop titled "Advances In Applied Microbiology and Bioprocess Engineering" held on 23-24th Aug, 2012 organized by ONGC-Centre for Petroleum Biotechnology, Tezpur University held at Tezpur University, Napam, Assam.

  14. Served as a "Resource person" and attended a workshop titled "Basic Genetic Engineering Techniques for Gene Cloning" held between 17-21st Dec, 2012 at the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Napam, Assam.

  15. Delivered a lecture as an "invited speaker" on "Molecular Biology techniques and their applications in Ophthalmic Research" held on 16th Feb 2013 at Chandraprabha Eye Hospital, Jorhat, Assam

  16. Served as a "Resource Person" and delivered a lecture in a conference titled "Hands on training programme on Bioinstrumentation and Biological Methods for its Application in Biological sciences" held on 22nd Feb, 2013 at Dept. of Biotechnology, Darrang College, Tezpur, Assam.

  17. Participated in the UGC sponsored four week "Orientation course" organized between 4-28th Mar, 2013 at Academic Staff College, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi.

  18. Participated in Northeast winter school on "Human Genetics: Techniques and Statistical Analyses" held between 25-28th Nov, 2013 organized by Indian Statistical Institute, Kolkata and Tripura University, Agartala held in Tripura University, Agartala, Tripura.

  19. Served as a "Resource Person" in the "DST-INSPIRE Internship Winter Science Camp" held between 23-27th Dec, 2013 organized by Tezpur University and sponsored by DST, Government of India held at Tezpur University, Napam, Assam.

  20. Served as a "Resource person" and attended a APSCHE sponsored national level seminar (PHARMASAGRA2k14) on "Recent trends and applications of software tools in pharmacy" held during 9-10th Jan, 2014 at Vaageswari institute of pharmaceutical sciences, Karimnagar , Andhra Pradesh.

  21. Participated in "Refresher course" in the subject of "Molecular Biology and Biotechnology- Life Sciences (ID) " held between 21st Mar-11th Apr, 2014 at UGC- Academic Staff College, Bangalore University, Karnataka.

  22. Participated in a national seminar on "Recent Advances in Biotechnology Research in North East India: Challenges and Prospects" held on 27-29th Nov, 2014 at the Dept. of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Tezpur, Assam.

  23. Delivered a lecture as a "Resource Person" on "Molecular Biology and Analytical Techniques in Petroleum Biotechnology" held between 1-5th Dec, 2014 organized by ONGC-Centre for Petroleum Biotechnology, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Napam, Assam.

  24. Attended a national workshop and served as a "Resource Person" for a workshop titled "Exploring Biological Databases" held during 8-9th Mar, 2015 at Bioinformatics Infrastructure facility, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam.

  25. Delivered a lecture as an "invited speaker" "Polymerase chain reaction (PCR), its variants & different applications" held on 23rd May 2015 Dept. of Biotechnology, University of Science and Technology, Meghalaya.

  26. Served as a "Resource Person" and delivered a lecture in an Awareness Program on "Biotechnology - Scope & importance" held on 14th Oct, 2015 the Dept. of Biotechnology, Darrang College, Tezpur, Assam.

  27. Delivered a scientific lecture on invitation in the "Scientific lecture Session" organised to mark the 53rd Laboratory Raising Day on 20th Nov, 2015 at the Defence Research Laboratory, Tezpur, Assam.

  28. Served as a "Resource Person" and delivered a lecture in a workshop titled "Basic tools and Techniques in Molecular Biology" under the DBT- Institutional Biotechnology Hub programme held on 16th Mar , 2016 at Dept. of Biotechnology, Darrang College, Tezpur, Assam.

  29. Served as a "Resource Person" and delivered a lecture in a workshop titled "National Workshop on Human Genetics" held during 7-11th Sep, 2016 at BIF, Dept. of Biotechnology, Mizoram university, Aizwal-796004.

  30. Presented a poster "In vitro studies to investigate the therapeutic approach of replacing the defective human RPGR-ORF15 gene through MMEJ" held during 7-8th April, 2017, 12th ProRetina-Research Colloquium-Retinal Degeneration in Potsdam, Germany.

  31. Scientific poster "In vitro studies to investigate the therapeutic approach of replacing the defective human RPGR-ORF15 gene through MMEJ" held during 17-20 th October, 2017 XXV Anniversary Congress of European Society for Gene and Cell Therapy, Berlin, Germany.

  32. Participated in "2 Days Workshop cum Training Program on Ribosome and Translation Techniques" held during 25-26th November, 2017, Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Tezpur University, Assam.

  33. Participated in "Refresher course" in the subject of " Refresher course in Life Sciences (ID)" held between 29th Oct 2018 to 20th Nov 2018 at UGC-HRDC, Osmania University, Hyderabad, Telangana 500007.

  34. Served as a "Resource Person" and delivered a lecture in a Summer Training workshop titled "Application of Basic tools and techniques in Biological Sciences" held on 20th July 2019 at Dept. of Biotechnology, Darrang College, Tezpur, Assam.


 

Selected Publications   :

  • Ponnam SP,Ramesha K, Tejwani S, Matalia J, Kannabiran C. A missense mutation in LIM2 causes autosomal recessive congenital cataract. Mol Vis. 2008, 14:1204-8. PMID: 18596884 . Download

  • Ponnam SP, Ramesha K, Tejwani S, Ramamurthy B, Kannabiran C. Mutation of the gap junction protein alpha 8 (GJA8) gene causes autosomal recessive cataract. J Med Genet. 2007; 44(7), PMID: 17601931. Download

  • Ponnam SP,Ramesha K, Tejwani S, Ramamurthy B, Kannabiran C. Mutation of the gap junction protein alpha 8 (GJA8) gene causes autosomal recessive cataract. BMJ Case Rep.2009; pii: bcr06.2009.1995. Epub 2009 Jun 30. PMID: 21720542.Download

  • Somaraju Chalasani ML, Muppirala M, G Ponnam SP, Kannabiran C, Swarup G. A cataract-causing connexin 50 mutant is mislocalized to the ER due to loss of the fourth transmembrane domain and cytoplasmic domain. FEBS Open Bio. 2012 Nov 27;3:22-9.PMID: 23772370. Download

  • Ponnam SP,Ramesha K, Matalia J, Tejwani S, Ramamurthy B, Kannabiran C. Mutational screening of Indian families with hereditary congenital cataract. Mol Vis. 2013, 19: 1141-8. PMID: 23734083. Download

  • Yanik M, Ponnam SPG, Wimmer T, Trimborn L, Müller C, Gambert I, Ginsberg J, Janise A, Domicke J, Wende W, Lorenz B, Stieger K. Development of a Reporter System to Explore MMEJ in the Context of Replacing Large Genomic Fragments.Mol Ther Nucleic Acids. 2018 Jun 1;11:407-415. PMID: 29858075. Download


Research Collaborators   :

  • Dr. Chitra Kannabiran, Scientist, L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, AP

  • Dr. Narayan Bordoloi, Medical Director & Chief consultant at Chandra Prabha Eye Hospital, Jorhat, Assam.

  • Dr. Chinmoyee Deka, Director & Chief consultant at Tezpur Eye Hospital, Tezpur, Assam.

  • Prof. Knut Stieger, Head of Research group Retinal Gene Therapy, Laboratory of Molecular Ophthalmology, Justus-Liebig-University Giessen.

  • Dr. Anil M Limaye, Associate Professor, Dept. of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Guwahati, Assam, India.


Memberships in Professional Bodies    :

  • Life Member, The Indian Society of Human Genetics (No.L/1726/2014); www.ishg.co.in

  • Associate Life Member, Indian Academy of Medical Genetics (No.L/AM-030); www.iamg.in

  • Life Member, The Society oF Biological Chemists (India) (No.3354/2014);http://www.iisc.ernet.in/sbci/


Additional Responsibilities :

  • Member- Institutional Ethical Committee, Chandraprabha Eye Hospital, Jorhat, Assam.

  • Member- House Allotment Committee, Tezpur University.

  • Member- Board of Studies, Dept. of MBBT, Tezpur University.

  • Member- Departmental Advisory Committee, Dept. of MBBT, Tezpur University.

  • Member- Departmental Tender & Purchase Committee, Dept. of MBBT, Tezpur University.




Current Lab Members

Mrigyanka

Ms. Mrigyanka Chakravarty, M.Sc (Biotechnology)

PhD Scholar

Research Area:

I secured 3rd position at the university level duing my Bachelors (Zoology). Subsequently, I went on to pursue Master's in Biotechnology from the Gauhati University, Assam. After joining Dr. Ponnam’s Lab, in July 2015 as a Research Scholar, I had cleared the State level eligibility test for Lecturership (SLET-NE), Assam.

Curiosity mixed with passion drives me to explore and unearth the mysteries lying in our genes leading to diseases. I am currently working on "Molecular aspects of Keratoconus (An ophthalmic genetic disorder). I was appreciated for the scientific poster presented at the 26th Indian Eye Research Group meeting (ARVO International Chapter Affiliate (INDIA)-IERG 2019 held between 26th-28th July 2019 at Chennai, India and was awarded the "Travel Award". My Lab is my second home. When I am not at work you can find me in the TU campus cycling or playing Badminton. You could also find me Hiking on little mountains and rafting on the mighty bragmaputra during long weekends/holidays.

E-mail: mrigy23@tezu.ernet.in

Sushmita

Ms. Sushmita Chakraborty

Project-Junior Research Fellow

Research Area:

I did my Bachelors in Zoology (2016) and subsequently Master’s in the same subject (2018) with specialization in “Cell and Molecular Biology” both from Cotton University. I have qualified prestigious national examinations like GATE (2018), NET-LS (2018) and SLET-NE (2018). I stood first during my master’s program at the university level.

My area of interest lies in Molecular Biology and Genetics. I joined Dr. Ponnam’s Lab in July 2019 as a Project-Junior research fellow. I would be working on a project wherein we would be investigating the therapeutic approaches of gene editing using CRISPR-Cas9 technology in cell lines.
My time outside the lab whiles away amidst writing, reading (fiction/non-fiction) and listening to music.

E-mail: csushmita89@gmail.com

Lab Alumni

Mr. Rajiv Ranjan

Mr. Rajiv Ranjan

(2010-2012 Batch)

Prithu

Ms. Prithu Baruah

(2010-2012 Batch)

Mr. Bikas Kar Nath

Mr. Bikas Kar Nath

(2011-2013 Batch)

Mithinga

Ms. Mithinga Brahma

(2011-2013 Batch)

Mr. Rajesh Das

Mr. Rajesh Das

(2012-2014 Batch)

Sajida

Ms. Sajida Sultana

(2012-2014 Batch)

Sangeetha

Ms. Sangeetha Maurya

(2013-2015 Batch)

Deepshikha

Ms. Deepshikha Das

(2013-2015 Batch)

Irshadul

Mr. Irshadul Haque

(2016-2018 Batch)

Ashutosh

Mr. Ashutosh Anubhav

(2016-2018 Batch)

Jane

Mr. Tangkam R Marak

(2017-2019 Batch)