Rupam received an integrated BS and MS dual degree in Biological Sciences with a minor in Chemical Sciences from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Bhopal, India. He worked in the RNA Processing and Alternative Splicing Lab investigating the role of alternative splicing of pyruvate kinase M (PKM) gene in the onset of cancer under the supervision of Dr. Sanjeev Shukla. Rupam’s degree was supported by funding though a Kishore Vaigyanik Protsahan Yojana Scholarship awarded by the Indian Institute of Science.
During Rupam’s time at IISER, he was selected to participate in multiple summer internship programs. He was a 2011 National Initiative in Undergraduate Science Fellow at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai, India. He was awarded a research fellowship from IISER to investigate how lamins define gene expression in cancer (a.k.a. “chromosome painting”) in Dr. Sengupta Kundan’s group. He earned a research fellowship from the Indian Academy of Science to investigate the role of lncRNA upregulation upon infection of silk worms by the BmNPV virus in Dr. V. V. Satyavathi’s group at the Center for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics and was honored as the Charpak Research Internship Fellow by the Government of France to investigate the role of tunneling nanotubes in the propagation of prion proteins in Dr. Chiara Zurzolo’s lab at the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France.
At UT Southwestern Dallas, Rupam works on the development of sensitivity enhanced solid state NMR techniques and its application in deciphering protein misfolding in neurodegenerative diseases. Using tau-protein as a model system, he is investigating the structural basis of tau conformation in different conformational 'strains' found in Parkinson's Disease. He is also the recipient of the prestigious Neural Scientist Training Program grant in 2021.
