Dr. Sudeepta Kumar Panda, PhD

About

I am a passionate veterinary biotechnologist with solid experience in basic and translational research, including stem cells, cutting-edge genome editing, transgenesis, immunology, pre-clinical drug discovery, and advanced reproductive technologies in poultry and livestock. During my M.V.Sc. research at the National Dairy Research Institute Karnal, I was involved in the team generating Garima-II and Shrestha, the world’s 3^rd and 4^th cloned buffaloes through hand-made cloning technique. In my Ph.D. dissertation at Technical University Munich, Germany, I have trained in high-end genome editing tools (ZFN, TALEN, CRISPR/Cas9) in mouse zygotes and generated six different mouse disease models of human neurodegenerative disorders.

Following Ph.D., I pursued postdoctoral research training at Karolinska Institute and University Hospital in Stockholm, Sweden, where I gained extensive experience in inflammation and autoimmunity. Leveraging genome-wide CRISPR/Cas9 knockout screens, experimental cellular models, acute inflammatory mouse models, and patient materials, I discovered the CSF3-mediated neutrophil-macrophage crosstalk in perpetuating the onset of Rheumatoid Arthritis. Additionally, I established a translational platform for screening high-quality chemical probes in patient-derived B lymphocyte assay and target validation by siRNA and CRISPR/Cas9. Before joining GBU, I was a postdoctoral research fellow at the Roslin Institute at the University of Edinburgh, UK. During this tenure, I gained significant expertise in teaching, public engagements, and research in stem cells and generating disease resistance gene-edited broiler chickens towards deadlier and costlier avian zoonotic pathogens.

Background

Professional Experience:

• Research Fellow (2020-2023): Department of Translational Bioscience, The Roslin Institute and The University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, UK
• Postdoctoral research scientist (2018-2019): Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
• Postdoctoral research fellow (2014-2017): Department of Medicine, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden
• Junior Research Fellow (8/2010-5/2011): Department of Physiology, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India

Education:

• B.V.Sc. & A.H. (2002 – 2008) Odisha University of Agricultural Technology, Bhubaneswar, India
• M.V.Sc. (2008 – 2010) Animal Biotechnology, National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India
• Ph.D. (2011 – 2014) Technical University Munich, Munich, Germany

Honours and Awards

• 2022 Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC) grant, United Kingdom
• 2019 PBC Fellowship for outstanding post-doctoral fellows by the Council for Higher Education, Israel – Declined
• 2019 Karolinska Institute’s Foundation Grants for Rheumatology Research, Sweden
• 2019 International Travel Grant Award from Wenner-Gren Foundation to attend the Cell Symposium at UCSF, California, USA
• 2017 Travel Grant Award from the Scandinavian Society for Immunology (SSI), Finland to attend the SSI congress in Stockholm, Sweden
• 2014 Wenner-Gren Foundation for postdoctoral research at Karolinska Institute, Sweden (2015-2016)
• 2014 Best Oral Presentation at 7th Life Science Symposium, Interact, Munich, Germany
• 2011 National Eligibility Test for Lectureship by Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board, ICAR, India
• 2010 Doctoral Fellowship by Indian Council of Agricultural Research, India (ICAR-IF) to pursue Ph.D. studies (2011-2014)
• 2010 Nominated Best Master Thesis Award at National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal, India
• 2008 Eligible for Fellowship by Department of Biotechnology, Government of India (M.V.Sc. Biotechnology)- Declined
• 2003 Undergraduate Merit Scholarship from Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology (OUAT), Bhubaneswar, India

Research Group Overview

My research group at GBU will be primarily interested in stem cells for biobanking, cellular agriculture, therapeutic, and biomedical applications. Furthermore, we aim to generate in vitro and in vivo animal disease models by leveraging stem cells, advanced genome editing, and reproductive biotechnology tools. By using animal disease models, we will study host-pathogen interaction to tackle the costlier and deadlier avian and livestock infectious and zoonotic diseases such as Avian Influenza, Newcastle Disease, Infectious Bursal Disease Virus (IBDV), Infectious Bronchitis (IB), Marek’s Disease, Salmonellosis, Coccidiosis, etc.

In a nutshell, my group will aim at the following areas of Animal Biotechnology with a transitional approach.

1. Biobanking of indigenous poultry breeds to safeguard genetic biodiversity.
2. Transdifferentiation of avian/livestock stem cells to various immune cell types for screening of deadly diseases and vaccine development.
3. Exploring stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells in generating avian and livestock commodities, and for other therapeutic and industrial applications.
4. Establishing advanced genome editing and transgenesis facilities to enhance animal health, productivity, and welfare.

• Generating disease-resistance and heat-tolerant gene-edited poultry
• CRISPR screen platform to identify the key host factor of avian and livestock infectious and zoonotic diseases
• Producing biopharmaceuticals/vaccines in chicken eggs/meats

Publications

1. Panda SK, McGrew MJ (2021) Genome Editing of Avian Species: Implications for Animal Use and Welfare. Laboratory Animals. (Feb; 56(1):50-59). Impact Factor: 2.908
2. Panda SK, Wigerblad G, Jiang L, Jiménez-Andrade GY, Srinivasan Iyer V, Boddul SV, Kasza Z, Wermeling F (2020). IL-4 controls CSF3 primed neutrophil FcγR2b expression and migration into inflamed joints. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA (Feb; 117(6):3103-3113). Impact Factor: 12.779
3. Sundström Y, Shang M, Panda SK, Grönwall C, Wermeling F, Gunnarsson I, Lundberg I, Sundström M, Jakobsson P, Berg L (2020). Identifying novel B-cell targets by screening of chemical probes in a patient-derived cell assay. Translational Research (Sep; 229:69-82). Impact Factor: 10.171
4. Panda SK, Boddul SV, Jiménez Y, Kasza Z, Ricaud LF, Wermeling F (2017). Green listed-a CRISPR Screen Tool. Bioinformatics (Apr; 33(7):1099-1100). Impact Factor: 6.931
5. Panda SK, Wefers B, Ortiz O, Floss T, Schmid B, Haass C, Wurst W, Kühn Highly efficient targeted mutagenesis in mice using TALENs (2013). Genetics (Nov; 195(3):703-13). Impact Factor: 4.402
6. Wefers B, Panda SK, Ortiz O, Brandl C, Hensler S, Hansen J, Wurst W, Kühn Targeted mutagenesis in mice by using TALENs (2013). Nature Protocols (Dec; 8(12):2355-79). Impact Factor: 17.021
7. Panda SK, George A, Saha A, Sharma R, Singh AK, Manik RS, Chauhan MS, Palta P, Singla SK (2012). Effect of scriptaid, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, on the developmental competence of Handmade cloned buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) Theriogenology (Jan; 77(1):195-200). Impact Factor: 2.923
8. Panda SK, George A, Sharma R, Manik RS, Chauhan MS, Palta P, Singla SK (2011). Effect of cytoplasmic volume on developmental competence of buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) embryos produced through hand-made Cellular Reprogramming (Jun; 13(3):257-62). Impact Factor: 2.257