Gyanendra Kumar

Background

About Gyanendra Kumar

I am a CADD enthusiast. During my Ph.D. and 15 years of research experience, I have extensively used computer-aided drug design methods, computational chemistry and molecular modeling techniques such as target analysis, homology modeling of proteins, docking-based and pharmacophore-based virtual screening, hit identification, and hit to lead and multi-parameter optimization. I have also utilized X-ray crystallography for structure-based drug design in the area of infectious diseases e.g. antibacterial, antiviral (targeting reductase, dehydratase/isomerase, protease, endonuclease enzymes), cancer (targeting tubulin polymerization dynamics: protein-protein interface binders, molecular glue), rare genetic disorders, and central nervous system disorders (kinases). Some of this work conducted in collaboration with internal and external collaborators consisting of medicinal chemists, biochemists, and translational biologists led to 32 publications in various peer-reviewed international journals such as Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, PNAS, Chem Comm, JMC, JBC, and J. Virol. I have also determined ~200 crystal structures,~60 of which have been published and can be found in the Protein Data Bank (PDB). Some of the discovery projects resulted into nominated drug candidates. I have delivered invited talks at national/international conferences (ACA, ACS, ISIRV) and reviewed manuscripts for various journals in the area of molecular biology, biochemistry, biophysics, and drug discovery. I am passionate about mentoring. I have mentored students who went on to become successful scientists and entrepreneurs. I can be reached at gyanendra99@gmail.com (Background picture: microscopic protein crystals of the Influenza virus endonuclease enzyme that I grew while working at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital)