Santosh K Choudary

*** ****** **, *******, ** ***55

617-***-****

acwv84@r.postjobfree.com

Professional Summary

• Discovered first synthetic substrate of IgA1 proteases since their discovery 40 years ago

• Screened 50,000 small molecules to identify inhibitors of type-1 IgA1 protease of H. influenzae bacteria

• Developed in vitro biochemical and cell-based secondary assays to validate hits as inhibitors

• Worked with FRET, FP, absorbance, HPLC, ITC, SDS-PAGE, Western blot and flow cytometry assays

• Mentored a graduate student and three undergraduate students into capable researchers

• Acted as the primary contact for collaboration between five different labs as part of my thesis project

Education

Tufts University, Medford, MA, Graduating in November 2016

Ph.D. in Chemistry

Received Tufts Graduate Student Research Award for an exceptional research proposal

Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Chennai, India, Graduated July 2009

Bachelor of Technology in Biotechnology, Minor: Management

Ranked among top 1.5% in the entrance exam (JEE) for IITs

Research Experience

Research Assistant, Tufts University, Medford, MA, 2010, Spring 2012-present

Under the guidance of Prof. Joshua Kritzer, Chemical Biology lab

• Developed first synthetic peptide substrate of, first high-throughput screening assay for, and in the process of identifying the first inhibitor for H. influenzae IgA1 protease since its discovery forty years ago

• Screened and analyzed the inhibitory activity of 50,000 small molecules against H. influenzae IgA1 protease with a hit rate of 0.4%

• Designed, synthesized and tested proline-rich peptide library as substrates for several IgA1 proteases

• Designed IgA1 cleavage, mammalian cell-based TNFR2 and LAMP1 cleavage assays to validate and study the biological value of IgA1 protease inhibitors

• Demonstrated fluorescence-based detection of IgA1 proteases as a diagnostic tool for bacterial meningitis

• Worked with FRET, FP, absorbance, HPLC, ITC, SDS-PAGE, Western blot and flow cytometry assays

• Expressed several IgA1 proteases in E. coli and pathogenic H. influenzae and N. gonorrhoeae

• Cloned IgA1 protease into recombinant E. coli expression vectors

• Purified proteins using affinity, ion-exchange, hydrophobic-interaction and gel filtration chromatography

• Gained experience in peptide chemistry, biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology and high- throughput screening assay development working on several projects in the lab

Research Associate, IIT, Chennai, India, Fall 2008- Fall 2009, Fall 2011

Under the guidance of Prof. Anju Chadha, Bioorganic lab

• Synthesized cinnamic acid analogs to study the effect of double bonds on lipase PS-mediated reactions

• Hypothesized Michael-adduct formation between substrate and lipase PS was invalidated by the study

Summer Intern, Dr. Reddy’s Pharmaceutical Limited, Visakhapatnam, India, Summer 2008

Worked in quality control lab of Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient production plant

• Analyzed purity of Domperidone maleate and Solifenacin succinate samples by various analytical procedures

Undergraduate Researcher, IIT, Chennai, India, June 2007-June 2008

Under the guidance of Prof. Karunagaran, Cancer Biology lab

• Maintained suspension and adherent tumor cell stocks

• Tested efficacy of marine natural products to induce apoptosis in cervical cancer cells

Leadership & Mentoring experience

Tufts University, Medford, MA

• Acted as the primary contact for collaboration between five different labs as part of my thesis project

• Balanced working schedule across three different labs without any scheduling conflicts

• Organized bi-weekly Chemistry department journal clubs for one and half years

• Mentored a graduate student and three undergraduate students in biochemistry and peptide chemistry, until they were capable of performing independent research

• Volunteered as a science mentor to high school kids at Medford High School, MA

Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India

• Organizing member of 77th annual meeting of Society of Biological Chemists, India

• Organizing member of Saarang, annual cultural festival of IIT Madras, India

• Volunteered for prestigious National Service Scheme, India, Aug’05-April’06

• Worked for ‘Science for all’ program that helped poor rural kids perform simple science experiments

• Worked for Indian Government Rural Welfare Program, May’06-July’06

Teaching Experience

Worked as a Teaching Assistant at Tufts University for:

• Graduate level Biochemistry (Jan’15-May’15, Jan’13-May’13, Aug’12-Dec’12)

• Organic Chemistry Lab (Jan’12-May’12, Aug’10-Dec’10)

• General Chemistry Lab (Jan’10-May’10)

Publications & Selected Research Presentations

• Choudary, S. K., Qiu, J., Plaut, A. G. and Kritzer, J. A. (2013), Versatile Substrates and Probes for IgA1 Protease Activity. ChemBioChem, 14: 2007–2012.

• S.K. Choudary et al. (2015) “Using inhibitors and peptide substrates to study the biological role of IgA1 proteases”. Presented at 250th American Chemical Society National Meeting in Boston, MA.

• S.K. Choudary et al. (2015) “Using inhibitors and peptide substrates to study the biological role of IgA1 proteases”. Presented a poster at American Peptide Society Meeting in Orlando, FL.

• S.K. Choudary et al. (2014) “Using inhibitors and peptide substrates to study the biological role of IgA1 proteases”. Presented a poster at Bioorganic Gordon Research Conference in Andover, NH.

• S. K. Choudary et al. (2009) “Effect of Acyl-Carbon Conjugated Double Bond On Lipase Mediated Reactions: A Study In Organic Solvents And Ionic Liquids“. Presented a poster at the Chemical Research Society of India symposium, India.

Selected Awards & Affiliations

• Travel Award, American Peptide Symposium, Orlando, USA Recipient June’15

• Graduate Student Travel Award, Tufts University, USA Recipient June’15

• Graduate Student Research Award, Tufts University, USA Recipient October’13

• Merit-cum-Mean Scholarship Award, IIT Madras, India Recipient August’05

• American Chemical Society Member since Jan’12

• American Peptide Society Member since May’15

Skills & Interests

• Software: Macintosh & Windows OS, proficient in MS Office, Pymol, MOE, Serial-cloner, R & MATLAB

• High-throughput Instruments: Envision & Tecan plate readers, Thermo combi, Akta FPLC, HPLC

• Language: Fluent in English, Hindi, Telugu

• Interests: Ardent soccer fan and love traveling (traveled in India and east coast of USA)

Contact this candidate