Dr. Kabir H Biswas obtained his Masters and PhD in 2007 and 2011, respectively, as a part of the prestigious Integrated PhD program at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bangalore, India. He then moved to the Mechanobiology Institute (MBI), National University of Singapore as a Research Fellow. He was later promoted as an independent Senior Research Fellow at MBI in 2016. Dr. Biswas then moved to the Nanyang Technological University (NTU), first the School of Materials Science and Engineering and later at the NTU Institute of Health Technologies, in 2017. He has made significant contributions in the field of cellular signaling involving cell membrane-localized receptors as well as intracellular proteins with a quantitative and physical approach requiring development of various technologies including nano- and microfabricated, functional biointerfaces, live cell, genetically encoded biosensors. The ultimate goal of his research is to develop experimental platforms to enable fundamental understanding, and diagnostics and therapeutic intervention in the realm of human health and disease. Dr. Kabir has been an Assistant Professor at CHLS/HBKU since February 2019.
Dr. Kabir’s work has appeared in both general (Science, Ann Rev Biophysics, Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, N Engl J Med, Nat Commun) and in specialized (Biochemistry, J Biol Chem, Langmuir) journals. He serves as a corresponding author in many of these publications. Additionally, he has delivered a number of invited talks including those at the Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society and Gordon Research Conferences, and has been awarded the Yamaguchi Medal (2017; Asian-Pacific Association for Biomechanics) and Mrs. C V Hanumantha Rao Medal (2012; IISc) for his scientific contributions. He has been awarded independent funding from the NTU Institute of Health Technologies as a Principal Investigator, and has been a part of several other research grants.
Dr. Biswas is broadly focused on designing biointerfaces and biosensors towards understanding and manipulating cellular signaling with an emphasis on spatio-mechanical regulation of proteins. For instance, membrane diffusion regulates cell adhesion formation, spatial localization of the T-cell receptor controls T-cell activation or substrate rigidity modulates cell fate-determining integrin signaling. He employs a variety of materials, biophysical, biochemical, cell biology and computational approaches including fabrication of supported membrane-based surfaces and genetically encoded, bioluminescence resonance energy transfer (BRET)-based protein sensors. These approaches provide an edge over the traditional biochemical and cellular assays that are not particularly suitable for dissecting spatio-mechanical regulation of proteins. Insights gained from these studies will aid in the development of alternative, novel therapeutic avenues for human diseases such as cancer.
Lab website: www.biswaslab.org
College of Health and Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, Doha, Qatar
2019 - presentNTU Institute of Health Technologies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
2018 - 2019School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
2017 – 2018Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore
2016 – 2017Mechanobiology Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore
2011 – 2016Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
2004-2011Aligarh Muslim University, Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh, India
2001-2004Trends Biochem Sci [Invited] [under final revision] [IF: 16.9]
2019Science [IF: 41.0]
2019Ann Rev Biophys [Invited] *Co-corresponding author [IF: 12.2]
2019P Natl Acad Sci USA (PNAS) [IF: 9.6]
2018Nat Commun [IF: 12.1]
2016P Natl Acad Sci USA (PNAS) #Equal contribution [IF: 9.4]
2015N Engl J Med (NEJM) [IF: 53.3]
2012Full list of publications available at www.biswaslab.org/publications