Aravinthkumar Jayabalan
Research Scientist
Email:
Address:
Room 3190
Innovation, Discovery and Training Complex (IDTC)
Department of Internal Medicine
700 Camino de Salud, NE
Albuquerque, NM 87106
Hello! My name is Aravinth, and I am originally from Kumbakonam, Tamil Nadu, India. I completed my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Biotechnology, Molecular Biology, and Human Genetics at Anna University and Bharathiar University, respectively. I then pursued my PhD in RNA biology under the guidance of Dr. Takbum Ohn at Chosun University, South Korea. My PhD research focused on characterizing the role of post-translational modifications in stress granule assembly.
Following my PhD, I joined Dr. Anthony Leung’s lab at Johns Hopkins University for postdoctoral training, where I continued to study stress granules in the context of disease. In collaboration with Dr. Diane Griffin, my research primarily focused on the regulation of stress granules during alphavirus infection. Additionally, I investigated the role of stress granules in age-related diseases, including cancer (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma) and neurodegeneration (FUS-associated pathology).
Research Experience
Oct 2024 - present
Oct 2021 - Oct 2024
Oct 2016 - Oct 2021
Feb 2012 - Aug 2016
Research Scientist, University of New Mexico, USA
Primary project: Insights into stress granule formation during lysosome damage
Currently working on elucidating the mechanistic insights and functional relevance of stress granule assembly during lysosomal damage
Research Associate, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Primary project: Role of ADP-ribosylation in stress granule assembly
I showed that ADP-ribosylation, particularly through PARP10, mediates stress granule assembly by modifiying the core stress granule component G3BP1
Postdoctoral Fellow, Johns Hopkins University, USA
Primary project: Stress granule modulation during alphavirus infection
Discovered that alphaviruses (e.g., chikungunya virus) modulate stress granules through its conserved macrodomain ADP-ribosylhydrolase activity during infection. I characterized that G3BP1 ADP-ribosylation is reversed as the infection progresses
Graduate Student, Chosun University, South Korea
Primary project: Role of post-translation modifications in stress granule assembly
Specifically worked on how NEDDylation regulates stress granule assembly during arsenite stress.