Dhanendra received his PhD in Cell Biology from the University of Pune in India under the mentorship of Dr. Rajesh Singh. His thesis studies focused on the role of TRIM family of ubiquitin E3 ligases in autophagy and NF-kB signaling. As a graduate visiting scholar in the laboratory of Dr. Giovanni Bénard at the University of Bordeaux in France, he studied the role of ubiquitination in mitochondrial biology. His postdoctoral research with Dr. Madesh Muniswamy and Dr. John Elrod at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, was focused on the molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial calcium exchange, calcium-regulated mitochondrial functions, and their involvement in cardiac, hepatic, and neuronal physiology and pathophysiology. His current research focuses on mitochondrial calcium-sensing and flux, protein quality control, and how these molecular events contribute to cardiac physiology and pathophysiology. Besides research, Dhanendra enjoys spending time with his family, reading history, watching documentaries, traveling, cycling, and kayaking.
Processional Experience
- 2022- : Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine-Section on Cardiovascular Medicine, Wake Forest School of Medicine- Atrium Health Wake Forest Baptist, Winston-Salem, USA
- 2022- : Member, Cardiovascular Sciences Center; Center for Redox Biology and Medicine; Center on Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism; Center for Precision Medicine; Comprehensive Cancer Center; Hypertension and Vascular Research Center; J. Paul Sticht Center for Healthy Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention at the Wake Forest School of Medicine, USA
- 2022- : Member, North Carolina Diabetes Research Center, USA
- 2019 - 21: Instructor (Research), Center for Translational Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA
Training
- 2015 - 19: Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for Translational Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA
- 2014 - 15: Visiting Research Scholar, Center for Translational Medicine, Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, Philadelphia, USA
- 2013 - 14: Raman-Charpak Fellow, Maladies Rares: Génétique et Métabolisme, University of Bordeaux, Bordeaux, France
- 2010 - 13: CSIR-NET Senior Research Fellow, Department of Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Advanced Research, Gandhinagar, INDIA
- 2008 - 10: CSIR-NET Junior Research Fellow, Department of Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Advanced Research, Gandhinagar, INDIA
Education
- 2011 - 16: Ph.D. Biotechnology/Cell Biology
- University of Pune, Pune, India
- Place of research: Department of Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Advanced Research, Gandhinagar, India
- 2006 - 08: M.Sc. Microbiology
- Gurukul Kangri University, Haridwar, India
- Place of research: National JALMA Institute of Leprosy and Mycobacterial Diseases, Agra, India
- 2003 - 06: B.Sc. Microbiology
- Janta Vedic College, CCS University, Meerut, India
Grants/Fellowships
- 2020 - 2025: NIH Pathway to Independence Award (Parent K99/R00), NIH-National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), USA, Center for Translational Medicine (CTM), Temple University USA
- 2019 - 2020: American Heart Association- Career Development Award, Center for Translational Medicine (CTM), Temple University USA
- 2017 - 2019: American Heart Association- Post-doctoral Fellowship, Center for Translational Medicine (CTM), Temple University USA
- 2013 - 2014: Raman-Charpak Fellowship, EA 4576 Maladies Rares : Génétique et Métabolisme, University of Bordeaux, France
- 2010 - 2013: Council of Scientific & Industrial Research- Senior Research Fellowship, Department of Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Advanced Research, Gandhinagar, India
- 2008 - 2010: Council of Scientific & Industrial Research- Junior Research Fellowship, Department of Cell Biology, Indian Institute of Advanced Research, Gandhinagar, India
Awards/Honors
- 2021: Young Investigator Competition Awards finalist, International Society for Heart Research, North American Section
- 2020: NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00), NIDDK/National Institutes of Health, USA
- 2019: Research Excellence Award, American Heart Association, Philadelphia, USA2019: BCVS Abstract Travel Grant, American Heart Association’s Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences (BCVS), USA
- 2019: Young Investigator Award from South Asian Heart Association (SAHA), USA
- 2019: Best Scientific Poster Award at Basic Cardiovascular Sciences Scientific Sessions, Boston, USA
- 2019: Top scoring abstract, Invited lecture: BCVS American Heart Association, USA
- 2019: ASCB Accomplishing Career Transitions (ACT) Fellow. American Society of Cell Biology, USA
- 2019: Career Development Award, American Heart Association, USA
- 2018: Best of AHA Specialty Conferences: BCVS 2018 (BCVS top 10 percent of the accepted abstracts), USA
- 2018: BCVS New Investigator Travel Award, American Heart Association’s Council on Basic Cardiovascular Sciences (BCVS), USA
- 2017: Research Excellence Award, American Heart Association, Philadelphia, USA
- 2017: Post-doctoral Fellowship, American Heart Association, USA
- 2016: Best Poster Presentation at NHLBI/NIDDK Mitochondrial Biology Symposium
- 2014: Humboldt fellowship for postdoctoral researchers from Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany
- 2013: Raman-Charpak Visiting Fellowship, Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (CEFIPRA), New Delhi, India
- 2012: Prof. A. R. Rao Young Researcher Award from Society for Mitochondrial Research and Medicine-India
- 2011: Best poster presentation award at International Symposium on Cancer Biology, National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India
- 2007: Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR), India National Eligibility Test (NET) (December 2007) qualified for CSIR-Junior Research Fellowship
Other Experience and Professional Memberships
- 2021: Abstract Programming Task Force Member, ASCB/ EMBO Cell Bio Virtual Annual Meeting, USA
- 2021: Topic Editor, Special Issue on “Genomic alteration landscapes of aging, metabolic disorders, and cancer: emerging overlaps and clinical importance” in Frontiers in Genetics
- 2021: Guest Editor, Special Issue on “Calcium Signaling in Health and Diseases” in Cells
- 2021-present: Review Editor, Aging, Metabolism and Redox Biology Section, Frontiers in Aging
- 2020-present: North American Section Member, International Society for Heart Research (ISHR), USA
- 2020-present: Ad-hoc Reviewer, Grants submitted to the National Science Centre, Poland
- 2020: Abstract Programming Task Force Member, ASCB/ EMBO Cell Bio Virtual Annual Meeting, USA
- 2020-present: Topic Editor, Cells
- 2020-present: Review Editor, Oxidant Physiology Section, Frontiers in Physiology
- 2020-present: Review Editor, Integrative Physiology Section, Frontiers in Physiology
- 2019-present: Ad-hoc Reviewer, Grants submitted to the American Heart Association, USA
- 2019: Posters Judge, ASCB Minority Affairs Committee Poster Competition, ASCB/ EMBO Annual Meeting, Washington DC, USA.
- 2019-2021: International Member, Scientific Advisory Board, MitoFit The Open Access preprint server for mitochondrial physiology
- 2019: Guest Editor, Special Issue on “Mitochondrial Calcium Signaling, Mitochondrial Dynamics, and Mitophagy” in journal Genes
- 2018-2021: Early Career Committee Member, South Asian Heart Association (SAHA)
- 2018-2020: Ambassador, The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), USA
- 2017: Posters Judge, ASCB Minority Affairs Committee Poster Competition, ASCB/ EMBO Annual Meeting, Philadelphia, PA, USA.
- 2017-2021: Member, The New York Academy of Sciences (NYAS), USA
- 2017-2020: Ambassador, American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB), USA
- 2017-present: Member, COST Working Group 1 & Working Group 3, MitoEAGLE (European Union Framework Programme Horizon 2020 COST Action CA15203)
- 2017-present: Review editor, Mitochondrial Research Section, Frontiers in Physiology, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology
- 2016-present: Member, American Heart Association, USA
- 2015-present: Life Member, Society for Mitochondrial Research and Medicine, India
- 2015-present: Member, American Society for Cell Biology, USA
- 2012-present: Ad-hoc Reviewer for manuscripts submitted to peer-reviewed journals: Aging, Autophagy, Biology Open, Biomolecules, Bioscience Reports, Blood Reviews, BMC Cardiovascular Disorders, BMC Cancer, Cancer Medicine, Cell Death and Disease, Cells, Cellular Signalling, Circulation: Heart Failure, Circulation Research, Clinical Sciences, Frontiers in Bioscience, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, Frontiers in Endocrinology, Frontiers in Immunology, Frontiers in Pharmacology, Frontiers in Physiology, Genes, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology, Life Sciences, Medical Sciences, Molecules, Molecular Neurobiology, Oncotarget, PLoS One, Redox Biology, Scientific Reports
Publications: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?sort=pubdate&term=Dhanendra%20Tomar