Menu Close

Dr. Kunal Sikder

Name: Dr. Kunal Sikder
Assistant Professor, Dept. of Medical Biotechnology & Department of Sports Science and Yoga
Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI)

Contact details:

,

Link to personal webpage: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kunal-sikder-9987b196/

Area of research:

1. Cardiovascular pathophysiology in type I and type II diabetes
2. Intracellular cross-talks during development of cardiac fibrosis and heart failure
3. Alterations in Lipid metabolism and cellular energetics in diabetic cardiomyopathy and laminopathy
4. iPSC differentiated cardiomyocyte culture and genetic manipulation to mimic in vitro pathological model for cardiomyopathy.
5. Inflammation and oxidative stress in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

Education and Employment: 

2019 : Appointed as Assistant Professor, RKMVERI, West Bengal, India
2015-2019 : Post-doctoral Research Scientist at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, USA
2012-2015 : Assistant Professor, Tripura Institute of Paramedical Sciences (TIPS), Tripura, India
2007-2013 : PhD in Physiology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
2007 : MSc in Physiology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India
2005 : BSc in Physiology, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India

Some significant Publications

  • Kolpakov, A.K, Sikder, K., Sarkar, A., Chaki, S., Shukla, S.K., Guo, X., Qi, Z., Barbery, C., Sabri, A. & Rafiq, K. Inflammatory serine proteases play a critical role in the early pathogenesis of diabetic cardiomyopathy. Cellular Physiology and Biochemistry. 2019;53(6):982-998.
  • Sikder, K., Shukla, S.K, Patel, N., Singh, H. & Rafiq, K. High fat diet upregulates fatty acid oxidation and ketogenesis via intervention of PPAR-gamma. Cellular
    Physiology and Biochemistry. 2018;48(3):1317-1331.
  • Shukla, S.K, Sikder, K., Sarkar, A., Addya, S. & Rafiq, K. Molecular network, pathway, and functional analysis of time-dependent gene changes related to
    cathepsin G exposure in neonatal rat cardiomyocytes. Gene. 2019;671:58-66.
  • Shukla, S., K., Liu, W., Sikder, K., Addya, S., Sarkar, A., Wei, Y., & Rafiq, K. HMGCS2 is a key ketogenic enzyme potentially involved in type 1 diabetes
    with high cardiovascular risk. Scientific reports. 2017 Jul 4;7(1):4590.
  • Khan, A., Manna, K., Das, D.K., Kesh, S.B., Sinha, M., Das, U., Biswas, S., Sengupta, A., Sikder, K., Datta, S., Ghosh, M., Chakrabarty, A., Banerji, A. &
    Dey S. Gossypetin ameliorates ionizing radiationinduced oxidative stress in mice liver–a molecular approach. Free radical research. 2015 Oct;49(10):1173-86.
  • Sikder, K., Kesh, S. B., Das, N., Manna, K. & Dey, S. The high antioxidative power of quercetin (aglycone flavonoid) and its glycone (rutin) avert high
    cholesterol diet induced hepatotoxicity and inflammation in Swiss albino mice. Food & function. 2014 Jun;5(6):1294-303.
  • Sikder, K., Das, N., Kesh, S. B. & Dey, S. Quercetin and beta-sitosterol prevent high fat diet induced dyslipidemia and hepatotoxicity in Swiss albino mice. Indian journal of experimental biology. 2014 Jan;52(1):60-66.
  • Das, N., Sikder, K., Bhattacharjee, S., Majumdar, S.B., Ghosh, S. & Majumdar S, Dey, S. Quercetin alleviates inflammation after short-term treatment in high-
    fat-fed mice. Food and Function. 2013 Jun;4(6):889-98.
  • Kesh, S.B., Sikder, K., Manna, K., Das, D.K., Khan, A., Das, N. & Dey, S. Promising role of ferulic acid, atorvastatin and their combination in ameliorating high fat diet-induced stress in mice. Life Science. 2013 May 20;92(17-19):938-49.
  • Sikder, K., Sinha, M., Das, N., Das, D.K., Datta, S. & Dey, S. Moringa oleifera leaf extract prevents in vitro oxidative DNA damage. Asian journal of Pharmaceutical and Clinical Research. 2013;6:92-96.
  • Das, N., Sikder, K., Ghosh, S., Fromenty, B. & Dey, S. Moringa oleifera Lam. leaf extract prevents early liver injury and restores antioxidant status in mice
    fed with high-fat diet. Indian Journal of Experimental Biology. 2012 Jun;50(6):404-12.

Research Interests

Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM), Cardiac inflammation, Intracellular cross-talks in diseased heart, iPSC culture and differentiation, Myocyte and fibroblast culture, Genetic manipulation in animal model and in vitro system

Ongoing projects

  1. Involvement of autoimmunity in dilated cardiomyopathy
  2. Molecular and epigenetic alterations in asthma patients following Yoga practice
  3. Brain hemodynamics and electrical changes with ‘OM’ chanting

Editorial positions

  1. Editorial board member of- ‘Food and nutrition research’ since 2015
  2. Reviewer for- ‘Life Sciences’ since 2019