Rakesh V

Biography

Senior research scientist with 15 years of translational oncology research experience. Immuno-oncology investigator experienced in leading translational & IND enabling pre-clinical programs with small molecules, antibody & adoptive cell transfer (ACT). Qualified operations manager with sharp focus on problem-solving.  ♣ Expert in developing oncology, hematology & immuno-oncology focused programs from conception to fully operational level with teams of PhD/RA level investigators. ♣ Developed fully operational clinical and pre-clinical MOA studies with lead candidates. ♣ Characterized the First humanized mouse model "MISTRG6" to establish roles for tumor micro-environment and immune cell interaction with myeloma tumor (Verma R et al. Nature Medicine). ♣ Led multiple Immuno-oncology pre-clinical efficacy studies with: - syngeneic mouse models for melanoma, breast, pancreatic & lung Cancer;  - and with humanized mouse models - NSG, SCID, SCID-Hu, MISTRG, MISTRG6.  ♣ 15 years of experience in in vitro and in vivo assay development using multi-platform approaches including- multi-color flow cytometry, CyTOF, Luminex. ♣ Developed gene expression profiling assay for clinical trials using human immune cell sub-sets investigating Immune-checkpoint inhibitors- anti-PD1, anti-PDL1, anti-CTLA4 or Immuno-modulatory therapies (see Verma R, GEO database). ♣ Expert analyst of big-data at protein (Flow cytometry/CyTOF) and genome level (Microarray, RNAseq, Whole exome). Successfully employed Genespring Gx, Partek GS, Cytobank and Perl, UNIX and R environment for data analysis.  ♣ Spearheaded Mechanism of action (MoA) studies with proven track-record of success including discovery of novel PY target “RHEX” and development of reagents for RHEX  (Verma R et al. J Exp. Medicine).  ♣ MoA studies of first erythropoietic stimulating agent/ESA synthetic peptide- “Peginesatide” via collaborative efforts with industry/bio-pharma (Verma R et al., Exp. Hematology).

Research Interest

Developed gene expression profiling assay for clinical trials using human immune cell sub-sets investigating Immune-checkpoint inhibitors- anti-PD1, anti-PDL1, anti-CTLA4 or Immuno-modulatory therapies (see Verma R, GEO database). ♣ Expert analyst of big-data at protein (Flow cytometry/CyTOF) and genome level (Microarray, RNAseq, Whole exome). Successfully employed Genespring Gx, Partek GS, Cytobank and Perl, UNIX and R environment for data analysis.  ♣ Spearheaded Mechanism of action (MoA) studies with proven track-record of success including discovery of novel PY target “RHEX” and development of reagents for RHEX  (Verma R et al. J Exp. Medicine).  ♣ MoA studies of first erythropoietic stimulating agent/ESA synthetic peptide- “Peginesatide” via collaborative efforts with industry/bio-pharma (Verma R et al., Exp. Hematology).