Tapas K Manna, PhD

Professor, School of Biology, IISER TVM

Education

• Ph. D. in Biochemistry (2004), Jadavpur University (Bose Institute, Kolkata)
• M.Sc. in Chemistry (1997) Calcutta University

Positions

• Professor (2020-Present)- School of Biology, IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• Associate Professor (2014-2019)-School of Biology, IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• Asst. Professor (2009-2014)-School of Biology, IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• Postdoctoral Research Associate (2008-2009)- Cancer Institute, Univ. of South Alabama, USA
• Postdoctoral Research Associate (2006-2008)- Univ. of Massachusetts Medical School, USA
• Postdoctoral Research Associate (2003-2006)- Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, USA
• Senior Research Fellow (2000-2003)- Dept. of Biochemistry, Bose Institute, Kolkata
• Junior Research Fellow (1998-2000)- Dept. of Biochemistry, Bose Institute, Kolkata

PhD Students Supervised

• R Bhagya Lakshmi, Year: 2024,  Title: “Regulation of microtubule – chromosome attachment by cytoskeleton associated protein 5 (CKAP5)”
• Vishnu M Nair, Year:2024, Title  “Elucidating the role of E3 ubiquitin ligase, FBXW7 in regulation of mitotic checkpoint during mitosis “
• Renjith MR, Year: 2023, Title:  “Elucidating the role of interaction of Ska1 with EB1 in regulation of kinetochore-microtubule attachment in human cells”
• Resmi Rajeev, Year:2022, Title: “Role of Transforming acidic coiled-coil 3 (TACC3) in the regulation of microtubule assembly at the centrosomes”
• Binshad Badarudeen, Year: 2021,  Title: “Regulation of Centriole Biogenesis by E3 Ubiquitin Ligase FBXW7”
• Hindol Gupta, Year: 2019, Title: “Determination of the structural and molecular basis of human centriole assembly”
• Geethu Emily Thomas, Year: 2016, Title “Role of Microtubule Plus End Binding protein EB1 in regulation of spindle- kinetochore interaction during mitosis”
• Gireesh KK, Year: 2015, Title: “Structure-function aspects of microtubule regulation by its plus end binding protein and interacting novel small molecule inhibitor”
• Puja Singh, Year: 2014, Title: “Regulation of centrosome-mediated microtubule nucleation: Role of human transforming acidic coiled-coil 3 (TACC3)”

Awards and Recognitions

• S. Ramachandran National Bioscience Award 2019 by DBT,Govt. of India
• Sir Nil Ratan Sircar Research prize 2001 of Bose Institute, Kolkata

Scientific Meetings / Conferences Organized

• Co-organized Annual Conference of Indian Society for Cell Biology, Thiruvananthapuram; December 2015
• Co-organized satellite meeting of International Society of Cell Biology, Thiruvananthapuram; December  2018
• Co-Organized Workshop on ‘Proteomics and Data Analysis’;  IISER Thiruvananthapuram; January 2019

Invited Lecture (Conferences)

• ”Search of links between centrosome maturation and chromosome segregation”;  International conference titled “The Microtubule Network” , July 15, 2025; CDFD, Hyderabad
• “Birth and Death of Centrosome Duplication Machinery” in Indo-German International conference, June 3-5, 2025; Dept of Biochemistry, IISc, Bangalore
• “Molecular motors in shaping chromosome structures” in  International conference titled “Microtubules, Motors, Trafficking and Transport”; Feb. 17- 19, 2025; IIT Jodhpur
• “Molecular Insights of kinetochore expansion” in  International conference titled “Chromosome Stability”; Dec. 13- 17, 2024; JNCASR Bangalore
• “Molecular Control of Centriole Duplication” in International conference titled “Centrioles, Cilia and Ciliopathies”; Nov. 27-28, 2024; IIT Bombay
• “Inhibitors and Regulators of Microtubules: promising avenues in cancer therapy” in conference titled “Modern Perspective of Advances in Chemical Sciences (MPACS-2024)”; July 22-23, 2024; R. K. Mission, Belur Math, W.B.
• “Molecular basis of centrosome amplification” in conference titled ”Ciliopathy Niye Adda”, March 26-27, 2024; Presidency University, Kolkata
• “Molecular control of mitotic chromosome segregation errors” in  International conference titled “Chromosome Stability”; Dec. 14- 18, 2022; IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• “Mechanisms Driving Error-free Chromosome Segregation” in conference titled “Host microbe interaction”; Dec 1-2, 2021; Presidency University (Virtual)
• “Regulation of Mitotic Spindles and Chromosome Segregation” in Faculty Enrichment Programme (FEP) on “Cutting Edge Science in Cellular and Molecular Biomedicine”; Nov. 11, 2021;Amity University (Virtual)
• “Molecular Drivers of Chromosomal Instability in Cancer Cells” in Annual meeting of SBC (India), Dec 19, 2021; Amity University (Virtual)
• “Molecular Basis of Centrosome Amplification in Cancer Cells” in International Conference on Translational Research, Nov. 7-9, 2019; NCCS Pune
• “New Horizons of Spindle-Chromosome Interaction” in 3rd PAN IIT Biotech International Conference on Cancer Precision Medicine and Personalized Therapeutics, Jan. 31–Feb. 2, 2019; Dept. of Biotechnology, IIT Madras
• “Ubiquitin Ligases in Control of Spindle-pole Biogenesis & Chromosome Segregation” in  International conference titled “Chromosome Stability”; Dec. 14- 17, 2018; JNCASR Bangalore
• “A novel Ubiquitin ligase in control of centrosome biogenesis” in Satellite meeting of International Society for Cell Biology; Feb 2, 2018 ; Thiruvananthapuram
• “Molecular Dynamics at Spindle-Kinetochore Interface” in conference titled” An interdisciplinary approach to Biological Sciences”; Feb 1-3, 2018; IACS-Kolkata
• “Microtubule tip protein in chromosome segregation: an emerging drug target”; International Conference on Translational Research; Oct 14-16, 2016; KIIT Bhubaneswar

Administrative Experiences

• Part-time CVO (2021-2024)-  IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• Associate Dean, Faculty Affairs (2016-2019)-IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• Head of the Department (2014-2017)-School of Biology, IISER Thiruvananthapuram

Member of Committees (Institutional and Outside)

• Member of Senate (2020-present)-  IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• Faculty Selection Committee (2014-2017)-School of Biology, IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• Postdoc/RA/Faculty Fellow evaluation committee (2016-2019)-IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBSC) (2020-present)
• Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (2020-2024)
• Academic Council Member (2023-Present)- Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Trivandrum
• Faculty Promotion Committee – Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, Trivandrum

Committee Member (National Level)

• Task Force Member of DBT (2018-2021)

Reviewer of International Journals

Nature Communications, Nature Chemical Biology, Scientific Reports, Biochemical Pharmacology, Biochemical Journal, Eur. J. Cell Biology, Biochemistry etc.

Reviewer of Research Grants

• Dept. of Biotechnology (DBT)
• Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)
• Indo-French CEFIPRA Grant
• Czech Science Foundation

Teaching Areas

Biochemistry, Cell Biology