I am a protein biochemist, fascinated by the molecular architecture of various biological entities found in nature and love to understand how they function to make ‘life’ as we know it possible! I was born in Bengaluru, India and have traveled the world across Europe and the United States in pursuit of addressing interesting biological questions, earning PhD and postdoctoral research experience along the way. Currently, I am based in the Øresund region across Denmark and Sweden.
I have developed a niche towards elucidating structure-function relationships of various proteins and protein-RNA complexes within the broad field of microbial CRISPR-Cas effector systems and human mitochondrial metabolism. In addition, I am passionate about strategically re-engineering naturally available biological machineries towards repurposing them for human therapeutic and diagnostic applications. One such venture was during the COVID-19 pandemic, wherein, I led a team of research associates and established MORIARTY: A CRISPR-based virus diagnostic platform (US patent pending).
I am also passionate about scientific writing complemented with creating intriguing scientific illustrations for effective communication. I have always enjoyed teaching and thrive on opportunities to brainstorm science over a cup of coffee. I’m excited to begin a new venture in the biotech sector that would foster my skills towards fulfiling my long-term learning objectives. I welcome proposals of possible exciting collaborations, preferably by email.
Thank you for visiting my blog. Let’s connect on LinkedIn or contact me at sridhara.sagar@gmail.com.
Publications
Patent
”Virus detection via programmable Type III-A CRISPR-Cas systems and methods” – (Pending)
Reference: Sridhara S et al. 2021, Nat Commun. 12(1): 5653.
U.S. Application Serial No. 17/709,571 (published on October 13, 2022)
The Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.
Bibliometrics
Number of citations = 205 (as of June, 2024)
h-index = 6
i10-index = 5
Citation percentile (Web of Science) = 77th percentile
Certifications
- Current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) – Svensk Medicin AB / Trygghetsstiftelsen / Roberto Gatti – Oct 2023.
- Medical Affairs (MA) – Svensk Medicin AB / Trygghetsstiftelsen – Oct 2023.
- Essentials in Regulatory Affairs (RA) and Good Distribution Practice (GDP) – Svensk Medicin AB / Ingela Frick Consulting AB / Trygghetsstiftelsen – Oct 2023.
Courses
- Get started: Purification of mAb variants (Cytiva) – Feb, 2024.
- Get to know: Bioreactors for bioprocessing (Cytiva) – Feb, 2024.
- Principles of cell line development (Cytiva) – Feb, 2024.
Postdoctoral Appointments
- July 2021 – June 2023
Department of Medical Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Sahlgrenska Academy,
University of Gothenburg
Gothenburg, Sweden. - June 2018 – June 2021
Institute of Molecular Biophysics
Florida State University
Tallahassee, USA.
Education
- PhD in Medical Science (2013 – 2017)
”Structural and functional basis of mitochondrial tRNA processing”
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology (CMB),
Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.
(Stationed in CSSB-Hamburg, Germany) - MSc in Applied Biotechnology (2010 – 2012)
”An endeavor to circularize in vitro synthesized mRNA”
Department of Cell and Molecular Biology (ICM),
Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden. - BE in Biotechnology (2006 – 2010)
”Ethanol production using weeds”
Department of Biotechnology,
RVCE, Bengaluru, India.
Blog articles
- Sagar Sridhara, Hemant N Goswami and Charlisa Whyms (2021). MORIARTY: A CRISPR tool to detect SARS-CoV-2. Nature Portfolio Bioengineering Community. Published: October 1, 2021.
- Sagar Sridhara (2019). Centrism in a classical identity crisis requires an aggressive assertion. LinkedIn. Published: April 25, 2019.
- Sagar Sridhara (2017). Make India greater…! Dignity of Labor. LinkedIn. Published: January 31, 2017.
Magazine articles
- Global power conflicts (December 2011). Techna.
- Alien existence: A long standing question (October 2011). Techna.
- Sweden: An experience (August 2011). Techna.
Structures
- 6XN3: Cryo-EM structure of Lactococcus lactis CRISPR-Csm complex Cognate Target RNA_4:3
- 6XN4: Cryo-EM structure of Lactococcus lactis CRISPR-Csm complex Cognate Target RNA_3:2
- 6XN5: Cryo-EM structure of Lactococcus lactis CRISPR-Csm complex Apo
- 6XN7: Cryo-EM structure of Lactococcus lactis CRISPR-Csm complex Non-cognate Target RNA
- 4XGL: Crystal structure of Homo sapiens Mitochondrial RNase P Protein 3 (MRPP3)
- 4XGM: Crystal structure of Homo sapiens Mitochondrial RNase P Protein 3 (MRPP3)
Languages
- English (Excellent proficiency)
- Swedish (Intermediate proficiency, Level A2)
- German (Basic proficiency)
- Kannada (Native / Mothertongue)
- Hindi (Good proficiency)
Conferences, Symposium, Meetings & Visits
- 17th Microsymposium on RNA biology, Vienna, Austria.
(May 3-5, 2023) - Seminar at Institute of Science & Technology (ISTA), Klosterneuburg, Austria.
(April 12, 2023) - Molecular biology of mitochondrial gene maintenance and expression, Bro, Sweden.
(May 15-19, 2022). - Recent advances in structural biology of membrane proteins (EMBO Workshop), Virtual/Online. (Nov 29 – Dec 1, 2021)
- CryoNET Symposium organised by Umeå Universitet, Sweden – Online.
(Oct 18-19, 2021) - CRISPR 2021 organised by Institut Pasteur, France – Online.
(June 1-10, 2021) - CryoEM workshop organised by Kobenhavns Universitet, Denmark – Online.
(2021) - RNA society meeting, Virtual/Online.
(2020) - Speaker, Protein Crystallization Automation (Session 2), Formulatrix
(Online Webinar, 2018) - FSU postdoctoral symposium, Tallahassee, Florida, USA.
(Poster presentation, 2018) - CSSB Life Science Slam, Hamburg, Germany.
(Flash talk and Poster presentation, 2017) - Rontgen Ångström Cluster (RÅC) perspective workshop, Hamburg, Germany.
(2017) - Mitoretreat, Berlin, Germany.
(Research presentation, 2015) - Mitoretreat, Stockholm, Sweden.
(Research presentation, 2014) - 25th tRNA conference, Kyllini, Greece.
(Poster presentation, 2014) - Swedish Structural Biology (SSB) meeting, Tällberg, Sweden.
(Poster presentation, 2014) - Biology and synchrotron radiation, Hamburg, Germany.
(2013) - Swedish Structural Biology (SSB) meeting, Tällberg, Sweden.
(Poster presentation, 2013)
Teaching
- LPG001: Biochemistry (Medical programme) at University of Gothenburg, Sweden.
(Spring 2022, Autumn 2021). - BCH4053: General Biochemistry I (Undergraduate course) at Florida State University, USA.
(Spring 2019).
Sagar Sridhara, PhD 