Summary
Overview
Work History
Education
Skills
Affiliations
Research Highlights:
Mentoring and Supervising:
Journal Editorial:
Journal Reviewer:
Peer-Reviewed Publications:
Honors, Awards, and Fellowships:
Timeline
Generic

Mangesh Kaulage

Memphis,TN

Summary

Molecular and Chemical biologist with over 6 years of postdoctoral research experience in genome targeting, transcriptional regulation, and epigenomic regulation, with applications in rare neurological and genetic disorders. Expert in mammalian cell workflows, genome targeting technologies, omics-driven disease mechanism discovery (ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, CUT&RUN), and therapeutic design using gene and chromatin modulation strategies. Passionate about developing mechanism-driven therapeutics for pediatric neurological diseases using advanced stem cell and genetic platforms.

Overview

9
9
years of professional experience

Work History

Postdoctoral Research Associate

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
Memphis, TN
08.2019 - Current
  • Elucidated transcriptional barriers at the FXN gene locus in Friedreich’s ataxia by mapping epigenetic modifications (via ChIP) and nucleic acid secondary structure dynamics during transcriptional activation by synthetic genome regulators.
  • Engineered & validated SynGRs (synthetic genome regulator) targeting microsatellite repeats in Huntington’s and Myotonic dystrophy; improved repeat-specific binding affinity.
  • Designed and executed a genome-wide siRNA screen to identify R-loop resolution factors in Friedreich’s ataxia, leading to novel target discovery and downstream validation for therapeutic development.
  • Contributed to the design and pharmacological characterization of domain-selective BET inhibitors; guided SAR through mechanistic assays and dose–response profiling, supporting early-stage lead optimization.
  • Developed a novel genome sequence-selective targeting method for protein of interest.
  • Mentored & trained junior scientists and interns; led monthly data review seminars and presented findings at international conferences.
  • Managed lab operations—inventory, vendor negotiations.
  • Dept. of Chemical Biology & Therapeutics (Ansari Lab), St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN.

Postdoctoral Research Associate

University of Wisconsin–Madison
Madison, WI
09.2018 - 08.2019
  • Characterized SynGR1-GAA repeat interactions via in vitro foot-printing and CD/UV spectroscopy; quantified binding kinetics.
  • Investigated methylation dynamics at the FXN gene after SynTEF1 treatment by bisulfite sequencing.
  • Benchmarking & optimization of synthetic genome regulators: compared SynGR variants for biological activity, selecting candidates with 3-fold higher activation.
  • Mentored & trained junior scientists and interns; led monthly data review seminars and presented findings at international conferences.
  • Managed lab operations—inventory, vendor negotiations.
  • Dept. of Biochemistry, University of Wisconsin–Madison, Madison, WI.

Research Associate

Indian Institute of Science
Bangalore, India
03.2017 - 07.2018
  • Investigated the G-quadruplex-stabilizing potential of xanthone derivatives.
  • Drafted, revised, and published peer-reviewed research articles from PhD research.
  • Dept. of Biochemistry, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, India

Education

Ph.D. - Biochemistry

Indian Institute of Science
Bengaluru, India
06.2017

M.Sc. - Organic Chemistry

Shivaji University
Kolhapur, India
02.2009

B.Sc. - Chemistry (Major), Microbiology, Botany

Shri Shivaji Mahavidyalaya
Barshi, India
12.2006

Skills

  • Disease Modeling & Genetic Mechanisms: Extensive experience in genome targeting (CRISPR-adjacent platforms, synthetic genome regulators), nucleic acid structure-function relationships, and chromatin regulation in neurological and genetic disorders
  • Emerging Interest in Stem Cell & Organoid Systems: Strong foundation in mammalian cell workflows and omics technologies; eager and prepared to apply these to induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived models and organoid workflows under expert guidance
  • Omics & High-Throughput Profiling: Hands-on experience with epigenomic and transcriptomic approaches including ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, CUT&RUN, and RNAi and siRNA functional screening platforms
  • Therapeutic Development & Target Discovery: Experience in antisense, small molecule, and chromatin-targeted therapeutic strategy development using disease-relevant models, including rare neurogenetic diseases
  • Molecular & Cell Biology
  • Mammalian cell culture (BSL-2/−); RNAi functional screening; RT-qPCR
  • Epigenetic/transcriptomic profiling: ChIP-seq, CUT & RUN, RNA-seq, DNA methylation analysis
  • Extensive experience in construct design, lentiviral transduction, and stable line generation-readily transferable to CRISPR/Cas systems and iPSC differentiation workflows; rapid learner with prior successful adoption of programmable targeting platforms (SynGR/SynTEF)
  • Protein Biochemistry & Biophysics
  • Protein expression and purification (IMAC, IEX, SEC)
  • Protein–DNA and protein–protein interaction techniques: EMSA, co-IP, FRET
  • Nucleic acid structural analysis: CD, UV-Vis, fluorescence, FRET, fluorescence polarization
  • Drug Discovery & Translational Research
  • High-throughput screening in 384-well format (Echo 650 liquid handler)
  • SiRNA library screening & compound profiling
  • Patient-derived cell models; reporter assays; dose-response and cytotoxicity studies
  • Target validation; epigenetic and transcriptional modulation (eg, BET inhibitors, synthetic genome regulators)
  • Medicinal & Organic Chemistry
  • Synthesis and characterization of DNA-targeting small molecules
  • Solid-phase synthetic strategies
  • Structure–activity relationship (SAR) analysis
  • Data Analysis & Scientific Communication
  • GraphPad Prism; Microsoft Office Suite (Word, Excel, PowerPoint), Adobe illustrator, basic NGS/ChIP-seq bioinformatics
  • Scientific writing and protocol development
  • Cross-functional collaboration; mentorship and training of junior scientists

Affiliations

  • Sigma XI- Invited
  • National Ataxia Foundation- Invited
  • Chemical Biology Society- past membership

Research Highlights:

  • Research highlighted in the editorial of ACS Medicinal Chemistry Letters, titled "Medicinal Chemistry Research in India" (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acsmedchemlett.7b00064)
  • The synthetic schemes published in my articles have been referenced by commercial companies. (https://www.lookchem.com/casno23491-49-8.html)

Mentoring and Supervising:

  • Megha Gupta, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, USA., Email: meghagupta1910@gmail.com
  • Ashley Gray, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, USA. Email: agray61@uthsc.edu
  • Soma Roy, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India Email: iisc.soma@gmail.com
  • Rucha Kshirsagar, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. Email: rucha.kshirsagar@gmail.com
  • Deepika Prasad, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. Email: prasad.d@mskcc.org
  • Sanjeev Pasadi, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. Email: sanjeev.psv@gmail.com
  • Apoorva G Kamath, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, India. Email: kamath.apoorva14@gmail.com

Journal Editorial:

  • Editorial board member for ‘International Journal of Applied and Advanced Scientific Research’
  • Reviewer board member for Acta Biochimica Polonica

Journal Reviewer:

Lipids in Health and Disease, ChemistrySelect, Chemical Data Collections, Springer Nature, Acs Omega, Green Materials, JMIRx Med., etc.

Peer-Reviewed Publications:

  • Christopher J. Brandon#, Sarah Robinson-Thieves#, Mangesh Kaulage#, Wojciech Rosikiewicz, Matthew J. Cuneo, Joseph Brett, Jindpreet X Kandola, Walter Lang, Johnathan Low, Ashraf Mohammed, Adithi Danda, Sam Rider, Marcus Valentine, Jason Ochoada, Brandon Young, Theresa Nguyen, Sandra J. Kietlinska, Aaron B. Taylor, Burkhard Hoeckendorf, Patrick Rodrigues, Wenwei Lin, Khaled Khairy, Beisi Xu, Anang A. Shelat, Taosheng Chen, Tanja Mittag, Aseem Z. Ansari (Submitted and under review with Nature) Partitioning of BRD4 into HP1 condensates overrides persistent repressive chromatin at microsatellite repeats in Friedreich's ataxia.
  • Mangesh Kaulage, Gabriel Matos-Rodrigues, Man Viet Hoang, Shiran Bar, Walter Lang, Jonathan Low, Celeste Sagui, Joanna Wysocka, André Nussenzweig, Aseem Ansari (Manuscript in preparation; targeted for submission to Molecular Cell) Targeted Modulation of DNA Secondary Structures by SynTEF1 Alleviates FXN Gene Silencing.
  • Mangesh Kaulage, Jun Seng Chio, Asfa Ali, Chris Brandon, Man Viet Hoang, Megha Gupta, Celeste Sagui, Geeta Narlikar, Aseem Ansari (Manuscript in preparation; targeted for submission to Cell) Syn-TEF1-Mediated Reactivation of FXN via R-Loop Resolution and Chromatin Remodeling: Dissecting the Contributions of Helicases and Chromatin Remodelers.
  • Roy Soma, Maiti Bappa, Banerjee Nilanjan, Kaulage Mangesh, Muniyappa Kalappa, Chatterjee Subhrangsu, Bhattacharya Santanu (2023). New Xanthone Derivatives as Potent G-Quadruplex Binders for Developing Anti-Cancer Therapeutics. ACS Pharmacol. Transl. Sci. 6:546–566
  • Ashraf Mohammed, M. Brett Waddell, Ieva Sutkeviciute, Adithi Danda, Steven J. Philips, Walter Lang, P. Jake Slavish, Sandra J. Kietlinska, Mangesh Kaulage, Das Sourav, and Aseem Z. Ansari (2023). Domain-selective BET ligands yield next-generation synthetic genome readers/regulators with non-identical functionalities. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 145:24568–24579.
  • Mangesh Kaulage, Santanu Bhattacharya and K. Muniyappa (2018). Structural Characterization of i-Motif Structure in the Human Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase 1 Gene Promoters and their Role in the Regulation of Gene Expression. ChemBioChem. 19:1078–1087.
  • Mangesh Kaulage, Sanjeev Pasadi, Basudeb Maji, Santanu Bhattacharya and K. Muniyappa (2018). Targeting G-quadruplex DNA structures in the telomere and oncogene promoter regions by benzimidazole–carbazole ligands. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 148:178–194.
  • Mangesh Kaulage, Sanjeev Pasadi, Basudeb Maji, Santanu Bhattacharya and K. Muniyappa (2017). Novel Ruthenium Azo-quinoline Complexes with Enhanced Photonuclelease Activity in Mammalian Cells. Eur. J. Med. Chem. 139:1016-1029.
  • Mangesh Kaulage, Basudeb Maji, Jyotsna Bhat, Yasumasa Iwasaki, Subhrangsu Chatterjee, Santanu Bhattacharya and K. Muniyappa (2016). Discovery and Structural Characterization of G-quadruplex DNA in Human Acetyl-CoA Carboxylase Gene Promoters: Its Role in Transcriptional Regulation and as a Therapeutic Target for Human Disease. J. Med. Chem. 59:5035-5050.
  • Basudeb Maji, Krishan Kumar, Mangesh Kaulage, K. Muniyappa, and Santanu Bhattacharya (2014). Design and Synthesis of New Benzimidazole–Carbazole Conjugates for the Stabilization of Human Telomeric DNA, Telomerase Inhibition, and Their Selective Action on Cancer Cells. J. Med. Chem. 57:6973-6988.
  • Oral Presentations
  • Chemical Biology & Therapeutics Retreat, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — 2025 Talk: SynTEF1 modulates nucleic acid secondary structures to alleviate FXN transcriptional repression
  • Invited as a guest lecturer at Shri Shivaji Mahavidyalaya, Barshi, India, where I delivered a session on basics of NMR spectroscopy. 2018
  • Poster Presentations
  • Bringing Chemistry to Medicine Symposium, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — 2023
  • Bringing Chemistry to Medicine Symposium, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — 2022
  • Bringing Chemistry to Medicine Symposium, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — 2021
  • Bringing Chemistry to Medicine Symposium, St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital — 2020
  • International Ataxia Research Conference, Friedreich’s Ataxia Research Alliance (FARA) — 2019
  • Genome Biology: Mechanisms in Health and Disease, Indian Institute of Science — 2018
  • National Seminar: Recent Advances & Developments in Microbial Technology, Govt College, Kalaburagi — 2017
  • UGC-SAP National Seminar on Synthesis of New Materials for Industrial Applications, Shivaji University — 2008
  • Conference Attendance (selected)
  • Spatial Transcriptomics & Epigenetics in Neuroscience (webinar), Elsevier — 2023
  • Mechanisms of Eukaryotic Transcription, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory — 2021, 2020
  • Stanford Genetics Conference — Structural Variants & DNA Repeats — 2021, 2020
  • Epigenetics & Chromatin, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory — 2020
  • St. Jude Symposia & Retreats (Structural & Computational Biology; Bringing Chemistry to Medicine; Biomedical Research Symposium) — 2019–2023
  • Chromosome Stability, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research — 2014

Honors, Awards, and Fellowships:

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Senior Research Fellowship Sept. 2011-Sept. 2014., Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) Junior Research Fellowship Aug. 2009-Aug. 2011, Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE 2009) of Department of Education, HRD Government of India with a percentile of 92.09., Awarded the Eklavya Merit Scholarship by the Government of Maharashtra, India, for academic excellence during the two years of M.Sc. studies.

Timeline

Postdoctoral Research Associate

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital
08.2019 - Current

Postdoctoral Research Associate

University of Wisconsin–Madison
09.2018 - 08.2019

Research Associate

Indian Institute of Science
03.2017 - 07.2018

M.Sc. - Organic Chemistry

Shivaji University

B.Sc. - Chemistry (Major), Microbiology, Botany

Shri Shivaji Mahavidyalaya

Ph.D. - Biochemistry

Indian Institute of Science
Mangesh Kaulage