Info For Use: Bio Sketch on Madan & FRS Announcement

Saturday 13 May 2023

Bio Sketch on Madan & FRS Announcement

Bio Sketch on Madan

Anna University alumnus Madan Babu Mohan (https://www.stjude.org/directory/b/madan-babu.html) has been elected a Fellow of the Royal Society, a fellowship of some of the world’s most distinguished scientists.

Madan Babu Mohan graduated with a gold medal in BTech (Industrial Biotechnology) programme from the Centre for Biotechnology, Anna University in 2001. He earned his Ph.D. in computational genomics from Cambridge University at MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology (LMB) in 2004.

After completing a postdoctoral fellowship from 2005 at the National Centre Biotechnology Information (NCBI) in the US, he returned in 2006 to Cambridge’s LMB to start a group on Regulatory Genomics and Systems Biology.

After a 14-year tenure as a program leader at MRC LMB, Madan Babu joined the faculty of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA in 2020. He is currently the Director, Center of Excellence for Data Driven Discovery and Endowed Chair in Biological Data Sciences at St.Jude.

Some of his recent honours and awards include:

2023 Fellow of the Royal Society of London, UK

2021 Fellow of UK Academy of Medical Sciences

2019 EMBO Gold Medal – European Molecular Biology Organization, Germany

2018 Inaugural Life Sciences Laureate – Blavatnik Foundation & New York Academy of Sciences, UK

2018 ISCB Innovator Award – International Society for Computational Biology, USA

2017 Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, UK

2016 Elected member of EMBO - European Molecular Biology Organization, Germany

2015 Francis Crick Medal and Lecture – The Royal Society, UK

2014 Protein Science Young Investigator Award – Protein Society, USA

2014 Lister Institute Research Prize – Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine, UK

2013 Colworth Medal – Biochemical Society, UK

2011 Balfour Prize - Genetics Society, UK

2011 Royal Society of Chemistry Molecular BioSystems Award

2010 EMBO Young Investigator – European Molecular Biology Organization, Germany

2010 Early Career Research Award from the Biochemical Society

Madan serves as

Chief Academic Editor, Molecular Systems Biology, EMBO Press.

Executive Editor, Nucleic Acids Research, Oxford University Press.

Madan was the Director of Studies at Trinity College, Cambridge during Oct 2010 to Sep 2015.

Madan Research Group:

Summary:

Madan's laboratory specializes in integrating 3D information from protein structures with human genetics and biochemical data.

His research program aims to understand how changes in gene sequence alter protein function and cellular signaling. The goal is to use data science approaches to understand how mutations cause disease and infer molecular mechanisms that could lead to treatment and cure of these disorders.

His research interrogates groups of proteins that are medically relevant or have unusual properties and focus on two major classes: G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs).

G-Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCRs):

GPCRs belong to a unique family of proteins in that anything that can be from one can be extrapolated to other members, facilitating accelerated discovery. Madan is particularly interested in how GPCRs are regulated and how selectivity in signaling is achieved. GPCRs are excellent drug targets because of their physical location on the cell surface, but surprisingly few FDA-approved drugs targeting GPCRs have had a clinical impact in oncology. This is likely because slight alterations in the genome can cause significant variation in GPCR signaling, which causes preclinical failure of small molecules due to lack of efficacy or off-target effects. Each step of GPCR regulation (from transcription to isoform splicing to post-translational modification and degradation) is a potential intervention point. His research team is working to understand the role of GPCRs in pediatric cancer and define new therapeutic vulnerabilities.

Intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs):

The canonical structure-function paradigm was transformational for drug discovery, but scientists now recognize that only 60% of protein sequence space is highly structured. The remainder is comprised of intrinsically disordered protein regions (IDRs). IDRs are found in several clinically relevant protein families, including kinases, zinc fingers, and GPCRs. Madan's team is developing new experimental and computational methods to determine which parts of IDRs are critical for function and subcellular compartmentalization. New classes of cancer therapeutics are being designed (LYTACs, PROTACs, etc.), and a more thorough understanding of IDRs may contribute to the optimization and improvement of these approaches.

Cancer vulnerabilities:

Another focus of Madan's Lab has direct relevance for pediatric cancer – the construction of cancer dependency maps for pediatric tumors. In collaboration with an interdisciplinary team of scientists at St. Jude and beyond, Madan is working to identify the molecular basis of cancer vulnerabilities. This work has potential to open up a new horizon of therapeutic opportunities by identifying and understanding which dispensable genes are uniquely critical in pediatric cancers. In this manner, they hope to identify druggable targets.

About the Royal Society:

The Royal Society is a Fellowship of the world’s most distinguished scientists. Founded in 1660, it is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence. Candidates for Fellowship must be nominated by two existing Fellows, and have made a substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including medical science, mathematics and engineering science. For the 2023 elections, Fellows were selected from around 680 candidates, and Foreign Members from around 90 candidates.

Excerpts from the announcement from the Royal Society

Exceptional scientists elected as Fellows of the Royal Society

Eighty outstanding researchers, innovators and communicators from around the world have been elected as the newest Fellows of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of sciences and the oldest science academy in continuous existence.

They have been selected for their substantial contribution to the advancement of science.

This year sees 59 Fellows, 19 Foreign Members and two Honorary Fellows elected, reflecting changes introduced in 2023 which increased the maximum number who can be elected. This will help create a broader and more engaged Fellowship and support the Society’s mission of championing excellence in research and science for the benefit of humanity.

According to Sir Adrian Smith, President of the Royal Society,

"These individuals have pushed forward the boundaries of their respective fields and had a beneficial influence on the world beyond.

They are pioneering scientists and innovators from around the world who have confounded expectations and transformed our thinking.

This year’s intake have already achieved incredible things, and I have no doubt that they will continue to do so.

Excerpts from the Press Release from St Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude scientist M. Madan Babu elected to the Royal Society of London

Director of the Center of Excellence for Data-Driven Discovery at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital named a fellow of the elite 360-year-old British scientific organization.The Royal Society is the oldest scientific academy in continuous existence.

Babu was selected to join the Royal Society for his pioneering data science-based strategies to reveal fundamental principles in biological systems. His scientific accomplishments include determining the molecular mechanisms governing G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling, uncovering the roles of disordered protein regions in biology and disease, and establishing genome-scale principles of gene regulation.

One-third of all Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs target GPCRs, membrane proteins found on the surface of cells. Babu’s work has shown how genetic and isoform variability of GPCRs can influence drug responses. His most recent work investigated how GPCR selectivity for G-proteins is determined. Understanding this family of proteins is of tremendous interest to the development of novel therapeutics.

“I am honored for our work to receive this recognition,” Babu said. “The science we have achieved is possible because of long-term support for fundamental research and the collaborative environment at St. Jude and the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. I am grateful for the many contributions of my past and current colleagues, as well as my mentors and family.”

"Dr. Babu’s election to the Royal Society is well-earned, and we are all honored to call him a colleague,” said James R. Downing, M.D., president and CEO of St. Jude. “His investigations of GPCRs have the potential to have profound implications for pharmaceutical development. Through these discoveries, we can advance cures for pediatric cancer and other catastrophic diseases.”

Babu joined the faculty of St. Jude in 2020, following a 14-year tenure as a program leader at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, England. He earned his Ph.D. in computational genomics from Cambridge University and his undergraduate degree from Anna University, Chennai, India. Babu completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland.

Related Links

Photo of Madan Babu Mohan

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BlLg3ODftshOFOSfFRNmJIGu3UDrYJkf/view?usp=drivesdk

(Photo Credit: St. Jude Children's Research Hospital)

Announcement of the Royal Society with full list of Fellows:

Exceptional scientists elected as Fellows of the Royal Society

https://royalsociety.org/news/2023/05/new-fellows-2023/

Press Release from St Jude Children's Research Hospital:

St. Jude scientist M. Madan Babu elected to the Royal Society of London

https://www.stjude.org/media-resources/news-releases/2023-medicine-science-news/madan-babu-elected-to-the-royal-society.html

About Madan:

https://www.stjude.org/directory/b/madan-babu.html