Kumarasamy Thangaraj MSc, M.Phill, PhD

Dr. K. Thangaraj is a senior scientist and Group Leader at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad. His main research interests are; origin of modern humans; the molecular basis of infertility, sex determination, mitochondrial disorders, cardiovascular disease, forensic genetics, and Ayurveda Prakriti. Some of his significant contributions are; (a). Establishing the origin and migration of the enigmatic tribal populations of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (Science, 2005). (b) Establishing the prehistoric origin of Indian populations (Nature, 2009). (c) Establishing the origin of a novel genetic variant associated with heart failure in South Asia (Nature Genetics, 2009). In addition to the basic research, his team is also providing DNA fingerprinting services for establishing biological relationships for medico-legal purposes.

Dr. Thangaraj is an elected Fellow of National Academy of Biological Sciences; AP Akademi of Science; Member of National Academy of Sciences; Adjunct Visiting Professor of Manipal University; and a recipient of Raman Research Fellowship, Rashtriya Rathan Award, and the UK-India Education and Research Initiative Major Award. He is an Associate Editor of BMC Medical Genetics; and a member of the Editorial Board of the journals; Mitochondrion, Human Biology, and The Open Andrology Journal. He is the President of the Indian Society of Human Genetics and the founder Secretary of the Society for mitochondrial Research and Medicine.