Dr. Kumitaa Theva Das
Institute for Research in Molecular Medicine
Email : kumitaa@usm.my
Phone No. : +6(04) 653 (Ext) 4865
Objectives
- Designing and evaluating safety and efficacy of ZFN and CRISPR (gene editing tools) against HIV-1.
- Characterizing HIV subtypes in patient samples to determine prevalence of HIV strains in Malaysia.
- Studying effects of mutations caused by gene editing tools on host- pathogen interaction.
- Evaluating effect of the gene editing across ethnicity, gender, age and HIV strains to determine clinical impact.
Impact To Goverment / Industry / Academic / Society
GOVERNMENT
- Invited by the Ministry of Environment and Water to share knowledge to establish guidelines for gene editing in lab, field and for commercial purposes. Invited as a guest speaker by MARDI and trainer by ABI, MOSTI in gene editing work.
INDUSTRY
- Approached by CryoCord Sdn. Bhd. to be their consultant in gene editing.
INTERNATIONAL
- Invited by Georgetown University, US, and the International AIDS Society to develop target product profile to establish gene editing as a gene therapy in low and middle income countries.
VISITING SCIENTIST & LECTURER
- Appointed as a visiting scientist at University of Oxford to expand on this research.
- Invited as a guest lecturer to speak on gene editing at AIMST and UM.
INTERNATIONAL AND EXTERNAL GRANTS
- The results from this work led to securing international and external grants.
Changes in HIV Protein
CRISPR Gene Editing System
