Dr. Arjun Bhaskaran
Post-Doctoral Fellow
arjun.abhaskaran@mail.mcgill.ca
Arjun is originally from Kerala, in the South of India. He completed his BSc in Zoology and MSc in Physiology from the University of Calicut in 2009. After his master's degree, he worked for 3 years at the International Medical & Technological University (IMTU) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania as an assistant lecturer in Physiology. In 2013, he restarted his research career in the laboratory of Dr. Marcel Oberlander at the Max Planck Institute for Biological Cybernetics, Tübingen with the help of a research internship grant from Jamana Printers, Dar es Salaam. Here, he learned to perform in vivo juxtasomal recordings, neuronal tracing and reconstruction under the supervision of Dr. Rajeevan T. Narayanan. In 2014, Arjun received an Erasmus Mundus Joint Doctoral Fellowship and joined the laboratory of Dr. Andreas Frick, where he investigated the physiological and anatomical basis of sensory hypersensitivity in a mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome using single cell whole cell patch clamping in vivo. In 2016, he continued his research at the Brain Research Institute, UZH under the supervision of Prof. Fritjof Helmchen. In the Helmchen Lab, he performed whole brain calcium imaging with single unit in vivo recordings in order to investigate cortical responses to a whisker dependent behavioral task. Arjun defended his PhD thesis, "Cellular and circuit mechanism of neocortical dysfunction in Fragile X syndrome" on November 22, 2018 at the University of Bordeaux. In 2019, he worked as a Research Associate at the Frick Lab, where he continued his research on sensory hypersensitivity in three different autism mouse models. He joined the Bowie Lab in February 2020 as a Post Doctoral Fellow. His work will focus on an important homeostatic regulatory mechanism which is altered in Fragile X Syndrome.
Scholarships and Awards
2017-2018 |
Fondation Recherche Medicale (FRM) PhD Extension Grant ($49, 512) |
2016-2017 |
European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) Short Term Fellowship ($17,833) |
2014-2017 |
Erasmus Mundus Joint PhD Program ($89,100) |
Publications
Saviuk N, Chong Y, Wang P, Bermudez S, Zhao Z, Bhaskaran AA, Bowie D, Sonenberg N, Cooper E, Haghighi AP. Loss of 4E-BP converts cerebellar long-term depression to long-term potentiation. Cell Rep, 2022.
Bony, G*, Arjun.A.Bhaskaran*, Le Corf, K, Frick, A. Sensory stimulus evoked responses in layer 2/3 pyramidal neurons of the hind paw-related primary somatosensory cortex (Biorxiv, 2020). *Equal contribution
Valerio Zerbi, Giovanna D. Ielacqua, Marija Markicevic, Matthias Haberl, Arjun A Bhaskaran, Andreas Frick, Markus Rudin, Nicole Wenderoth. Dysfunctional FMR1 and CNTNAP2 Autism risk genes causes circuit-specific connectivity deficits which follow distinct developmental trajectories. Cerebral Cortex, 2018.
Ali Mohamed Mahmoud, Narasimha Rao Bhoggireddy, Arjun A Bhaskaran: The Enormity of Total Serum Cholesterol Levels and the Scale of Awareness on Control and Management of Cholesterol in Diabetics in Zanzibar. Int. J. Pharm. Phytopharmacol. Res, 2014.
Bhogireddy N, Malliga E and Arjun A Bhaskaran: Frequency of mild and severe depression considering the gender and blood groups among medical students of International Medical and Technological University (IMTU), Dar es Salaam. Int J Pharm Sci Res, 2014.
Yussuf Ayoub Yussuf, Narasimharao Bhogireddy, Venkatarao Vulli, Arjun A Bhaskaran. Thyroid stimulating hormone and free thyroxine as an indication of thyroid dysfunction at pathology laboratory of Mnazi Mmoja hospital, Zanzibar. Asian J Pharm Clin Res, 2014.
Malliga Elangovan, AlpanaVerma, I. Elangovan, Narasimharao Bhogireddy, Arjun A Bhaskaran, Gender correlated incidence of hypertension and body mass index in assorted age groups in Dar es Salaam. International Journal of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2013.
Arjun. A. Bhaskaran, Sreekumaran E. Effect of Calycopteris floribunda leaf extract on Streptozotocin induced diabetic rats. IMTU Medical Journal, 2013.
AO Kisanga, A Verma, AA Bhaskaran, M Elangovan. Prevalence of Cerebral Palsy in Children (Under Five) in and around Dar-Es-Salaam. IMTU Medical Journal, 2012.