Dr Vajinder Kumar

Profile

I am a Research Fellow with Professor Bruce Turnbull in the School of Chemistry. I am working on “Unlocking the full potential of tree ring oxygen isotope archives”. Before that, I worked as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Akal University, Talwandi Sabo, Punjab, India. I completed my PhD from the Department of Medicinal Chemistry at the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), SAS Nagar, where I worked on synthesising glycopeptide analogues as potential ligands for cholera toxin. I was awarded a Marie-Sklodowska Curie individual fellowship to study shiga-like toxins and synthesise glycoproteins to inhibit this toxin under the supervision of Professor Bruce Turnbull.

Responsibilities

• Research Fellow

Research interests

My research interests include the mechanistic study of glycosylation reaction and glycoproteins-based therapeutics, the protein's engineering, developing virus-like particles, and finding their applications in glycobiology. I am also interested in environmental chemistry and published a paper on the chemical mobilisation of heavy metals (uranium and arsenic) in the groundwater.

1. Vajinder Kumar* et al. “Critical review on uranium and arsenic content and their chemical mobilization in groundwater: A case study of the Malwa region Punjab, India”. Science of the Total Environment, 2023, 885, 10 August 2023, 163885. Critical review on uranium and arsenic content and their chemical mobilization in groundwater: A case study of the Malwa region Punjab, India - ScienceDirect
2. Vajinder Kumar* and Bruce Turnbull* “Targeted delivery of oligonucleotides using multivalent protein-carbohydrate interactions.” Chemistry Society Reviews, 2023, 52 (4), 1273-1287. Targeted delivery of oligonucleotides using multivalent protein–carbohydrate interactions - Chemical Society Reviews (RSC Publishing)
3. Vajinder Kumar* et al. “Review on recent developments in biocatalysts for Friedel-Crafts reactions.” ACS Catalysis, 2022, 12, 17, 10742–10763. Review on Recent Developments in Biocatalysts for Friedel–Crafts Reactions | ACS Catalysis
4. Matthew R. Balmforth, Jessica Haigh, Vajinder Kumar, Wenyue Da, Christian Tiede, Darren C. Tomlinson, Jim Deuchars, Michael E. Webb, and W. Bruce Turnbull. “Piggybacking on the Cholera Toxin: Identification of a Toxoid-binding Protein as an Approach for Targeted Delivery of Proteins to Motor Neurons.” Bioconjugate Chemistry, 2021, 32, 10, 2205–2212. Piggybacking on the Cholera Toxin: Identification of a CTB-Binding Protein as an Approach for Targeted Delivery of Proteins to Motor Neurons | Bioconjugate Chemistry (acs.org)
5. Rajeev Pasupuleti, Sabrina Riedl, Laia Saltor Núñez, Marianna Karava, Vajinder Kumar, Robert Kourist, W. Bruce Turnbull, Dagmar Zweytick, Birgit Wiltschi. “Genetic fusion of lectin with anticancer peptide RDP215 demonstrates significant cancer-cell-selective cytotoxic effect and inspires the production of ‘clickable’ rRDP215 in E. coli.” Protein Science, 2023, 32 e480.Lectin‐anticancer peptide fusion demonstrates a significant cancer‐cell‐selective cytotoxic effect and inspires the production of “clickable” anticancer peptide in Escherichia coli - Pasupuleti - 2023 - Protein Science - Wiley Online Library
6. Robin L. Brabham, Tessa Keenan, Annika Husken, Jacob Bilsborrow, Ryan McBerney, Vajinder Kumar, W. Bruce Turnbull and Martin A. Fascione. “Rapid sodium periodate cleavage of an unnatural amino acid enables unmasking of a highly reactive α-oxo aldehyde for protein bioconjugation.” Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry, 2020, 18, 4000-4003. Rapid sodium periodate cleavage of an unnatural amino acid enables unmasking of a highly reactive α-oxo aldehyde for protein bioconjugation - Organic & Biomolecular Chemistry (RSC Publishing)

Qualifications

• PhD
• MSc

Professional memberships

• Marie Curie Alumni Association