New faculty spotlight: Kishore Challagundla, Ph.D.

Kishore Challagundla, Ph.D., is a new faculty member at UNMC.

• Name: Kishore Challagundla, Ph.D.
• Hometown: I was born and raised in Kurravanipalem (a county area near Ongole, Andhra Pradesh) and completed most of my education in India.
• New title and department at UNMC: Assistant professor, UNMC Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine

Research/Professional Interests:

• Pediatric cancers including neuroblastoma and acute myelogenous leukemia (AML).
• Exosomes and non-coding RNAs.
• Therapy resistance and metastasis.
• Identification of biomarkers and developing new therapy targets for cancer treatment.

How I fell in love with science.

I wanted to do something meaningful with my life from an early age, which eventually developed into a passion for science. During my school years, I spent most of my time reading about science and its applications to human life. When I chose a career in research, I felt that I arrived at the right place. Research for me is all about the chemistry between passion, imagination and love of science.

Degrees:

• Ph.D., biochemistry, University of Lucknow, India
• PG Diploma, nutrition, National Institute of Nutrition, India
• Masters, biochemistry, Bharathidasan University, India
• Bachelors, botany, zoology and chemistry, Nagarjuna University, India
• Post-doctoral research fellowships:
  • Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn.
  • Oregon Health & Science University, Portland
  • Children’s Hospital Los Angeles at University of Southern California

Memberships:

• American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
• The RNA Society

Three things people may not know about me:

• I was a baseball player during my school years.
• During my senior year in high school I developed a passion of remembering the botanical names of most of the plants.
• I love photography, watching movies, cooking and reading ancient Bhagavatgeetha literature, as well as spending time with my family and playing with my son.