Kshitij Mohan

I completed my PhD at the International Max Planck Research School, University of Tübingen (Germany) under the supervision of Prof. Alfred Nordheim, where I investigated age-dependent changes in gene expression and epigenetic profiles in cerebral endothelial cells of mice belonging to different age groups using RNA-seq, Assay for Transposase Accessible Chromatin sequencing (ATAC-seq) and Reduced Representation Bisulfite Sequencing (RRBS). Prior to that, I obtained MSc and BSc degrees in biological sciences from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Mohali with an academic excellence award for the best academic performance in the batch.

As a postdoctoral researcher in the group of Prof. Robin Choudhury, I am investigating the epigenetic changes during cardiovascular development in the context of myocardial infarction. Following myocardial infarction, some species of fish and neonatal mice are able to regenerate completely functional heart tissues, this regenerative capability is lost in the hearts of adult mice and the adult hearts heal through the formation of scar tissues in which the functional cardiomyocytes are replaced by non-contractile fibrous tissue. In collaboration with Prof. Mathilda Mommersteeg and Prof. Paul Riley of the DPAG, I am studying the epigenetic landscapes of cardiovascular and immune cells in neonatal mice and some species of fish in the cells of cardiovascular system during developmental process that define the regenerative and the fibrotic states.