Metabolomics:Open Access

Alan Prem Kumar

Alan Prem Kumar
National University of Singapore, Nuclear Receptor and Cancer Pharmacology, Cancer Science Institute of Singapore, Center for Life Sciences, Singapore

Biography

Dr. Alan Prem Kumar earned his PhD from University of North Texas, USA. From his PhD work, he discovered a novel regulatory protein, PyrR for the pyrimidine biosynthetic pathway in Pseudomonas. Because pyrimidine biosynthesis is an essential step in the progression of secondary Pseudomonas infections, PyrR presents an attractive anti-pseudomonal drug target. Dr. Kumar then pursued Postdoctoral training in Cancer Research at Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center, California, USA. He was awarded a Postdoctoral Fellowship for his work on the role of nuclear receptors in the transcriptional regulation of human myeloperoxidase, a leukocyte enzyme implicated as causative agent in atherosclerosis and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Kumar relocated back to Singapore to join the Faculty of Medicine, National University of Singapore as an independent Principal Investigator to continue on his expertise on nuclear receptor and cancer biology. His current research interest includes the role of nuclear receptors involved in the regulation of target genes and to elucidate mechanism and associated signal pathways. Another area of interest is aimed at developing new derivative drugs with hopefully fewer side effects. From a commercialization perspective, he co-filed a patent on a new potent PPARγ ligand for treatment of diabetes and cancer. Dr. Kumar has also successfully set up a USA-Singapore collaboration agreement for another 16 new derivatives drugs-activators and inhibitors of PPARγ for treatment of diabetes and cancer, thence to a clinical trial here in Singapore. Over the years, Dr. Kumar and his laboratory have forged relationships with scientists in cancer research and with cancer advocacy groups in Singapore.

Research Interest

His area of research focuses on exploring the role of nuclear receptors, such as PPARs, ERα, HNF4α, and DEAD-box RNA helicases in the prevention and treatment of cancer. In addition, they also discovered a novel role for an RNA helicase, DDX20 in cancer cells involving the molecular aspects of tumor cell invasion and metastasis. While the role of HNF4α in regulating glucose metabolism in the liver and pancreas is already known, they are exploring how renal HNF4α contributes to glucose homeostasis, lipid mobilization, and mitochondrial β-oxidation in cellular, animal models, and in various types of nephropathy. Incidentally, down-regulation of HNF4α is also reported to contribute to the progression of liver and kidney cancer. They are also exploring the mechanism(s) involved in the regulation of a few novel HNF4α targets and ways to re-induce its tumor suppressor activity.