Dr. Ansul Lokdarshi has been awarded a Fiscal Year 2022 competition-based Faculty Research Seed Grant for his proposal, “Biochemical Regulation of GCN2 Kinase of Reactive Oxygen.” The goal of Dr. Lokdarshi’s project is to understand the biochemical regulation of GCN2 and nature of its protein interaction network under ROS stress. The knowledge gained through this research may lead to better understanding of GCN2 kinase regulation for developing targeted therapeutics for genotoxic stress such as cancer, respiratory, neurodegenerative, and digestive diseases. It will be an excellent training tool for exposing both undergraduate and graduate students at Valdosta State University to cutting-edge research in the field of molecular genetics, advanced biochemistry and bioinformatics.

Dr. Ansul Lokdarshi is an Assistant Professor in VSU’s Department of Biology. He has a Ph.D. in Biochemistry & Cellular and Molecular biology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and a Bachelors and Masters of Biotechnology from the Hislop College, Nagpur, Maharashtra, India. Dr. Lokdarshi’s research interests are in the area of translational control mechanisms (regulation of protein synthesis). In addition, he is interested in developing new technologies for plant phenotyping, setting intellectual property initiatives and developing new teaching tools for customizing undergraduate student learning/assessment.