Dr. Rakesh Kumar Majhi obtained his Integrated MSc in Biological Sciences from National Institute of Science Education and Research (NISER)–Bhubaneswar in 2012. He obtained his PhD in from NISER in Life Sciences under the supervision of Prof. Chandan Goswami in 2018. Subsequently, he was a Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Prof. Annelie Brauner at Karolinska Institute & Karolinska University Hospital from 2018-2020. Dr. Rakesh was a Marie Curie Scientia Postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Karl Johan Malmberg at Institute for Cancer Research, University of Oslo & Oslo University Hospital from 2020-2022. Dr. Rakesh has joined BSBE, IIT Kanpur as Assistant Professor in September 2022.

The ion channels present on the immune cells sense and respond to the tissue environment by remodelling their cytoskeletal, membrane, organelle dynamics, ultimately affecting their metabolic state. Tissue microenvironment largely determines the outcome of repair and regenerative processes. Immune cells have altered behaviour under pathological conditions like diabetes, wound infection, cancer where both inflammatory and matrix conditions, which is unconducive for restorative immune response. Metabolic rewiring of the immune cells can be achieved by modulating the ion channels which are either directly present on Lysosome and Mitochondria or are capable of influencing their activity by signalling from plasma membrane. Dr. Rakesh’s lab focuses on Modulating Ion Channels for Superior Tissue Restoration via Immuneregulation (MISTRI).

Dr. Rakesh's lab aims to unravel the functional relevance of ion channels in immune cells like keratinocytes, macrophages, neutrophils, T cells, natural killer (NK) cells and exploit their therapeutic potential in tissue restoration process under challenging conditions like diabetes, wound infection and cancer.