Radhakrishnan Mahalakshmi
Radhakrishnan Mahalakshmi was born in Mumbai, India. She completed her bachelors in Biochemistry (and Biotechnology) in 2000. Her passion since childhood was mathematics and physics, while the interest in biology was, for her, an acquired taste. During her Bachelor’s, an article she read on ammonia transporters both piqued her interest and set the path for her future work on membrane proteins.
Mahalakshmi was selected to the highly competitive integrated PhD program at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. She secured the opportunity to work with Prof. Padmanabhan Balaram for her MS research, wherein she learned peptide chemistry and NMR spectroscopy. She continued this research for her PhD with Prof. Balaram, and this training played a major role in shaping her approach to science.
After graduating in 2006, she carried out two short postdoctoral stints in San Diego, California, working on membrane protein NMR and crystallography. She joined the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal, in 2009, and was promoted to full professor in 2021.
Dr. Mahalakshmi first developed an interest in voltage-dependent anion channels, aka VDACs, in 2006, while she was searching for a functionally indispensable yet uncharacterized membrane protein system that was 'structurally different' from ion channels, but behaved 'functionally' like one. Unlike most channels, VDACs were predicted to be transmembrane β-barrels and were incredibly challenging to characterize. When the prospect of leading her research group presented itself in 2009, Dr. Mahalakshmi immediately realized that the opportune moment for her to initiate work on VDACs had arrived. She overcame intrinsic challenges in VDAC biology using an interdisciplinary approach that combined protein biophysics, molecular spectroscopy, and single molecule electrophysiology. Over the last ~13 years, her work on identifying vital features of VDACs has revealed hitherto unknown facets of the indispensable human anti-apoptotic VDAC2 isoform.
In addition to VDACs, Dr. Mahalakshmi’s current research interests include deducing the folding pathway and identifying the thermodynamic handles of the β-barrels of human mitochondrial outer membranes. In addition to protein engineering, Dr. Mahalakshmi hopes to identify viable cures for neurodegeneration, by deducing the folding, function, and regulation of these essential mitochondrial proteins. She has also worked with outer membrane proteins of Gram-negative pathogens including Yersinia, Salmonella, and Escherichia. She has also worked on Mycobacterium-phage transmembrane proteins.
Dr. Mahalakshmi’s multifaceted approach to studying membrane protein biophysics is the first of its kind in India. She has published >75 peer-reviewed international publications and has been felicitated with the prestigious Intermediate and Senior Fellowships from the Wellcome Trust, U.K. – DBT India Alliance. Additionally, she is a recipient of the SwarnaJayanti Fellowship, Young Researcher Award (Tata Trust), Young Scientist Award (Indian Peptide Society), SERB Women Excellence Award, Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award, and Ramalingaswami Fellowship. She is a fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, India.
Dr. Mahalakshmi’s approach to her research is also molded by her discussions with her colleague, friend, and husband Prof. Vikas Jain. Her dedication for her research are deeply founded in her unwavering interest in science, her commitment to hard work, and her passion for solving fascinating biological problems that also benefit humankind.