In June 2020, the Krembil research community welcomed its newest member: Dr. Karun Singh, a mid-career researcher with extensive expertise in neuroscience and stem cell biology.
Dr. Singh’s research has led to a better understanding of how genes affect neurological development by identifying those that put individuals at higher risk of developing neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs). In his research, he uses a variety of experimental models of NDDs—including lab-engineered brain cells from patients—and cutting-edge techniques such as CRISPR gene editing.
He received the 2018 Young Investigator Award from the Canadian Association for Neuroscience for identifying two novel risk genes for NDDs: TAOK2 in autism and OTUD7A in 15q13.3 microdeletion syndrome.
Dr. Singh’s expertise and experience are highly complementary to those of Krembil’s vision researchers. Through collaborations and scientific exchanges, he will help the vision researchers model disease in human and patient-derived material. Developing more humanized models of disease can lead to new insights into disease mechanisms.
“I am very excited to be part of Krembil’s large neuroscience community, where basic and clinical science are so highly integrated. I look forward to establishing new projects and collaborations—particularly with the vision and neurodegenerative disease groups—to mutually expand and enrich our research programs,” says Dr. Singh.
Before joining Krembil, Dr. Singh was a Scientist in the Stem Cell and Cancer Research Institute and an Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Biomedical Sciences at McMaster University, where he held the endowed David Braley Chair in Human Stem Cell Research. He completed his PhD at the University of Toronto and his postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the United States.
Dr. Singh’s recruitment was made possible by the generous support of Donald K. Johnson and Anna McCowan-Johnson through the Toronto General & Western Hospital Foundation.
Welcome to the Krembil Dr. Singh!