Kumaran Ramamurthi is a Senior Investigator and Deputy Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Ramamurthi received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied virulence protein secretion in pathogenic bacteria under Olaf Schneewind. He joined the laboratory of Richard Losick at Harvard University as a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award Postdoctoral Fellow to study mechanisms driving the subcellular localization of bacterial proteins. His research was among the first to establish a geometric cue model for protein localization, whereby certain “shape-sensing” proteins localize to specific subcellular sites by recognizing membrane curvature.

After completing his postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Ramamurthi started his lab at the NIH in 2009 as a Tenure Track Investigator. He was promoted to Senior Investigator and received the National Cancer Institute Director’s Award in 2016. At the NIH, Dr. Ramamurthi continues to apply a multidisciplinary approach to solving fundamental cell biological problems. His lab incorporates cytological, biochemical, genetic, biophysical, and computational techniques to study protein localization during morphogenetic processes in Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus. His lab has identified and characterized novel factors driving spore formation and cell division in B. subtilis and S. aureus, respectively. Excitingly, his group’s studies of these fundamental processes have recently led to the development of synthetic bacterial cells that mimic bacterial spores and show promise as drug delivery vehicles. For more information on his research and publications, please visit his NCI website profile.

Beyond his research, Dr. Ramamurthi’s dedication to academic service and science education is evidenced by his involvement with the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). He has served on the Program Committee for the annual ASM Microbe Meeting since 2013 and co-chaired the World Microbe Forum in 2021 and the Microbe Meeting in 2022. Furthermore, he is the Co-Director of the NIH-Johns Hopkins University Graduate Partnership Program and a member of the NIH Equity Committee, which reviews hiring and promotion procedures to enhance diversity and inclusion in the Intramural Research Program of the NIH. He currently serves on the editorial boards of The Journal of Biological Chemistry and Microbiology and Molecular Biology Reviews.