Biography
Dr. Soji Sebastian, a research scientist in the Radiobiology and Health Branch at Canadian Nuclear Laboratories (CNL), received his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, affiliated to the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India. Dr. Sebastian was the holder of computational regulome - postdoctoral fellowship from 2009 to 2014, to study the epigenetic basis of alternate splicing and myogenic differentiation under the mentorship of Prof. Jeffrey Dilworth at the Ottawa Hospital Research Institute. Dr. Sebastian has received numerous fellowships and awards in his career, spanning more than a decade.
Research interests
Research in Sebastian’s group is guided by the hypothesis that exposure to low doses of ionizing gamma radiation is beneficial. Using a combination of in vitro and in vivo stem cell model systems, his group is investigating the epigenetic basis of cellular differentiation potential and regeneration. Apart from low dose research, Sebastian also taking part in European Space Agency’s IBER program to investigate the cardiovascular health risks from Space Radiation. His research programme is funded by grants from Federal Science and Technology (FNST), Candu Owners Group (COG), Department of Defense (DRDC-CSSP) and Lab Directed Science and Technology Funds.
Publications
- Faralli H, Wang C, Naka K, Yusef AB, Sebastian S, Zhuang N, Chu A, Palii C, Camellato B, Brand M, Ge K and Dilworth FJ (2016), “H3K27-demethylase activity of UTX/KDM6A is essential for skeletal muscle regeneration”, Journal of Clinical Investigation, 126(4):1555-1565.
- Singh K, Cassano M, Planet E, Sebastian S, Jang SM, Sohi G, Faralli F, Choi J, Youn DH, Dilworth FJ, and Trono D (2015), “A KAP1 phosphorylation switch controls MyoD function during skeletal muscle differentiation”, Genes & Development, 29:515-525.
- Runfola V, Sebastian S, Dilworth FJ and Gabellini D (2015), “Rbfox proteins regulate tissue-specific alternative splicing of Mef2D required for muscle differentiation”, Journal of Cell Science, 128(4):631-637.
- Sebastian S Faralli H, Yao Z, Rakopoulos P, Palii C, Cao Y, Singh K, Liu QC, Chu A, Aziz A, Brand M, Tapscott SJ, Dilworth FJ. (2013), “Tissue-specific splicing of a ubiquitously expressed transcription factor is essential for muscle differentiation”, Genes & Development, 27(11):1247-1259.
- Aziz A, Sebastian S, Dilworth FJ (2012), “The Origin and fate of muscle satellite cells”, Stem Cell Reviews, 8(2):609-622.
- Sebastian S, Sreenivas P, Sambasivan R, Cheedipudi S, Kandalla P, Pavlath GK, Dhawan J (2009), “MLL5, a trithorax homolog, indirectly regulates H3K4 methylation, represses cyclin A2 expression, and promotes myogenic differentiation”, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 106(12):4719-47.