Subham Dasgupta
Assistant Professor, Biological Sciences
Email: subhamd@clemson.edu
Biosketch:
I am a developmental toxicologist, focusing on outcomes of early developmental exposures. My training has prepared me to be an effective researcher, teacher, collaborator, and mentor in developmental and mechanistic toxicology. My PhD work at Stony Brook with Dr. Anne McElroy focused on studying the early life toxicity of chemicals associated with oil spills and their cleanup; this project was based on the remediation efforts toward the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and was funded by a Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative (GOMRI). Using larval sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus) as a model, I demonstrated that dispersed oil and dispersant components were associated with antioxidant and genotoxic responses during early development which resulted in 5 lead authored and 1 co-authored paper. During my postdoc at UCR with Dr. David Volz, I investigated the mechanisms of early developmental zebrafish (Danio rerio) toxicity of organophosphate flame retardants and showed that the flame retardants induce gastrulation and germ layer defects associated with transcriptomic and epigenetic disruptions. I also screened a library of commonly occurring perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and showed that a perfluorooctananesulfonamide (PFOSA), induced early developmental delays and disruption of hepatic development. My work at UCR led to 18 publications (with 5 as first author) over the 2.5 years of my appointment. At Oregon State, I was mentored by Dr. Robyn Tanguay in advanced behavioral and molecular techniques related to developmental toxicology. Here, I achieved training in automated high-throughput screening, CRISPR-Cas9, design and implementation of behavioral assays, regenerative biology as well as new innovations in studying electromagnetic radiations. Within this position, I led 3 projects-
- evaluate the regulatory role of an aryl hydrocarbon receptor-regulated long non-coding RNA in development (Dasgupta et al 2023)
- large scale phenotyping and transcriptomic (mRNA and miRNA) screening of flame retardants and integrating -omics data into a network-based analysis (Dasgupta et al 2021)
- study effects of 5G cell phone radiations on development (Dasgupta et al 2020 and 2022).
Updated list of my publications can be found in https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/subham.dasgupta.1/bibliography/public/
Current interests:
The goal of my lab in Clemson within the field of environmental health sciences is to understand the molecular targets and initiating mechanisms of developmental stressors and their impacts on short- and long-term adverse effects to minimize risk, formulate preventative and therapeutic strategies from current and future exposures and strategize remedial measures. We primarily use zebrafish as a model and leverage high-content morphological and behavioral screening, combined with -omics and reverse genetics-based strategies to investigate functions of specific gene products and their role in developmental toxicity. We work with an array of environmental chemicals, including flame retardants and PFASs. Currently, our lab is focused on two distinct, but related research areas:
- Understand how developmental exposures interfere with maternal-to-zygotic transition during early embryogenesis that can disrupt activation of zygotic genome and germ layer integrity.
- Study transcriptomic and epigenetic mechanisms of developmental neurotoxicity following developmental exposures to chemicals, focusing on brain and eye development.