The University of Tennessee Research Foundation (UTRF) is pleased to announce that Kusum Rathore, Ph.D., has joined the organization as a Licensing Assistant.
Prior to joining UTRF, Kusum was a research scientist at 490 BioTech, a life sciences company in Knoxville, Tennessee, that develops high-quality bioluminescent human cell lines for the academic, commercial, industrial, and government research communities. Her work at 490 BioTech involved testing bioluminescent cells against environmental pollutants, such as estrogenic and androgenic disruptors. Kusum was also a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Tennessee College of Veterinary Medicine. There, she focused on translational research involving the testing and evaluation of novel therapeutic drugs for treatment of different types of cancers in dogs and cats.
Kusum brings over a decade of research experience in microbiology, biomedical science, and molecular biology to UTRF. She was the recipient of the Young Investigator Award at the 2010 American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Annual Meeting and was invited to participate in AACR’s 2015 Translational Cancer Research for Basic Scientists Workshop.
At UTRF, Kusum will work with researchers from departments that focus on biochemistry, molecular biology, microbiology, and genome science technology, including the University of Tennessee Graduate School of Medicine, the Department of Biochemistry, and the Department of Cellular and Molecular Biology.
“We are delighted to welcome Kusum to the UTRF team. Her experience in life science research will be a tremendous asset for inventors looking to bring the next bio-tech breakthrough from the lab to the marketplace,” said Dr. Maha Krishnamurthy, UTRF Assistant Vice President of Licensing.
Kusum obtained her Master’s degree from the University of Delhi, India, and a Ph.D. in life sciences with a focus in molecular oncology from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. She also received a graduate certificate in applied statistics from the University of Tennessee. Outside of work, Kusum enjoys gardening, baking, and spending time with her family. Kusum is married to Teja Kuruganti, a scientist at ORNL, they have two children Saanvi age 4, and Adharv who is 1 year old.