Bhaba Krishna Das
Biography
Bhaba Krishna Das, Ph.D., is a Research Associate at the Southern California Institute for Research and Education (S.C.I.R.E.) at Long Beach Veterans Healthcare System and an Assistant Specialist in the Division of Endocrinology, Department of Medicine at the University of California, Irvine. Das received a Ph.D. from Jamia Hamdard University and the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology in New Delhi, India, where he conducted biophysical and mechanistic characterization of vitamin C recycling proteins and solved multiple crystal structures using x-ray crystallography.
Das's research focuses on bone homeostasis and cancer biology, employing structural biology, single-cell genomics, and molecular techniques to understand disease mechanisms. His work on transferrin receptor 1-mediated iron uptake in osteoclasts, published in eLife, demonstrated how iron metabolism regulates bone mass through effects on mitochondria and cytoskeleton. He has also contributed to understanding Merkel cell carcinoma through single-cell transcriptomic analysis and therapeutic target identification, and has investigated molecular mechanisms of osteoclast function through studies of protein-protein interactions including Rab7-PLEKHM1 binding.
Das is a member of the American Society for Bone and Mineral Research and serves as an ad-hoc reviewer for multiple journals including Nature Communication Biology, PLOS One, and Frontiers in Endocrinology. He received the ASBMR Young Investigator Award in 2020 and was awarded the CSIR-NET JRF/SRF Scholarship from 2009 to 2014. Das has authored publications in journals including eLife, Cell Reports Medicine, and JBMR Plus, and has expertise in computational analysis of single-cell and bulk RNA sequencing, ChIPseq, and ATACseq data.
Return to topEducation
- Bachelor of Science in Zoology, Dibrugarh University, 2004
- Post Graduate Diploma in Bioinformatics, Dibrugarh University, 2007
- Master of Science in Biotechnology, Madurai Kamaraj University, 2009
- Ph.D. in Biotechnology, Jamia Hamdard University – International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, 2017
Distinctions
- ASBMR Young Investigator Award, 2020
- CSIR-NET JRF/SRF Scholarship, 2009-2014
- DBT-Scholarship for Master of Science, 2007-2009
- 1st rank in Madurai Kamaraj University for Master of Science, 2009
- 3rd rank in Dibrugarh University for Bachelor of Science, 2004
- Prof. S. Krishnaswamy Memorial Endowment Prize, 2009
- Prof. ERB Shanmugasundaram Endowment Medal, 2009
- Thiru K Ayyamperumal Pillai Endowment Medal, 2009
Areas of Expertise
- Bone Metabolism and Homeostasis
- Osteoclast Differentiation Mechanisms
- Protein Crystallography Techniques
- Vitamin C Recycling Pathways
- Single Cell Transcriptomics
- Merkel Cell Carcinoma Heterogeneity
- Transferrin Receptor Signaling
Recent Publications
- Saka F., Kannan A., Das B., O'Leary M.P., Fanucci L.A., Chambers M., Lambrecht N., Gao L., “A rare presentation of Merkel cell carcinoma in a young immunocompetent woman” (opens in new tab), Jaad Case Reports, vol. 69, pp. 121-125, 2026.
- Wang, L., Minocha, T., Das, B.K., Kunika, M.D., Kannan, A., Gao, L., Mohan, S., Xing, W., Varughese, K.I., Zhao, H., “FAM98 Family Proteins Play Distinct Roles in Osteoclastogenesis and Bone Resorption” (opens in new tab), Biology, vol. 14, pp. 45, 2025.
- Kunika, M.D., Kannan, A., Velasco, G.J., Feng, Y., Seaman, S., Das, B.K., Pham, D., Lambrecht, N., Zhao, H., St. Croix, B., Gao, L., “m276-SL-PBD eradicates tumors and instigates long-lasting tumor-free survival in Merkel cell carcinoma preclinical models” (opens in new tab), iScience, vol. 28, no. 5, 2025.
- Das, B.K., Minocha, T., Kunika, M.D., Kanna, A., Gao, L., Mohan, S., Xing, W., Varughese, K.I., Zhao, H., “Molecular and functional mapping of Plekhm1-Rab7 interaction in osteoclasts” (opens in new tab), JBMR Plus, vol. 8, no. 5, 2024.
- Das, B.K., Khan, W.A., Sreekumar, S.N., Ponraj, K., Achary, V.M.M., Reddy, E.S., Balasubramaniam, D., Chandele, A., Reddy, M.K., Arockiasamy, A., “Plant dehydroascorbate reductase moonlights as membrane integrated ion channel” (opens in new tab), Archives of Biochemistry and Biophysics, vol. 741, 2023.
- Das, B.K., Kannan, A., Velasco, G.J., Kunika, M.D., Lambrecht, N., Nyguen, Q., Zhao, H., Wu, J., Gao, L., “Single cell dissection of Merkel cell carcinoma heterogeneity unveils transcriptomic plasticity and unique therapeutic vulnerabilities” (opens in new tab), Cell Reports Medicine, vol. 4, 2023.
- Das, B.K., Kumar, A., Sreekumar, S.N., Ponraj, K., Gadave, K., Kumar, S., Murali Achary, V.M., Ray, P., Reddy, M.K., Arockiasamy, A., “Comparative kinetic analysis of ascorbate (Vitamin-C) recycling dehydroascorbate reductases from plants and humans” (opens in new tab), Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, vol. 591, pp. 110–117, 2022.
- Das, B.K., Kannan, A., Nguyen, Q., Gogoi, J., Zhao, H., Gao, L., “Selective Inhibition of Aurora Kinase A by AK-01/LY3295668 Attenuates MCC Tumor Growth by Inducing MCC Cell Cycle Arrest and Apoptosis” (opens in new tab), Cancers, vol. 13, 2021.
- Das, B.K., Wang, L., Fujiwara, T., Zhou, J., Aykin-Burns, N., Krager, K.J., Lan, R., Mackintosh, S.G., Edmondson, R., Jennings, M.L., Wang, X., Feng, J., Barrientos, T., Gogoi, J., Kannan A., Gao, L., Xing, W., Mohan, S., Zhao, H., “Transferrin receptor 1-mediated iron uptake regulates bone mass in mice via osteoclast mitochondria and cytoskeleton” (opens in new tab), eLife, vol. 11, 2021.
- Das, B.K., Gogoi, J., Kannan, A., Gao, L., Xing, W., Mohan, S., Zhao, H., “The Cytoplasmic Dynein Associated Protein NDE1 Regulates Osteoclastogenesis by Modulating M-CSF and RANKL Signaling Pathways” (opens in new tab), Cells, vol. 11, pp. 13, 2021.
- Das, B.K., Kumar, A., Maindola, P., Mahanty, S., Jain, S.K., Reddy, M.K., Arockiasamy, A., “Non-native ligands define the active site of Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br dehydroascorbate reductase” (opens in new tab), Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications, vol. 473, pp. 1152–1157, 2016.
- Kashyap, M., Jagga, Z., Das, B.K., Arockiasamy, A., Bhavesh, N.S., “1H, 13C and 15N NMR assignments of inactive form of P1 endolysin Lyz” (opens in new tab), Biomolecular NMR Assignments, vol. 6, pp. 87–89, 2012.
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Last updated on 2/19/2026.