Sanjay Premi
Biography
Dr. Premi started his research career during his PhD at National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi, India where he investigated genotoxicity of natural radioactivity. He pioneered in establishing a buffering effect of chromosomal alterations in offsetting the genotoxic effects of natural radioactivity. Dr. Premi’s research on Y chromosome is base for several ongoing projects in the host laboratory.
These findings motivated Dr. Premi to study the genotoxic stress from solar ultraviolet (UV) radiation at Yale University School of Medicine in the department of Therapeutic Radiology. He discovered carcinogenic role of melanin which is otherwise believed to be a potent shield against harmful effects of the UV radiation. As an Associate Research Scientist at Yale Cancer Center, Dr. Premi developed adductSeq, a unique next-generation-sequencing based method to detect DNA damage at 1 bp resolution and identified hyperhotspots for UV-induced DNA damage. These hyperhotspots could be used as a dosimeter to assess a person’s history of UV exposure.
As an Assistant Professor in the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center, Dr. Premi’s lab is interested in investigating the contradictory role of skin-pigmentation in skin-carcinogenesis. The idea is to re-sensitize the drug resistant melanomas to the targeted therapies and immunotherapies by modulating the melanin-chemiexcitation pathway. Overall, Dr. Premi is an established and distinguished researcher in the field of skin tumorigenesis, carcinogenicity of the skin pigmentary system, and photocarcinogenesis.