Amit Kumar

About me:

I am a Researcher at the Division of Clinical Geriatrics, Dept. NVS, and a fellow of Alzheimer’s Association, USA (since 2021). I completed my Ph.D. in Alzheimer’s disease from the University of Southern Mississippi, USA, in 2013. At KI, I was a postdoc from 2016–2019. 

From January 2024, I am leading my own team at KI.  My research focuses on the identification and preclinical validation of novel synaptic and neuroinflammatory PET-biomarkers/tracers for future clinical use in neurodegenerative disorders. I have led pioneering work on novel astrocytic and synaptic imaging biomarkers in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. See the following KI press releases of my work: 1) Early Synaptic biomarker 2) Groundbreaking PSP study 3) New tools to detect brain changes in PD. I was the first researcher at KI to receive the prestigious early-career AARF grant for exceptional researchers from the Alzheimer’s Association, USA, in 2021.  I have published 31 peer-reviewed publications (16 first author and 5 corresponding/Senior author) in high-impact journals such as Mol. Psychiatry, Nature Reviews Neurology, Alzheimer’s & Dementia, Acta Neuropathologica.  I have secured approximately 25 million SEK in competitive research funding as Principal Investigator and Co-PI from prestigious Swedish and international organizations, including the KID grant, Karolinska Development Office, Alzheimerfonden, ALF, the Alzheimer’s Association, and the Michael J. Fox Foundation (USA).

Positions:

09/2021 – present: Alzheimer’s Association Research Fellow, Alzheimer’s Association, USA.

01/2020 – present: Researcher, Division of Clinical Geriatrics, NVS, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

01/2019 – 12/2019: Senior Research Coordinator/ Associate, Division of Clinical Geriatrics, NVS, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

12/2016 – 12/2018: Postdoctoral fellow (Protein Biochemistry/Neurobiology), Division of Translational Alzheimer Neurobiology, NVS, Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden.

09/2013 – 09/2016: Postdoctoral fellow (Protein Biochemistry), Department of Protein Evolution, Max Planck Institute, Tuebingen, Germany.

08/2008 – 08/2013: Ph.D. Student (Protein Biochemistry), Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, University of Southern Mississippi (USM), USA.

EDUCATION
08/2008-08/2013: Ph.D. Protein Biochemistry (GPA: 3.94/4.00), University of Southern Mississippi, USA.

Dissertation: “Biophysical understanding of novel synthetic Aß prions in Alzheimer’s disease.”
08/2005-08/2008: Bachelor’s in Pharmacy (B.Pharm; Ist Division), University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.

08/2003-08/2005: Diploma in Pharmacy (D.Pharm; Ist Division), University of Delhi, New Delhi, India.

Academic honours, awards and prizes
Grants received from national and international foundations:

1. KID grant from Karolinska Doctoral Committee.

2. AARF grant from Alzheimer’s Association, USA.

3. Alzheimerfonden.

4. Åhléns Stiftelsen.

5. Magnus Bregvalls.

6. Demensförbundet.

7. Karolinska Institutet Geriatrics Foundation.

8. Tore Nilsons stiftelse för medicinsk forskning.

9. Gunvor och Josef Aners Stiftelse.

10. Loo och Hans Ostermans stiftelse för medicinsk forskning.

11. Stifelsen för Gamla Tjänarinnor.

12. Lars Hiertas Minne Stiftelse.

13. Gun and Bertil Stohnes Foundation.

14. Lindhes Advokatbyrå.

15. Karolinska Institutet Research Foundation.

16. Petrus och Augusta Hedlunds stiftelse.

Awards

2019: Travel grant to attend AAIC conference, LA, USA, from Gålöstiftelsen, Stockholm.

2018: Winner “Alzheimer Fast Track Innovative Grant Proposal Competition”, organized by BrightFocus Foundation, San Diego, USA,

2018: Travel grant to attend SFN conference, USA, from Gålöstiftelsen, Stockholm.

2018: Travel grant to attend SFN conference, USA, from Karolinska Research Foundation.

2018: Travel grant to attend AAIC conference, USA, from Karolinska Research Foundation.

2018: Travel grant to attend AAIC conference, USA, from Wenner-Gren Foundation.

2017: Travel grant for collaborative visit at Max-Planck Institute, Germany, from Karolinska Research Foundation.

2017: Reached Pre-Final round of Merck Biopharma Innovation Cup.

2013: Outstanding Graduate Student Award, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, USM.

2013: Best Research Paper Award, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, USM.

2013: “Yarbrough Award” for best paper by Graduate school, USM.

2012: The Finn World Travel Award/Protein Science Young Investigator Travel Grants by The Protein Society.

2012: Dept. nominee to the college of Science & Technology (CoST) for “Outstanding Graduate Student of the year”, USM.

2011: Young Scientist Travel Award by “4th Protein Misfolding and Neurological Disorders Meeting” 2011, Queensland, Australia.

2011: Best Research Paper Award, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, USM.

2011: “Yarbrough Award” for best paper by Graduate school, USM.

2010: Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award, Dept. of Chemistry & Biochemistry, USM.

My teaching competence spans a broad range of subjects, from biochemistry to advance neuroimaging-particularly postmortem brain imaging. I have extensive expertise in biomarker-based translational studies. Since 2019, I have co-led the Karolinska Institutet Doctoral Programme in Neuroscience course “Translational Molecular Imaging in Neurodegenerative Disorders”. I continuously teach in PhD/graduate courses and was responsible for organizing PhD/Postdoc seminar series and journal club at the NVS Dept. to foster pedagogy-based scientific discussions. I organize The International Dementia Conference Series (IDCS): a mentorship program for emerging dementia scientists, and previously served as an organic chemistry teaching assistant for undergraduate students. During my PhD studies at the University of Southern Mississippi, USA. I taught a total of 225 hours  to undergraduate students and was honored with the ‘Outstanding Graduate Teaching Assistant Award’ by Dept. Chemistry and Biochemistry. I have also co-supervised several bachelor’s, master’s, PhD students, and postdocs in the USA, Germany, and Sweden.