Kenro Kusumi

Kenro Kusumi, a genome biologist and professor, Director of the School of Life Sciences and Associate Dean of Strategic Partnerships in The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.[1]

Kenro Kusumi
OccupationDirector of the School of Life Sciences, Associate Dean of Strategic Partnerships at Arizona State University
Spouse(s)Stephen Pratt
Academic background
Alma materHarvard College (AB), Massachusetts Institute of Technology (PhD)
Academic work
DisciplineGenome biologist

Early life and education

Kusumi was raised in Raleigh and attended high school at the North Carolina School of Science and Mathematics in Durham, where he was a 1984 national winner of the NASA Space Shuttle Student Involvement Project.[2][3] Kusumi received his AB in Biochemical Sciences from Harvard College in 1988 and PhD in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 1997 with doctoral advisor Eric S. Lander.[4] He was a Hitchings-Elion Fellow of the Burroughs Wellcome Fund in the laboratory of developmental biologist Robb Krumlauf at the National Institute for Medical Research in London.[5]

Career

Kusumi was assistant professor at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia from 2001 to 2006,[4] where he served as Director of Pediatric Orthopaedic Basic Science Research.[6] He and his collaborators had used genomic approaches to identify the first genetic cause of the congenital spinal disorder, spondylocostal dysostosis, caused by mutations in delta-like 3 (DLL3),[7] and he contributed to subsequent research identifying mutations in the LFNG and HES7 genes for related congenital axial skeletal disorders.[8][9]

Kusumi is Associate Dean in the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at Arizona State University.[10] In 2019, he became Director of ASU’s School of Life Sciences, the university’s first interdisciplinary school established in 2003.[11]

Kusumi is a member of the LGBTQIA+ community.[12] He serves as mentor in ASU’s HUES program[13] and GRADient organization for gender and sexual minority graduate students and their allies.[14]

Kusumi’s research at ASU uses genome biology to help conserve and study the functional adaptations of reptiles.[15] Kusumi has sequenced the genome of the threatened Mojave desert tortoise (Gopherus agassizii) as a tool for conservation efforts.[16][17] Kusumi has led the first genome-scale analysis of accelerated evolution associated with the anole lizard's functional adaptations.[18] His group has also uncovered sets of genes that are critical in the ability of anole lizards to adapt and regenerate parts of their bodies.[19]

Personal life

Kusumi is married to Stephen Pratt, professor at Arizona State University.

References
  1. "Kenro Kusumi | iSearch". isearch.asu.edu. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  2. "NASA News: Three Shuttle Student Project Finalists Selected from Langley's Region" (PDF). nasa.gov. July 11, 1984.
  3. Oleck, Joan (January 4, 1987). "Gathering the Gifted Under One Roof". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  4. "Kenro Kusumi curriculum vitae" (PDF).
  5. "Dr. Kenro Kusumi: Working to Understand Nature's Patterns Gone Awry" (PDF). Burroughs Welcome Fund.
  6. "Report from the Division of Orthopaedic Surgery" (PDF). The University of Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Journal. 2003.
  7. "Mutations in the human Delta homologue, DLL3, cause axial skeletal defects in spondylocostal dysostosis". Nature.com. April 2000.
  8. "A Mechanism for Gene-Environment Interaction in the Etiology of Congenital Scoliosis". Science Direct. April 13, 2012.
  9. Sparrow, D. B.; Chapman, G.; Wouters, M. A.; Whittock, N. V.; Ellard, S.; Fatkin, D.; Turnpenny, P. D.; Kusumi, K.; Sillence, D.; Dunwoodie, S. L. (January 1, 2006). "Mutation of the LUNATIC FRINGE gene in humans causes spondylocostal dysostosis with a severe vertebral phenotype". American Journal of Human Genetics. 78 (1): 28–37. doi:10.1086/498879. ISSN 0002-9297. PMC 1380221. PMID 16385447.
  10. "Graduate programs appointment advances research, education innovation". ASU Now: Access, Excellence, Impact. April 9, 2013. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  11. "School of Life Sciences Fact Sheet" (PDF). School of Life Sciences, asu.edu.
  12. "Kenro Kusumi". 500 Queer Scientists. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  13. "HUES - LGBTQIA+ mentoring program | Graduate College". graduate.asu.edu. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  14. "- SunDevilSync". asu.campuslabs.com. Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  15. "Kusumi Lab | Vertebrate Genomics". Retrieved September 22, 2020.
  16. Tollis, Marc; DeNardo, Dale F.; Cornelius, John A.; Dolby, Greer A.; Edwards, Taylor; Henen, Brian T.; Karl, Alice E.; Murphy, Robert W.; Kusumi, Kenro (May 31, 2017). "The Agassiz's desert tortoise genome provides a resource for the conservation of a threatened species". PLOS ONE. 12 (5): e0177708. Bibcode:2017PLoSO..1277708T. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0177708. ISSN 1932-6203. PMC 5451010. PMID 28562605.
  17. Dolby, Greer A.; Morales, Matheo; Webster, Timothy H.; DeNardo, Dale F.; Wilson, Melissa A.; Kusumi, Kenro (February 1, 2020). "Discovery of a New TLR Gene and Gene Expansion Event through Improved Desert Tortoise Genome Assembly with Chromosome-Scale Scaffolds". Genome Biology and Evolution. 12 (2): 3917–3925. doi:10.1093/gbe/evaa016. PMC 7058155. PMID 32011707.
  18. Tollis, Marc; Hutchins, Elizabeth D.; Stapley, Jessica; Rupp, Shawn M.; Eckalbar, Walter L.; Maayan, Inbar; Lasku, Eris; Infante, Carlos R.; Dennis, Stuart R.; Robertson, Joel A.; May, Catherine M. (February 1, 2018). "Comparative Genomics Reveals Accelerated Evolution in Conserved Pathways during the Diversification of Anole Lizards". Genome Biology and Evolution. 10 (2): 489–506. doi:10.1093/gbe/evy013. PMC 5798147. PMID 29360978.
  19. Xu, Cindy; Hutchins, Elizabeth D.; Tokuyama, Minami A.; Wilson-Rawls, Jeanne; Kusumi, Kenro (March 1, 2020). "Transcriptional analysis of scar-free wound healing during early stages of tail regeneration in the green anole lizard, Anolis carolinensis". Journal of Immunology and Regenerative Medicine. 7: 100025. doi:10.1016/j.regen.2019.100025. ISSN 2468-4988.
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