Focus of Research :
- Fish genetics
- Molecular ecology and eco-genotoxicology
- Marine Biodiversity and conservation
Background :
I graduated in fisheries science from College of Fisheries, Panangad, completed my masters’ degree in Mariculture from CMFRI, Kochi and carried out doctoral studies at University of East Anglia, UK. I worked intensively on reef corals of Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay with a view to gain insights into their biodiversity, taxonomy and ecology. My doctoral research focused on the effect of genotoxic chemicals on the aquatic ecosystem and the role of sex in shaping the evolutionary adaptations studied using the comet assay, inter-simple sequence repeats and matrix population modelling. Presently my research is focused on population genetics and genomics of fishes and its relation to climatic fluctuations in the Indian Ocean. I was also been involved in characterizing the entire genome of the Indian oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps unravelling the complexities behind the genomic organisation of marine pelagic fishes. A chromosome-level genome assembly of the Asian green mussel, Perna viridis also has been assembled recently.
Education :
- PhD 2012 University of East Anglia, UK
- MFSc 2001 Mariculture, CMFRI, Kochi (CIFE, Mumbai)
- BFSc 1999 Fisheries Science, College of Fisheries, Panangad (Kerala Agricultural University)
Current Research Projects :
No: | Title | Funded By |
1 | Genetic and genomic tools for sustainable marine fisheries, mariculture and conservation | ICAR |
2 | De Novo whole genome and transcriptome sequencing of Asian green mussel , Perna viridis –DBT funded | DBT |
3 | Stock structure investigations on yellowfin tuna, from the EEZ of India and the adjacent high seas using genomic tools –DoF-PMMSY | DoF-PMMSY |
4 | National Innovations in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) | NICRA |
Awards & Recognitions :
- Winner of the “Study UK Alumni Awards 2024” in the category “Science and Sustainability” by British Council on 9th March 2024 and received visiting fellowship for a training in Crispr-Cas gene editing in fishes at Kings College London during 10/06/2024 – 28/06/2024.
- Professor HPC Shetty Award for Excellence in Fisheries Research and Development 2022 by Asian Fisheries Society, Indian Branch, during the 12th Indian Fisheries and Aquaculture Forum at Chennai.
- Taylor and Francis-Commonwealth Best Journal Article prize 2014 - by commonwealth scholarship commission and Taylor and Francis journal– for the article published in Aquatic Toxicology journal (144-145: 66-74)
- Commonwealth Scholarship by Commonwealth scholarship commission and British council 2008 - 2011– for PhD programme (3years) at University of East Anglia, UK
- Best paper award 2014 -by a committee of the Risk Assessment Specialty Section of Society of Toxicology, Pheonix, Arizona, USA for The paper published in (Ecotoxicol Environ Safety 91: 110)
- Top 5 poster award 2014- for the poster presentation during international symposium on “ Marine Ecoystem, Challenges and Opportunities” (MECOS-2)
- Travel grant by University of East Angliafor participating in the seminar, “Environmental Pollution in a changing world”at Linnean society Lecture theatre, Burlington House, Londonfrom 13-14th September 2010
- Travel grant by Commonwealth scholarship commissionfor Participating in the “SETAC Europe 21stAnnual Meeting in the Milano Convention Centre, Milan, Italy
- First Rank - Agricultural Research Service Examination by Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board- Indian council of Agricultural Research
- AKDS Gold medal for Best outgoing student of BFSc programme, 1994-1999
- ICAR Junior Research Fellowship
- Kerala Agricultural University Merit Award
Publications:
- Sandhya Sukumaran, Wilson Sebastian, Gopalakrishnan A, Mathew, Oommen Kand Vysakh, V Gand Rohit, Prathibha and Jena, J K (2023) Sequence and de novo assembly of the genome of the Indian oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps. Scientific Data, 10 (565). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-023-02481-9.
- Pooja Harshan, Sandhya Sukumaran, Gopalakrishnan A. (2024) De novo reference transcriptome for Chiloscyllium griseum, a long-tail carpet shark of the Indian waters. Scientific Data. 11:285 | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-024-03093-7.
- Sandhya Sukumaranand Alastair Grant. 2013. Multigenerational demographic responses of sexual and asexual Artemiato chronic genotoxicity by a reference mutagen. Aquatic Toxicology. 144-145: 66-74.
- Sandhya Sukumaranand Alastair Grant. 2013. Effects of genotoxicity and its consequences at the population level in sexual and asexual Artemiaassessed by analysis of inter simple sequence repeats (ISSR). Mutation Research 757: 8-14.
- Sandhya Sukumaranand Alastair Grant. 2013. Differential responses of sexual and asexual Artemia to genotoxicity by a reference mutagen. Is the comet assay a reliable predictor of population level responses? Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety91: 110-116.
