About Me

Hello! I'm Kuldeep Kumar!!!

Research summary:
While considerable research has identified genetic variants that elevate risk for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders (NPDs) and investigated their impact on brain structure, a fundamental question remains: are the cortical differences associated with these genetic variants related to the neuroimaging profiles observed in the disorders themselves? This question stands at a critical juncture for psychiatric and genetic neuroimaging. My research integrates genetic and neuroimaging data, and designs analytical approaches to systematically cross-examine the risk associated with rare and common variants for psychiatric conditions and their impact on the brain as measured by Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) in humans. Beyond genetics, I'm also looking at how non-genetic factors, like medication use, might influence brain MRI measures. Ultimately, I aim to connect the dots between psychiatric and neuroimaging genetics by using cutting-edge functional genomics approaches. This will hopefully reveal how large-scale brain networks might be the missing link between our genes and the development of these disorders. My work is strengthened by my collaborations with leading researchers in the PGC and ENIGMA consortia, and it naturally sits at the exciting intersection of machine learning, neuroimaging genetics, and psychiatric genetics.

Background:
-I am currently a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Sebastien Jacquemont’s lab at the CHUSJ Research Center, University of Montréal, where I study how rare variants, such as CNVs and SNVs, impact cognition and brain structure. My projects investigate whether the neuroimaging signatures associated with common and rare genetic variants that elevate risk for neurodevelopmental and psychiatric disorders (NPDs) are related to the neuroimaging signatures observed in the disorders themselves.
-I earned my Ph.D. in Applied Research from ÉTS in Montreal, focusing on multi-modal MRI analysis using machine learning to develop brain fingerprints.
-I hold a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Electronics and Electrical Communication Engineering from IIT Kharagpur, India.
-Before embarking on my Ph.D. journey, I worked as a Scientist at the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO), contributing to projects like the Mars Orbiter Mission.

Research Interests:
Neuroimaging genetics - Genetic variants - Brain MRI - Multi-omics - Medical image analysis - Big data and Machine Learning