Mahesh K. Kaushik, PhD
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Indiana University School of
Medicine (IUSM), South Bend, Indiana
Home town: Faridabad, Haryana, India
Address
Dept. of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Indiana University School of Medicine-South Bend
Raclin-Carmichael Hall, Rm. 124
1234 Notre Dame Ave
South Bend, IN 46617
Mob: +1 (574) 367-2564
Office Phone +1 (574) 631-7193
Email: mkaushik@iupui.edu
kaushikmk@gmail.com
Mentor
Patrick L. Sheets, PhD
Biography
2014-Present
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology,
Indiana University of School of Medicine, South Bend, Indiana.
Mar. 2013-Dec.
2013
Postdoctoral Research Fellow (Researcher), Molecular Behavioral Biology unit,
International Institute for Integrative Sleep Medicine (WPI-IIIS), University of
Tsukuba, Tsukuba, Japan. (Mentors: Prof. Yoshihiro Urade, Prof. Masashi
Yanagisawa, Dr. Michael Lazarus)
Mar. 2011-Feb.
2013
Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular Behavioral Biology Department, Osaka
Bioscience Institute, Osaka, Japan (Mentors: Prof. Yoshihiro Urade; Prof.
Zhi-Li Huang)
May 2010-Feb.
2011
Senior Research Fellow (SRF), Department of Physiology, All India Institute of
Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India. (Mentor: Prof. H. N. Mallick)
2010
Ph.D. (Neurophysiology of Sleep and Thermoregulation), Department of
Physiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, India
(Supervisors: Prof. V. Mohan Kumar and Prof. H.N. Mallick)
2004
M.Sc., Neuroscience, School of Studies in Neuroscience, Jiwaji University,
Gwalior.
2001
B. Sc., Jawahar Lal Nehru PG College, Faridabad, affiliated to M.D. University
Society Memberships
Indian Academy of Neuroscience (IAN)
Association of Physiologists and Pharmacologists of India (APPI)
Indian Society for Sleep Research (ISSR)
Research Interests
Currently, interested in neural circuits involved in fear and anxiety. I am dissecting out the functional
interaction between various neural structures such as Prefrontal Cortex, Amygdala and Periaqueductal
grey (PAG) for fear extinction/expression.
Previous: Mechanism involved in sleep and seizure interaction and their regulation. I also worked in
dissecting out the involvement of A2A receptors localized in Nucleus Accumbans (NAc) in sleep
regulation.
Publications
1.
Xu Q,* Zhang BJ,* Kaushik MK,* Chen M, Cherasse Y, Schiffmann SN, d’Exaerde ADK, Chen JF,
Urade Y, Huang ZL and Lazarus M. Adenosine A2A receptor neurons in the nucleus accumbens
promote non-rapid eye movement sleep. Nature Neurosci. (Submitted) (* Equal contribution 1st
Authors)
2.
Kaushik MK, Kumar VM, Mallick HN. Effect of lPOA lesion on sleep wakefulness and
thermoregulation in cold acclimatized rats. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. (Under Review).
3.
Kaushik MK, Aritake K, Kamauchi S, Huang ZL, Hayaishi O, Lazarus M and Urade Y. Prostaglandin
D2 is crucial for seizure suppression and post-ictal sleep in mice. Exp Neurol. 2014; 253:82-90
(PMID:24333565)
4.
Kaushik MK, Kumar VM, Mallick HN. Hypothalamic temperature: A key regulator in homeostatic
regulation of core body temperature and sleep regulation during chronic cold exposure in rats.
Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2012; 56(4):7–19. (PMID: 23781649)
5.
Mukherjee D, Kaushik MK, Jaryal AK and Mallick HN. Glutamate microinjection in the medial
septum enhances slow wave sleep and decreases paradoxical sleep in rats. Neuroreport. 2012;
23(7):451-6 (PMID: 22495000)
6.
Kaushik MK, Kumar VM, Mallick HN. Glutamate microinjection at medial preoptic area enhances
slow wave sleep in rats. Behav Brain Res. 2011;217(1): 240-3 (PMID: 21070818)
7.
Kaushik MK, Mallick HN and Kumar VM. Changes in hypothalamic and body temperatures during
24 hours in rats. Indian J Physiol Pharmacol. 2009; 53(1): 88-92 (PMID: 19810582)
Awards/Honors
2005
Research Fellowship,
2007
Joint travel Award, CSIR and D.Bt.
2008
Travel award, Swiss Society for Neuroscience
2008
Travel award, Asia Pacific Society of Neuroscience (APSN)
2009
Travel Award, Asia Pacific Society of Neuroscience (APSN)
2009
Travel award, Asian Sleep Research Society (ASRS)
2010
Best Paper Award, 4th conference of Indian Society for Sleep Research
(ISSR), December, 2010, Trivandrum, India
2011
Takeda Science foundation post-doctoral fellowship, Japan