Dr. Narendra Kumar Verma obtained his Ph.D. (2011-2014) from the University of Padova, Italy. He was awarded a Marie Curie fellowship from the European Union for his Ph.D. training. During his doctoral research, under the guidance of Prof. Gerolamo Lanfranchi, Dr. Verma explored various signaling pathways that regulate Z-disc signaling in skeletal muscle. His research focused on the stress-induced skeletal muscle protein Ankrd2.

Following his Ph.D., Dr. Verma joined Prof. Claudio Basilico's lab at the NYU Medical Center, New York, USA, as a postdoctoral fellow. There, he specialized in understanding the role of the stem cell transcription factor Sox2 in maintaining cancer stem cells in solid tumors. Later, Dr. Verma was promoted to a faculty position as a research scientist focusing on obesity and diabetes at NYU Medical Center.

In December 2023, Dr. Verma joined the Department of Systems Biology at the Centre of Biomedical Research (CBMR), SGPGI Campus, Lucknow.

• The main target of my laboratory is to develop PPARy-receptor based therapies for the treatment of Cancer, Obesity, Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) and other metabolic disorders by targeting metabolically important signaling pathways in humans.

1. Verma, N., Perie, L., Silvestro, M., Verma, A., Cronstein, B. N., Ramkhelawon, B., & Mueller, E. (2025). Metabolic dysfunction in mice with adipocyte-specific ablation of the adenosine A2A receptor. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 301(2).
2. Park, M. Y., Tu, C. L., Perie, L., Verma, N., Serdan, T. D. A., Shamsi, F., ... & Sitara, D. (2024). Targeted Deletion of Fibroblast Growth Factor 23 Rescues Metabolic Dysregulation of Diet-induced Obesity in Female Mice. Endocrinology, 165(12), bqae141.
3. Verma, N., Perie, L., Corciulo, C., Leucht, P., Ramkhelawon, B., Cronstein, B. N., & Mueller, E. (2021). Browning of adipose tissue and increased thermogenesis induced by Methotrexate. FASEB BioAdvances, 3(11), 877-887.
4. Afonso, M. S., Verma, N., van Solingen, C., Cyr, Y., Sharma, M., Perie, L., ... & Moore, K. J. (2021). MicroRNA-33 inhibits adaptive thermogenesis and adipose tissue beiging. Arteriosclerosis, thrombosis, and vascular biology, 41(4), 1360-1373.
5. Perie, L., Verma, N., & Mueller, E. (2021). The forkhead box transcription factor FoxP4 regulates thermogenic programs in adipocytes. Journal of Lipid Research, 62, 100102.
6. Xu, L., Ma, X., Verma, N., Perie, L., Pendse, J., Shamloo, S., ... & Mueller, E. (2020). PPARγ agonists delay age‐associated metabolic disease and extend longevity. Aging cell, 19(11), e13267.
7. Wang, W., Marinis, J. M., Beal, A. M., Savadkar, S., Wu, Y., Khan, M., ... & Miller, G. (2020). RIP1 kinase drives macrophage-mediated adaptive immune tolerance in pancreatic cancer. Cancer Cell, 38(4), 585-590.
8. Verma, N., Perie, L., & Mueller, E. (2020). The mRNA levels of heat shock factor 1 are regulated by thermogenic signals via the cAMP-dependent transcription factor ATF3. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 295(18), 5984-5994.
9. Perie, L., Verma, N., Xu, L., Ma, X., & Mueller, E. (2019). Transcriptional regulation of ZNF638 in thermogenic cells by the cAMP response element binding protein in male mice. Journal of the Endocrine Society, 3(12), 2326-2340.
10. Aykut, B., Pushalkar, S., Chen, R., Li, Q., Abengozar, R., Kim, J. I., ... & Miller, G. (2019). The fungal mycobiome promotes pancreatic oncogenesis via activation of MBL. Nature, 574(7777), 264-267.
11. Maurizi, G., Verma, N., Gadi, A., Mansukhani, A., & Basilico, C. (2018). Sox2 is required for tumor development and cancer cell proliferation in osteosarcoma. Oncogene, 37(33), 4626-4632.
12. Xu, L., Ma, X., Verma, N. K., Wang, D., Gavrilova, O., Proia, R. L., ... & Mueller, E. (2018). Ablation of PPAR γ in subcutaneous fat exacerbates age‐associated obesity and metabolic decline. Aging cell, 17(2), e12721.
13. Verma, N. K., Gadi, A., Maurizi, G., Roy, U. B., Mansukhani, A., & Basilico, C. (2017). Myeloid zinc finger 1 and GA binding protein co-operate with Sox2 in regulating the expression of yes-associated protein 1 in cancer cells. Stem Cells, 35(12), 2340-2350.
14. Basu-Roy, U., Han, E., Rattanakorn, K., Gadi, A., Verma, N., Maurizi, G., ... & Mansukhani, A. (2016). PPARγ agonists promote differentiation of cancer stem cells by restraining YAP transcriptional activity. Oncotarget, 7(38), 60954.
15. Mishra, R., Watanabe, T., Kimura, M. T., Koshikawa, N., Ikeda, M., Uekusa, S., ... & Nagase, H. (2015). Identification of a novel E‐box binding pyrrole‐imidazole polyamide inhibiting MYC‐driven cell proliferation. Cancer science, 106(4), 421-429.
16. Bean, C., Verma, N. K., Yamamoto, D. L., Chemello, F., Cenni, V., Filomena, M. C., ... & Lanfranchi, G. (2014). Ankrd2 is a modulator of NF-κB-mediated inflammatory responses during muscle differentiation. Cell death & disease, 5(1), e1002-e1002.
17. Thangaraj, K., Nandan, A., Sharma, V., Sharma, V. K., Eaaswarkhanth, M., Patra, P. K., ... & Singh, L. (2009). Deep rooting in-situ expansion of mtDNA Haplogroup R8 in South Asia. PloS one, 4(8), e6545.