Kushol Gupta

Research Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States

About

Kushol Gupta is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Biochemistry & Biophysics at the Perelman School of Medicine of The University of Pennsylvania, a member of the BMB graduate group, and directs the Johnson Foundation Structural Biology and Biophysics Core, a departmental resource that serves Penn and the greater region. His ongoing research focuses on three areas of research: 1) inborn errors of metabolism, including phenylketonuria and 2) retroviral integrases, their interaction with host factors, and a new class of drugs known as allosteric inhibitors of integrase (ALLINIs), which are potent antivirals against HIV, and 3) biophysical studies of therapeutic nanoparticles. His research also includes other projects in the areas of RNA splicing, chromatin, and site-specific recombination, highlighting the collaborative nature of research at Penn. He is a structural biologist with expertise in both X-ray crystallography and solution biophysical methods, including small-angle X-ray and neutron scattering, light scattering, and analytical ultracentrifugation. Specialties: Retroviral integration, site-specific recombination, intrinsic disorder in proteins, protein-nucleic acid interactions, large macromolecular assemblies, small-angle x-ray scattering, small-angle neutron scattering, analytical centrifugation, light scattering, x-ray crystallography, x-ray footprinting, molecular dynamics

Experience

  • Research Associate Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics at University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
    Apr 2026 - Present · 3 mos

    2023 - Present | Member, Institute for RNA Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania 2023 - Present | Member, Institute for Structural Biology, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania 2017 - Present | Member, Graduate Group in Biochemistry and Biophysics, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania 2017 - Present | Faculty Director, Johnson Foundation Structural Biology and Biophysics Core, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania 2016 - Present | Member, Center for AIDs Research (CFAR), University of Pennsylvania

  • University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (10 yrs 7 mos)
    • Faculty Director, Johnson Foundation Core for Structural Biology and Biophysics
      Apr 2017 - Present · 9 yrs 3 mos

      https://www.med.upenn.edu/biocbiop/jf/index.html

    • Research Assistant Professor of Biochemistry and Biophysics
      Dec 2015 - Apr 2026 · 10 yrs 5 mos

  • Assistant Director, Penn Band at The University of Pennsylvania
    Jan 1998 - Present · 28 yrs 6 mos

    Involved in the day-to-day operation of an undergraduate marching/pep band with a regular membership of 80-120 and upwards of ninety annual performances. Highlights of this service include: -Music arrangement and instruction -Design, implementation, and execution of an annual high school outreach program comprised of three honor band days and a one-week summer camp. In a fourteen year span, over 1,000 high school students from over 105 programs in the Greater Philadelphia Region participated in these programs. Additional activities have included fundraising, strategic collaborations, school visits, and clinics. -Lead Author of the book, “Images of America:The University of Pennsylvania Band” (Arcadia Publishing, 2006), which details the first 100 years of the organization's history. -Contributor to Bruce Montgomery's book "Songs of Penn" (BMF 2016)

  • Co-founder at Jericho Music Labs, LLC
    Mar 2017 - Dec 2023 · 6 yrs 10 mos

    Jericho Music Labs, LLC was founded to advance outdated media management and licensing in instrumental music which, unlike other music-related sectors, has not taken full advantage of recent advances in handheld technologies and streaming services. Jericho Music Labs will use its unique digital platform to streamline the interactions amongst music creators, distributors and consumers for procuring and licensing music, while dramatically improving the rehearsal and performance experience of the teachers, conductors and musicians who bring this music to life in a wide variety of performance venues. In doing so, Jericho Music Labs will bring the instrumental music industry into the modern era, marrying cutting edge technologies with evolving copyright and licensing rules to get more music into the hands of performers in a faster, less costly, more efficient and more eco-friendly way.

  • Research Associate at University of Pennsylvania
    Mar 2010 - Dec 2015 · 5 yrs 10 mos

    My research with the Van Duyne group has focused on the structural biology of the macromolecules that underlie lateral DNA transfer and protein-nucleic acid interactions, including the site-specific recombinases Cre and TP901-1 integrase, group II introns, the SMN complex, nucleosomes, and the retroviral integrases from HIV and prototype foamy virus (PFV). My research has relied heavily on multi-faceted strategies built around biophysical and structural methods. Through this body of work, I have become an expert in all facets of the x-ray crystallography, small-angle scattering, analytical centrifugation, and SEC-MALS. I have further applied my integrative approach to structural biology to many other projects in a collaborative fashion, across a gamut of biomedical problems. I maintain over sixteen ongoing collaborative research projects with both academic and industry groups.