Dr. Bhavana Tiwari joined the Department of Biological Sciences at IISER Berhampur as an Assistant Professor in June 2026. Prior to this appointment, she was a Wellcome Trust/DBT India Alliance Intermediate Fellow at the same department from September 2023, where she established her independent research laboratory and developed a research program focused on transposon biology and genome regulation in human health and disease.
Her research seeks to understand how mobile genetic elements, particularly LINE-1 (L1) retrotransposons, influence genome stability, transcription-replication dynamics, and host-pathogen interactions. Her recent work has uncovered mechanisms by which LINE-1 activation promotes RNA–DNA hybrid (R-loop) accumulation and genome instability, providing new insights into the molecular basis of genome destabilization and disease pathogenesis.
The Tiwari Laboratory investigates the roles of mobile genome elements in:
• Genomic instability and cancer biology
• Host-pathogen interactions, viral latency, and immune modulation
• Cellular stress responses, senescence, and cell-fate decisions
• Development of transposon-based biomarkers and therapeutic strategies for cancer and viral infections
Dr. Tiwari received her postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, USA (October 2015-September 2020). During her postdoctoral work in the laboratory of Prof. John Abrams, she discovered a previously unrecognized tumor-suppressive function of p53 as a transcriptional repressor of LINE-1 retrotransposons, revealing a novel mechanism by which p53 safeguards genome integrity. In complementary studies using Drosophila and zebrafish model systems, she demonstrated that specific retrotransposon families can invade presumptive germ cells long before germ-cell specification, providing important insights into transgenerational genome regulation.
Before joining IISER Berhampur, Dr. Tiwari served as a Senior Translation Scientist at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Platforms (C-CAMP), Bengaluru (May 2021-May 2022), where she contributed to translational drug development programs, including the advancement of a nature-inspired therapeutic molecule that improved survival outcomes in preclinical models of sepsis. She also worked as a Scientist at Immuneel Therapeutics, Bengaluru (September 2020-April 2021), where she led multiple programs focused on the development of CAR-T cell therapies for hematological malignancies, including leukemia and lymphoma.
Dr. Tiwari earned her Ph.D. from the CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), Hyderabad (March 2009-July 2015). Her doctoral research focused on understanding the physiological roles of the multigenic PE/PPE protein family of Mycobacterium tuberculosis and their contribution to host–pathogen interactions during tuberculosis infection.
Through an interdisciplinary approach integrating molecular biology, genomics, epigenetics, computational biology, and disease models, Dr. Tiwari’s research aims to uncover fundamental mechanisms of genome regulation and translate these discoveries into diagnostic and therapeutic applications for human diseases.
1. Paul P, Kumar A, Parida AS, De AK, Bhadke G, Khatua S and Tiwari B*. p53 mediated regulation of LINE1 retrotransposon derived R-loops. Journal of Biological Chemistry 2025; 301(3):108200. DOI:10.1016/j.jbc.2025.108200
2. Paul P, Kumar A, De AK, Parida AS, Bhadke GV, Khatua S, Pattanayak F and Tiwari B*. p53 mediated regulation of LINE1 retrotransposon derived R-loops. bioRxiv 2024. DOI:10.1101/2024.04.12.589154.
3. Kunjulakshmi R, Kumar A, Kumar KV, Sengupta A, Kundal K, Sharma S, Pawar A, Sai Krishna P, Alfatah M, Ray S, Tiwari B and Kumar R*. “AagingBase: a comprehensive database of anti-aging peptides,” Database (Oxford), 2024; 2024:baae016. DOI:10.1093/database/baae016.
4. Paul P and Tiwari B*. Organelles are miscommunicating: Membrane contact sites getting hijacked by pathogens. Virulence 2023;14(1):2265095. DOI:10.1080/21505594.2023.2265095.
5. Rishi VS, Kalakuntla N, Chirmule N and Tiwari B*. The Happy Hopping of Transposons: The Origins of V(D)J Recombination in Adaptive Immunity. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 2022; 10. DOi:10.3389/fevo.2022.836066
6. Tiwari B, Jones AE, Caillet CJ, Das S, Royer SK and Abrams JM*. p53 directly represses human LINE1 transposons. Genes & Development. 2020;34(21-22):1439-1451. DOI:10.1101/gad.343186.120.
o This finding was covered in UTSW News Press
o This article was featured in Science 20 Nov 2020 370 Issue 6519
7. Kurtz P, Jones AE, Tiwari B, Link N, Wylie A, Tracy C, Kramer H and Abrams JM*. Drosophila p53 directs nonapoptotic programs in postmitotic tissue. Molecular Biology of the Cell. 2019;30(11):1339-1351. DOI:10.1091/mbc.E18-12-0791.
8. Tiwari B, Jones AE and Abrams JM*. Transposons, p53 and Genome Security. Trends in Genetics. 2018;34(11):846-855. DOI:10.1016/j.tig.2018.08.003.
o Featured as cover page in Trends in genetics 2018 Nov issue
9. Tiwari B, Kurtz P, Jones AE and Wylie A, Amatruda JF, Boggupalli DP, Gonsalvez, GB and Abrams JM*. Retrotransposons Mimic Germ Plasm Determinants to Promote Transgenerational Inheritance. Current Biology. 2017;27(19):3010-3016.e3. DOI:10.1016/j.cub.2017.08.036.
o This article was highlighted issue with a coverpage and a commentary.
10. Tiwari B, Ramakrishnan UM and Raghunand TR*. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis protein pair PE9 (Rv1088)-PE10 (Rv1089) forms heterodimers and induces macrophage apoptosis through Toll-like receptor 4. Cellular Microbiology. 2015;17(11):1653-1669. DOI:10.1111/cmi.12462.
11. Tiwari B, Soory A and Raghunand TR*. An immunomodulatory role for the Mycobacterium tuberculosis region of difference 1 locus proteins PE35 (Rv3872) and PPE68 (Rv3873). FEBS J. 2014;281(6):1556-1570. DOI:10.1111/febs.12723.
12. Tiwari BM, Kannan N, Vemu L and Raghunand TR*. The Mycobacterium tuberculosis PE proteins Rv0285 and Rv1386 modulate innate immunity and mediate bacillary survival in macrophages. PLoS One. 2012;7(12):e51686. DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0051686.
