Postdoctoral Researcher @ Université Paris Cité & Univ. of Reunion, France

Shri Kant, PhD

Computational Structural Biologist & Bioinformatics Scientist

Investigating macromolecular interactions, protein–RNA recognition dynamics, molecular simulations, and data-driven computational methods at the intersection of structural biology and machine learning.

Shri Kant, PhD

Computational Biology Specialist

Université Paris Cité, NCBS & IIT Kharagpur

9+

Publications

8+

Years Res.

AIR-4

DBT Rank

Research Overview

Advancing biomolecular recognition through structural biology, molecular simulations, and machine learning.

I am a Computational Structural Biologist working as a Postdoctoral Researcher at Université Paris Cité & Université de La Réunion, France, with continuing research affiliations at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), TIFR, Bangalore. I completed my Ph.D. in Computational Structural Biology from the CSB Lab, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur under the mentorship of Prof. Ranjit P. Bahadur. My research focuses on deciphering the molecular principles, conformational transitions, and energetics governing protein–RNA recognition, dual DNA/RNA-binding proteins, rotamer libraries, and high-performance computing (HPC) scientific pipelines.

Protein–RNA Recognition

Analyzing conformational selection, induced-fit mechanisms, and structural dynamics in protein–RNA interfaces across non-redundant structural benchmarks.

High-Performance Computing & MD

Multi-microsecond molecular dynamics (GROMACS & AMBER) on IIT Kharagpur's Paramshakti supercomputer, with high-throughput C/Python interface solvers.

Structural Libraries & Benchmarks

Developing non-redundant docking benchmarks (PRDB v3.0), RBP-specific rotamer libraries (BBD, BBI, SSD), and curated datasets (TF-NRD Suite).

Featured Software & Tools

Open-source computational biology software developed for macromolecular structure analysis.

Featured Web Platform

NAPxplorer

Open-Source Computational Framework & Interactive Web Platform for Protein–Nucleic Acid Complexes

Python 3.10+ Flask 3.x WTForms GFN2-xTB PDBe Mol* x3dna-dssr REST API
View NAPxplorer on GitHub

Key Capabilities & Analytical Modules:

14 Interface Interaction Subtypes: Comprehensive detection and classification of canonical and weak H-bonds, salt bridges, π–π stacking, cation–π, amino–π, sugar–π, 2'-OH contacts, and water-mediated bridges.
Semi-Empirical Quantum Energetics: Automated GFN2-xTB single-point energy calculations with D4 dispersion corrections and interaction energy decomposition (ΔE).
Differential Geometry Surface Morphometry: Fibonacci dot cloud surface meshing, Monge patch quadratic fitting, Koenderink shape index classification, and Occluded Surface Area (OSA) ray tracing.
Modern 3D Visualization: Seamless integration with PDBe Mol*, 2D contact matrix heatmaps, secondary structure sequence tracks, and colorblind-safe palettes.
Featured C Package

PRince v2.0

Next-Generation Webserver & High-Throughput C Interface Analysis Engine

C99 Python PDB / mmCIF NACCESS HBPLUS Bash
View PRince on GitHub

Key Capabilities & Innovations:

Multi-Format PDB & mmCIF Support: Strict 80-column alignment converter for legacy Fortran solvers (NACCESS & HBPLUS).
Biomolecular Generalization: Calculates SASA, Buried Area, Local Density (LD), H-bonds, and Water Bridges across Protein-Protein, Protein-RNA, Protein-DNA, and Protein-Ligand complexes.
Adaptive Reporting Schema: Dynamically detects subunit composition (PROTEIN 1, PROTEIN 2, RNA, DNA) with zero numerical errors.

DBTraj Toolkit

Specialized Molecular Dynamics trajectory analysis toolkit engineered for protein–RNA complexes: tracking interface persistence, conformational transitions, and dynamic interaction networks.

Python MDAnalysis GROMACS NumPy Seaborn

TF-NRD Suite

Transcription Factors Non-Redundant Sequence & Structure Dataset pipeline and automated interface feature analysis suite (Journal of Structural Biology, 2026).

Python Pandas Biopython mmCIF

Publications & Preprints

Peer-reviewed research articles, dataset resources, and preprints in structural biology and bioinformatics.

Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics 2025

Protein-RNA Docking Benchmark v3.0 integrated with Binding Affinity

Kant S, Chandran N, Mukherjee S, Maity A, Bahadur RP.

Journal of Structural Biology 2026

An atlas of non-redundant sequences and structures of transcription factor assemblies across domains of life

Garai S, Kant S, Bahadur RP.

The Protein Journal 2023

Involvement of non-active site residues in the catalytic activity of NDM-4 Metallo beta-lactamase

Verma J, Jain D, Panda AP, Kant S, Kumar G, Ghosh AS.

Proteins: Structure, Function, and Bioinformatics 2023

Efficient mapping of RNA-binding residues using local sequence features in protein-RNA complexes

Agarwal A, Kant S, Bahadur RP.

Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics 2023

Binding dynamics of tandem RNA recognition motifs (tRRMs) of HuR with mRNA

Agarwal A, Alagar S, Kant S, Bahadur RP.

Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal 2022

Comparative analysis of machine learning classifiers for predicting protein-binding nucleotides in RNA sequences

Agarwal A, Singh K, Kant S, Bahadur RP.

Submitted @ Nucleic Acids Research 2025

Transition of side-chain conformations of RNA-binding proteins upon binding RNA

Mukherjee S*, Kant S*, Bahadur RP. (*Joint first authors)

BioRxiv Preprint / Under Revision @ RNA Journal 2025

Deciphering conformational preferences of RNA in protein-RNA recognition

Kant S, Masipeddi S, Bahadur RP.

BioRxiv Preprint / Under Revision @ Journal of Molecular Recognition 2026

Decoding Mutually Induced Conformational Changes in Non-Canonical Recognition of U1 SL4 snRNA by ULD of SF3A1 during Early Spliceosome Assembly

Kant S.

Under Preparation 2026

Structural dissection of the DNA- and RNA-binding protein (DRBP) complexes

Bhagat M*, Kant S*, Bahadur RP. (*Joint first authors)

Academic & Professional Journey

Education, research appointments, and academic training.

2026 – Present

Postdoctoral Researcher

Université Paris Cité & Université de La Réunion, France

Advanced computational structural biology, biomolecular recognition mechanisms, and scientific software development.

2026

Postdoctoral Researcher

National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS), TIFR, Bangalore, India

Research in Computational Approaches to Protein Science Laboratory. Structural bioinformatics and macromolecular dynamics.

2018 – 2026

Ph.D. in Computational Structural Biology

CSB Lab, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, India | Advisor: Prof. Ranjit P. Bahadur

Thesis: Conformational analysis of protein–RNA recognition
Curated non-redundant docking benchmarks with binding affinity, developed RBP-specific rotamer libraries, performed multi-microsecond MD simulations, and analyzed dual DNA/RNA-binding proteins.

2014 – 2016

M.Tech. in Computational Biology

Centre for Biotechnology, Anna University, Chennai, India | CGPA: 8.2 / 10

Thesis: In silico approach towards understanding the mechanism of action of metformin in type II diabetes mellitus (Advisor: Prof. B.S. Lakshmi).

2010 – 2014

B.Pharm. (Bachelor of Pharmacy)

Guru Ghasidas Central University, Bilaspur, Chhattisgarh (74%)

Library dissertation on brain learning power. Registered Pharmacist at Chhattisgarh Pharmacy Council.

Honors & Achievements

Awards, fellowships, and conference travel grants.

Travel Grant (RNA India 2026)

Awarded travel grant for the 13th RNA India meeting at IISc Bengaluru (April 2026).

Travel Grant (EMBL Heidelberg 2025)

Awarded travel grant for EMBL Conference: The Expanding World of RBPs in Heidelberg, Germany.

EMBO Workshop Fellowship

Fully funded participant at EMBO Workshop on Computational Structural Biology (2023), EMBL Heidelberg.

AIR-4 Ranking (DBT Exam)

Secured All India Rank 4 (AIR-4) in DBT Computational Biology Entrance Examination.

Institute Research Fellowship

Awarded Institute Research Fellowship (2018–2024) during Ph.D. at IIT Kharagpur.

Registered Pharmacist

Registered Pharmacist under Chhattisgarh Pharmacy Council.

Computational Skills & HPC

Technical toolkit for computational structural biology and data science.

Structural Bioinformatics & Modeling

NACCESS HBPLUS x3dna-dssr BLAST US-align TMalign MMseqs2 DSSP MODELLER

Programming & Web Development

Python C / C++ Shell / Bash R Flask / Django Git & GitHub Docker HTML / CSS / JS

Molecular Dynamics & 3D Visualization

GROMACS AMBER PyMOL ChimeraX VMD PDBe Mol* Coot

High-Performance Computing & ML

Slurm Workload Manager Paramshakti Supercomputer Parallel Job Arrays Scikit-learn PyTorch NumPy & Pandas

Get in Touch

Open for research collaborations, scientific inquiries, and academic discussions.

Current Affiliations

Affiliation 1: Université Paris Cité & Université de La Réunion, France
Affiliation 2: Computational Approaches to Protein Science Lab, NCBS, TIFR, Bangalore - 560065, India
Alma Mater: CSB Lab, IIT Kharagpur

Phone Number

+91-9770117681

Curriculum Vitae

Download or view the complete academic CV including full publication details, thesis contributions, and references.

Download Full CV (PDF)