CIMR-Parag Kundu

Research Group

Parag Kundu

paragkundu(at)cimrbj.ac.cn

Assistant Investigator

Microbiome, Stem Cells, Development, Child Health, Cancer

paragkundu(at)cimrbj.ac.cn

Ph.D. in Pathogen Interactions, Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, India

Work Experience

2025-Present

Assistant Investigator, Chinese Institute for Regenerative Biology and Medicine, Chinese Institutes for Medical Research, Beijing, China

2024-Present

Guest Professor, State Key Laboratory of Dairy Biotechnology, Shanghai

2019-2024

Principal Investigator & Professor, Microbiota-Host Interactions Unit, Institut Pasteur Shanghai- Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai

2016-2017

Visiting Scientist, Institut Pasteur, Paris, France

2011-2019

Senior Research Scientist, SCELSE/NTU, Singapore

2009-2011

Post-doctoral Fellow, Karolinska Institute, Sweden

Honors and Awards

2022

Research Fund for International Excellent Young Scientists (Microbiota-based interventions to promote stem cell functions in the gut and brain during ageing) from National Natural Science Foundation of China, China

2022

National High-End Foreign Expert (Microbiota-mediated regulation of stem cell functions in the gut and brain), China

2022

Shanghai High-End Foreign Expert (Targeting gut-microbiota to promote healthy ageing), China

2021-2022

CAS President's International Fellowship Initiative (PIFI) Award, China

2008

Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) long term postdoctoral fellowship, Japan

Research Interests

The Kundu Lab studies functional microbiomics and stem cells, particularly neuronal and intestinal stem cells. We have recently shown that maternal gut microbiota programs fetal stem cells, revealing mechanisms by which microbial metabolites during pregnancy impact offspring development, long-term health, behavior and disease recovery (Dang et al, Cell Stem Cell, 2025). Additionally, we have uncovered a unique symbiotic mechanism by which colonic crypt microbiota safeguards the host against colorectal cancer initiation (Zhang et al, Nature Microbiology, 2025). We are currently investigating how gut microbiota–stem cell interactions shape complex physiological and pathophysiological processes, such as development, ageing, and cancer. Our hypothesis-driven research employs an integrative systems biology approach, combining gnotobiotic and transgenic animal models, multi-omics, neurosphere/organoid systems, and human cohort studies.

Major Contributions

1. We have established the role of maternal microbiota in programming offspring's stem cells (Cell Stem Cell, 2025).

2. Uncovered the role of intestinal crypt microbiota in preventing colonic tumor initiation in the host (Nature Microbiology, 2025).

3. We have demonstrated the role of gut microbiota in host ageing process (Science Translational Medicine, 2019).

4. We have established the role of stem cell signaling and microbiota in intestinal tumor initiation (Science Translational Medicine, 2015; Carcinogenesis, 2012).

Representative Publications *：Co-first author; #：Co-corresponding author

Zhang S, Peng L, Goswami S, Li Y, Dang H, Xing S, Feng P, Nigro G, Liu Y, Ma Y, Tinglei J, Yang Y, Barker N, Sansonetti S and Kundu P^#. Intestinal crypt microbiota modulates intestinal stem cell turnover and tumorigenesis via indole acetic acid. Nat Microbiol, 2025, 10: 765-783. DOI: 10.1038/s41564-025-01937-5

Dang H, Feng P, Zhang S, Peng L, Xing S, Li Y, Wen X, Zhou L, Goswami S, Xiao M, Barker N, Sansonetti S and Kundu P^#. Maternal gut microbiota influence stem cell function in offspring. Cell Stem Cell, 2025, 32: 246-262.e8. DOI: 10.1016/j.stem.2024.10.003

He Z, Gong S, Mu F, Gu Q, Kundu P, Gao Y, Lo-Man R, Draheim M. A newborn derived monoclonal IgM antibody selectively modulates microbial metabolism in the gut. Nat Commun, 2025, 16: 8563. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-025-63585-x

Kundu P^#, Lee H U, Perez I G, Tay X Y, Kim H, Faylon L E, Ann M K, Purbojati R, Moses D, Ghosh S, Nicholson J K, Schuster S, Holmes E and Pettersson S^#. Neurogenesis and prolongevity signaling in young germ-free mice transplanted with the gut microbiota of old mice. Sci Transl Med, 2019, 11: eaau4760. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aau4760

Lahiri S, KimH, PerezI G, Reza M M, Martin K A, KunduP, Cox L, Selkrig J, PosmaJ M, Zhang H, Padmanabhan P, Moret C, Gulyás B, Blaser M J, Auwerx J, Holmes E, Nicholson J, Wahli Wand Pettersson S. The gut microbiota influences skeletal muscle mass and function in mice. Sci Transl Med, 2019, 11: eaan5662. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.aan5662

Huang Z, Wang J, Xu X, Wang H, Qiao Y, Chu C W, Xu S, Chai L, Cottier F, Pavelka N, Oosting M, Joosten L A.B, Netea M, Ng CYL, Leong K P, Kundu P, Lam K, Pettersson S, Wang Y. Antibody neutralization of microbiota-derived circulating peptidoglycan dampens inflammation and ameliorates autoimmunity. Nat Microbiol, 2019, 4: 766-773. DOI: 10.1038/s41564-019-0381-1

Kundu P^#,*, Blacher E*, Elinav E^# and Pettersson S^#. Our gut microbiome: The evolving inner self. Cell, 2017, 171: 1481-1493. DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2017.11.024

Kundu P*, Genander M*,Strååt K, Classon J, Ridgway R A, Tan E H, Björk J, Martling A, Es J V, Sansom O J, Clevers H, Pettersson S and Frisén J. An EphB-Abl signaling pathway is associated with intestinal tumor initiation and growth. Sci Transl Med, 2015, 7: 281ra44. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3010567

Kundu P and Pettersson S. Immunology: Mammalian watchdog targets bacteria. Nature, 2014, 512: 377-378. DOI: 10.1038/nature13741

Kundu P, Wei Ling T, Korecka A, Li Y, D'Arienzo R, Bunte RM, Berger T, Arulampalam V, Chambon P, Mak T W, Wahli W and Pettersson S. Absence of intestinal PPARg aggravates acute infectious colitis in mice through a lipocalin-2-dependent pathway. Plos Pathogens, 2014, 10: e1003887. DOI: 10.1371/journal.ppat.1003887

Braniste V, Al-Asmakh M, Kowal C, Anuar F, Abbaspour A,Miklos T, Korecka A,Bakocevic N, Guan N L, Kundu P, Gulyas B, Halldin C, Hultenby K, Nilsson H, Hebert H, Volpe B T, Diamond B and Pettersson S. The gut microbiota influences blood-brain barrier permeability in mice. Sci Transl Med, 2014, 6: 263ra158. DOI: 10.1126/scitranslmed.3009759

Full List of Publications Can Be Found Here