Dr Akshay Hegde

Dr Akshay Hegde’s research is positioned at the dynamic interface of inflammation, tissue repair, cellular plasticity, and regenerative biology. His scientific trajectory has been shaped by a deep interest in understanding how cells interpret molecular, immune, and biophysical cues within injured tissues, and how these signals can be harnessed to guide regeneration rather than pathological scarring.

During his doctoral studies at the Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine (inStem), Dr Hegde uncovered a non-canonical extracellular role of Caspase-1 in coordinating the directed migration of hair follicle stem cells towards wound sites, thereby facilitating skin regeneration. By identifying molecular signals that govern stem cell recruitment and tissue repair, his work provided an important framework for understanding how inflammatory pathways, when appropriately regulated, can support regeneration, while their dysregulation may contribute to chronic skin pathology and impaired wound healing.

Following his PhD, as a Postdoctoral Fellow at Shiv Nadar University, Dr Hegde extended his expertise into fibrosis biology using a scleroderma mouse model. His work investigated fibroblast heterogeneity in systemic sclerosis and examined how immune–stromal interactions contribute to fibrotic progression. This experience strengthened his interest in the cellular diversity and microenvironmental regulation that underlie tissue degeneration, repair, and maladaptive remodelling.

In his current role as a Research Fellow in the Craniofacial Tissue Regeneration Laboratory of Dr Hemant Unadkat at the National Dental Centre Singapore, Dr Hegde works within a multidisciplinary regenerative medicine and biomaterials research environment focused on craniofacial tissue repair. His current and emerging research direction seeks to elucidate how physical and architectural cues within the cellular microenvironment influence cell fate, genomic regulation, and regenerative behaviour. In particular, he is interested in understanding how topography, matrix mechanics, spatial organisation, and other biophysical factors reshape cellular decision-making at the genomic and epigenomic levels.

A central theme of his future work is the exploration of Waddington’s epigenetic landscape from a therapeutic perspective: how cells move across states of potency, commitment, activation, inflammation, repair, and fibrosis, and how carefully engineered physical cues may help redirect these trajectories towards functional regeneration. By integrating advanced cellular reprogramming approaches, in vivo disease and regeneration models, and emerging spatial omics technologies, Dr Hegde aims to map how cellular identity and tissue organisation are remodelled during healing. His long-term vision is to develop biologically informed, spatially resolved, and therapeutically actionable strategies that can guide cell behaviour without relying solely on exogenous biochemical stimulation.

Through this work, Dr Hegde bridges fundamental discovery with translational regenerative medicine. His research seeks not only to understand how cells respond to injury and their physical niche, but also to convert this knowledge into innovative therapeutic platforms and regenerative devices for craniofacial and epithelial tissue repair.

• BIRAC SITARE GYTI 2021, Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council, Govt. of India, 2021
• CSIR-NET Senior Research Fellowship, Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, 2019
• CSIR-NET Junior Research Fellowship, Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, 2017
• Best Poster Award, National Laboratory Animal Scientists' Association (LASA) Conference, India, 2016
• INSPIRE Scholarship, Dept. of Science & Technology, Govt. of India, 2009

1. Dam B, Ajnabi J, Saha T, Shrivastava A, Badarinathan K, Hegde A, Dutta A, Jasoria S, Kataria S, Singh A, Jamora C. Mindin-mediated αM-integrin endocytosis activates STAT3 to maintain keratinocyte stemness. Cell Commun Signal. Jun 2026.

2. Venkateshvaran A, Pundlik SS, Suresh Y, Hegde A, Venkatesh B, Dowari S, Gogia D, Rajalakshmi S, Saha P, Barik A, Lal H, Zachariah N, Pranesh G, Subramanian GM, Ramanathan A. Dose-Dependent Effects of Dihydronicotinamide Riboside on Human Engineered Skeletal Muscle Development. ACS Biomater Sci & Eng. May 2026.

3. Saha D, Annadorai RK, Thannimangalath S, Shroff NP, Kataria S, Dam B, Dutta A, Hegde A, Hiwale A, Ravula V, Saha S, Rahulan LM, Nigam N, Singh N, Agarwal V, Vemula PK, Jamora C. Angiopoietin-like protein 2 mediates vasculopathy driven fibrogenesis in a mouse model of systemic sclerosis. J Clin Invest. Jun 2025; 135(15): e177123.

4. Hegde A, Saha D, Somaiah S, Jamora C. Partial alopecia area retains bulge hair follicle progenitor cells in Indian androgenetic alopecia patients. Int J Trichology. 2025 May; 17(3): 203-208.

5. Bhaskar S, Gowda J, Hegde A, Thumu SCR, Banerjee S, Bellchambers HM, Ramanan N, Sala PM, Campbell K, Ware S, Prasanna J, Kumar A. Zic3 enables bimodal regulation of tyrosine hydroxylase expression in olfactory bulb and midbrain-derived neurons. Cell Death Discov. Apr 2025; 11(1): 165.

6. Hegde A, Ghosh S, Ananthan ASHP, Kataria S, Pincha N, Dutta A, Dutta A, Khedkar S, Athreya S, Dey R, Bhosale A, Jamora C. Extracellular Caspase-1 induces hair follicle stem cell migration in wounded and inflamed skin conditions. J Cell Biol. Jul 2024; 223(7): e202306028.

7. Badarinath K, Dam B, Kataria S, Zirmire R, Dey R, Kansagara G, Ajnabi J, Hegde A, Singh R, Masudi T, Sambath J, Sachithanandan SP, Kumar P, Gulyani A, He Y, Krishna S, Jamora C. Snail maintains the stem/progenitor state of skin epithelial cells and carcinomas through the autocrine effect of the matricellular protein Mindin. Cell Rep. Sep 2022; 40(12): 111390.

8. Bhatt T, Dey R, Hegde A, Ketkar AA, Pulianmackal AJ, Deb A, Rampalli S, Jamora C. The initiation of the wound healing program is regulated by the convergence of mechanical and epigenetic cues. PLoS Biol. Sep 2022; 20(9): e3001777.

9. Hegde A, Ananthan ASHP, Kashyap C, Ghosh S. Wound healing by keratinocytes: A cytoskeletal perspective. J Indian Inst Sci. Jan 2021; 101(1): 73-80.

10. Das S, Hegde A, Shivaprasad PV. Molecular characterization of Synedrella yellow vein virus, a new Begomovirus from South India. Arch Virol. Sep 2018; 163(9): 2551-2554.

11. Badarinath K, Dutta A, Hegde A, Pincha N, Gund R, Jamora C. Interactions between epidermal keratinocytes, dendritic epidermal t-cells, and hair follicle stem cells.  Methods Mol Biol. Jun 2018; 1879, 285-297.