Prem K. Premsrirut, MD, PhD

Research Overview

Dr. Prem K. Premsrirut, MD, PhD, is a physician-scientist whose career bridges molecular genetics, RNA interference, and translational oncology. Her work at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory helped establish RNAi as a robust tool for functional genomics and cancer. She went on to found Mirimus, where she led the development of advanced RNAi and CRISPR-based platforms for generating genetically engineered disease models and validating novel drug targets in cancer, immunology, and neuroscience.

At SUNY Downstate, Dr. Premsrirut leads collaborative research programs investigating tumor suppressor pathways, resistance mechanisms, and immunomodulatory drug targets. Her team has explored novel antibody therapeutics such as conformation-specific ADAM10 inhibitors with potential application as antibody–drug conjugates, as well as biomarker-driven approaches to improve patient selection for DNA-damaging agents and immunotherapies. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she spearheaded translational studies on interferon autoantibodies and their impact on infectious disease severity, work that has since expanded into therapeutic decoy strategies now advancing toward the clinic.

Her research integrates molecular biology, cancer genetics, and immunology with a strong focus on developing innovative diagnostics and therapeutic modalities. In addition to her laboratory work, she is committed to mentoring graduate students, teaching molecular and cancer biology, and fostering biotech entrepreneurship through SUNY Downstate’s innovation ecosystem.

Academic Background

• B.A. Biochemistry and Molecular Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley ('01)
• Ph.D. Genetics and Cancer Biology, State University of New York, Stony Brook and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory ('10)
• M.D. Medical Scientist Training Program, State University of New York, Stony Brook (’16)

Lab Personnel

• Gabriella Pollinini – Lab Manager
• Pargol Mashati – PhD student

Recent Graduates

• Andrew Patera – MD/PhD student

• Militello, G., Greig, A., Chongfeng, B., Vasileva, A., Zavodszky, M., Lo, S.C., Guilmette, E., Clarner, P., Liu, B., Bhat, G., Suh, J., Dow, L., Zuber, J., Fellmann, C. & Premsrirut, P.K. (2025). Engineered microRNA scaffolds for potent gene silencing in vivo. Sci. Rep. 15:21419.
• Zwirner, S., Abu Rmilah, A.A., Klotz, S., Pfaffenroth, B., Kloevekorn, P., Moschopoulou, A.A., Schuette, S., Haag, M., Selig, R., Li, K., Zhou, W., Nelson, E., Poso, A., Chen, H., Amiot, B., Jia, Y., Minshew, A., Michalak, G., Cui, W., Rist, E., Longerich, T., Jung, B., Felgendreff, P., Trompak, O., Premsrirut, P.K., Gries, K., Muerdter, T.E., Heinkele, G., Wuestefeld, T., Shapiro, D., Weissbach, M., Koenigsrainer, A., Sipos, B., Ab, E., Zacarias, M.O., Theisgen, S., Gruenheit, N., Biskup, S., Schwab, M., Albrecht, W., Laufer, S., Nyberg, S. & Zender, L. (2024). First-in-class MKK4 inhibitors enhance liver regeneration and prevent liver failure. Cell 187, 166–1684.
• Mendoza, R.P., Momeni, A., Saha, N., Arshi, J., Gabutan, E.C., Alejandro, N., Zuretti, A., Premsrirut, P.K. & Nikolov, D.B. (2023). The Angiopoietin signaling pathway is involved in inflammatory processes in hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Microorganisms 11, 2940.
• Mozsary, C., McCloskey, D., Babler, K.M., Boza, J., Butler, D., Currall, B., William, S., Wiley, A., Afshin, E.E., Grills, G.S., Sharkey, M.E., Premsrirut, P., Solo-Gabriele, H., Cardentey, Y., Erickson, D. & Mason, C.E. (2021). A rapid, isothermal, point-of-care system for COVID-19 diagnostics. J. Biomol. Tech. 32, 221–227.
• Mendoza, R., Bi, C., Cheng, H., Gabutan, E., Pagapas, G.J., Khan, N., Hoxie, H., Hanna, S., Holmes, K., Gao, N., Lewis, R., Wang, H., Neumann, D., Chan, A., Takizawa, M., Lowe, J., Chen, X., Kelly, B., Asif, A., Barnes, K., Khan, N., May, B., Chowdhury, T., Pollonini, G., Gouda, N., Guy, C., Gordon, C., Ayoluwa, N., Colon, E., Miller-Medzon, N., Jones, S., Hossain, R., Dodson, A., Weng, M., McGaskey, M., Vasileva, A., Lincoln, A.E., Sikka, R., Wyllie, A.L., Berke, E.M., Libien, J., Pincus, M. & Premsrirut, P.K. (2021). Implementation of pooled surveillance testing in K-12 schools and universities. EClinicalMedicine 13, 5021.
• Mendoza, R., Fyke, W., Daniel, D., Gabutan, E., Colbourn, R., Das, B., Bajaj, H., Vasileva, A., Alawad, M., Dehghani, A., Lin, B., Emechebe, D., Patel, P., Jabbar, A., Nikolov, D., Kang, D., Tatem, L., Bromberg, K., Augenbraun, M., Premsrirut, P.K., Libien, J. & Norin, A. (2021). Administration of high-titre convalescent plasma is associated with improved survival in COVID-19. Hum. Immunol. 82, 255–263.
• Wangmo, D., Premsrirut, P.K., Yuan, C., Morris, W.S. & Zhao, X. (2021). ACKR4 in tumour cells regulates dendritic cell migration to tumour-draining lymph nodes. Cancers 13, 5021.
• Pelossof, R., Fairchild, L., Huang, C.H., Widmer, C., Sreedharan, V.T., Sinha, N., Lai, D.Y., Guan, Y., Premsrirut, P.K., Tschaharganeh, D.F., Hoffmann, T., Thapar, V., Xiang, Q., Garippa, R.J., Rätsch, G., Zuber, J., Lowe, S.W., Leslie, C.S. & Fellmann, C. (2017). Prediction of potent shRNAs using sequential classification. Nat. Biotechnol. 35, 350–353.
• Miething, C., Scuoppo, C., Bosbach, B., Appelmann, I., Nakitandwe, J., Ma, J., Wu, G., Lintault, L., Auer, M., Premsrirut, P.K., Teruya-Feldstein, J., Hicks, J., Benveniste, H., Speicher, M.R., Downing, J.R. & Lowe, S.W. (2014). PTEN action in leukaemia dictated by the tissue microenvironment. Nature 510, 402–406.
• Lin, C.J., Nasr, Z., Premsrirut, P.K., Porco, J.A., Hippo, Y., Lowe, S.W. & Pelletier, J. (2012). Targeting synthetic lethal interactions between Myc and eIF4F impedes tumourigenesis. Cell Rep. 1, 325–333.
• Dow, L.E., Premsrirut, P.K., Zuber, J., Fellmann, C., McJunkin, K., Miething, C., Park, Y., Dickins, R.A., Hannon, G.J. & Lowe, S.W. (2012). A pipeline for the generation of shRNA transgenic mice. Nat. Protoc. 7, 374–393.
• Chien, Y., Scuoppo, C., Wang, X., Fang, X., Balgley, B., Bolden, J.E., Premsrirut, P.K., Luo, W., Chicas, A., Lee, C.S., Kogan, S.C. & Lowe, S.W. (2011). NF-κB control of senescence-associated secretory phenotype promotes chemosensitivity. Genes Dev. 25, 2125–2136.
• Premsrirut, P.K., Dow, L.E., Kim, S.Y., Camiolo, M., Malone, C.D., Miething, C., Scuoppo, C., Zuber, J., Dickins, R.A., Kogan, S.C., Shroyer, K.R., Sordella, R., Hannon, G.J. & Lowe, S.W. (2011). A scalable system for studying gene function in mice using conditional RNAi. Cell 145, 145–158.
• Dickins, R.A., McJunkin, K., Hernando, E., Premsrirut, P.K., Krizhanovsky, V., Burgess, D.J., Kim, S.Y., Cordon-Cardo, C., Zender, L., Hannon, G.J. & Lowe, S.W. (2005). Tissue-specific and reversible RNAi in transgenic mice. Nat. Genet. 39, 914–921.