Lodoe Lama
RNA Biochemist
Short Bio: Lodoe Lama is from the sky-high country of Nepal. Lodoe’s path from Nepal to The Rockefeller University, where he now conducts research with Dr. Thomas Tuschl, involved undergraduate work first in India and then at Queens College in NYC. These studies led him to The City College of New York where he earned a Master’s degree in Biochemistry. Lodoe moved from there to the CUNY Graduate Center Biochemistry Ph.D. program and joined the Ryan lab to do research in the transcription of small RNA by RNA Polymerase III. In the Ryan lab, Lodoe transformed himself into a creative, hard-working RNA Biochemist. Initially hesitant that his stellar grades would not translate into stellar bench skills, Lodoe soon demonstrated enviable RNA lab technique and carefully planned experiments. Lodoe is too humble ever to ask, “What’s so hard about working with RNA?” but he would be justified in asking just that question. Lodoe has since showed his biochemistry versatility by branching out into the related nucleic acids area of small molecule drug development targeting the innate immune response.
Publications:
“Small RNA-seq: The RNA 5’ end ligation problem and a method to circumvent it,” L. Lama, J. Cobo, D. Buenaventura and K. Ryan,* Journal of Biological Methods 2019, Vol. 6(1) e108,DOI: 10.14440/jbm.2019.269
“RNA polymerase III initiation on coligo DNA templates containing loops of variable sequence, size and nucleotide chemistry,” Joy Patel, Lodoe Lama, Niklas Hoffmann, Jose Cobo Christoph Müller and Kevin Ryan,* Gene (2016) 612:49-54 Epub September 2, 2016, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gene.2016.09.001
“Adenylylation of small RNA sequencing adapters using the TS2126 RNA ligase I,” Lodoe Lama and Kevin Ryan,* RNA 2016 Jan; 22(1):155-61. doi: 10.1261/rna.054999.115. Epub 2015 Nov 13. PMID: 26567315; PMCID: PMC4691829
“New insights into the promoterless transcription of DNA coligo templates by RNA polymerase III,” Lodoe Lama, Christine I. Seidl, and Kevin Ryan,* 2014 Transcription, Vol. 5, Issue 2. Published online 27 January 2014; http://dx.doi.org/10.4161/trns.27913; PMID: 24531370
“Circularized synthetic oligodeoxynucleotides serve as promoterless RNA polymerase III templates for small RNA generation in human cells,” C.I. Seidl, L. Lama and K. Ryan*, 2012 Nucleic Acids Research2013 41 (4): 2552-2564. DOI: 10.1093/nar/gks1334 First published online: December 28, 2012. PMCID: PMC3575851
“Controlled generation of small RNA in vitro and in cells from template structure-triggered Pol III transcription, Lodoe Lama, Jose Cobo and Kevin Ryan* (in preparation)