Pep Charusanti

Pep Charusanti is a Senior Researcher at the Natural Products Genome Mining section of the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Biosustainability at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). His work focuses on genomic analysis of microorganisms, particularly Actinomycetes, to discover novel natural products with pharmaceutical applications. He is actively involved in the DTU Microbes Initiative and maintains an ORCID profile (0000-0003-0009-6615).

His research spans several critical areas in modern microbiology and bioinformatics:

• Genomic mining of Actinobacteria for natural product discovery
• Analysis of biosynthetic gene clusters in Streptomyces and related organisms
• Development of computational approaches for secondary metabolite prediction
• Integration of informatics and metabolic engineering for antibiotic discovery
• Understanding transcriptional regulation in bacterial production hosts

Charusanti's publication record shows a strong focus on leveraging genomic data to uncover new natural products, particularly through pangenome analysis of Actinomycetes. His recent work combines machine learning approaches with traditional microbiological techniques to identify and characterize novel biosynthetic pathways. The research has significant implications for antibiotic discovery and development, contributing to UN Sustainable Development Goals related to health and wellbeing.

As a main supervisor for PhD projects, Charusanti mentors the next generation of researchers in natural product discovery. He has been involved in significant research grants, including the 'iimena' project funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation (2017-2023), which focused on Integration of Informatics and Metabolic Engineering for the discovery of Novel Antibiotics, and currently leads a PhD project on Data-driven investigation of mechanisms that underlie secondary metabolite biosynthesis in Actinomycetes (2023-2026).

Charusanti is actively involved in the Natural Products Genome Mining team at DTU Biosustain, which leverages extensive genomic datasets and computational tools to accelerate the discovery of bioactive compounds from microbial sources. His research has received media attention, including features in 'I Am Science' (2019) and coverage of work on antibiotic resistance and antimicrobial agents.