Soumen earned an M.Sc. from the Biochemistry department of the University of Calcutta in 1998, and then joined the same department to carry out doctoral research under the guidance of Prof. Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay.[3] Subsequent to receiving a Ph.D. degree in 2003, he joined the laboratory of Prof. Alexander Hoffmann at the University of California, San Diego for post-doctoral studies. On his return to India in 2010, he joined the National Institute of Immunology where he has been heading the Systems Immunology Research Group since then.[1]
Soumen has contributed substantially to developing an understanding of immune regulatory mechanisms. Extracellular cues engage discrete cell signaling pathways to control dynamically specific sets of transcription factors, which trigger distinct gene-expression programs. However, a myriad of biochemical processes links these pathways within an integrated cellular network. More so, mammalian cells in their anatomic niche receive signals simultaneously from a variety of stimuli that generate plausible crosstalks between concomitantly activated intracellular pathways. Combining biochemistry, mouse genetics, and computational modeling tools, Soumen's group has been characterizing how such cross-regulatory signaling mechanisms tune immune responses and if aberrant signaling crosstalk underlies human diseases. His work established physiological functions of such signaling crosstalk in tuning inflammatory responses to gut pathogens[4] and in orchestrating immune homeostasis in the secondary lymphoid organs.[5] His research also captured a pathophysiological role of signaling crosstalk in neoplastic diseases – aberrant crosstalk provoked anomalous gene expressions in multiple myeloma.[6] Soumen's current work indicates that cross-regulatory NF-kappaB controls may have ramifications for pathological intestinal inflammation.[7] Soumen has published his research findings in a series of research articles in internationally renowned, peer-reviewed journals.[8]
Unchecked inflammation has been implicated in human ailments. Mainstay signaling pathways mediate multiple biological functions, and their therapeutic targeting leads to devastating side effects. In this context, Soumen's finding bears promises for disease-specific interventions in inflammation-associated diseases that target newly discovered crosstalk motif delinking inflammatory module from the integrated network.[citation needed]
Chawla, Meenakshi; Roy, Payel; Basak, Soumen (1 February 2021). "Role of the NF-kB system in context-specific tuning of the inflammatory gene response". Current Opinion in Immunology. 68: 21–27. doi:10.1016/j.coi.2020.08.005. PMID32898750. S2CID221572636.
