Varun completed his master’s degree in biotechnology from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar, India. He then joined Dr. Maddika Subba Reddy’s laboratory for PhD at Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics (CDFD), Hyderabad, India. His dissertation was focused on the identification and characterization of CRL7SMU1 , a multi-subunit E3 ligase in the regulation of genomic stability. He has joined the Dikic group in November 2018 where he intends to investigate the roles of E3 ubiquitin ligases and deubiquitinases in lung cancer pathogenesis.

With his long-standing interest in ubiquitin biology, in recent years, he got fascinated with targeted protein degradation (TPD), an emerging therapeutic modality with the potential to tackle disease-causing proteins. Currently, he is associated with Clusters4Future initiative - ProxiDrugs, where he focuses on identifying and characterizing novel molecular glue degraders.