CV

Education

• Ph.D in Genetics and Genomics, University of Connecticut, Storrs CT 2016
• B.Tech Industrial Biotechnology, Dr. M.G.R. Educational and Research Institute, Chennai India, 2007

Work experience

• Nov 2021 - Current: Basic Life Research Scientist
  • Stanford University School of Medicine
  • Duties included: Designing predictive models for antibiotic susceptibility testing from single cell images of bacteria and cycle thresholds from qPCR; MALDI-TOF on plamsa from healthy volunteers
  • Supervisor: Dr. Samuel Yang
• Jun 2019 - Nov 2021: Postdoctoral Scholar
  • Stanford University School of Medicine
  • Duties included: Lead SARS-CoV-2 RNA studies using patient samples stored at the biobank using digital PCR; ATAC-seq, RNA-seq, and Hi-C on neutrophils; RNA-seq on bacterial strains treated with antibiotics
  • Supervisor: Dr. Samuel Yang
• Aug 2016 - Jun 2019: Postdoctoral Research Fellow
  • Boston College
  • Duties included: Elucidating the transcriptional landscape and operon architecture of Streptococcus pneumoniae using Term-seq and RNAtag-seq; discovery and evolution of non-coding RNAs in genomes of species of bacteria and populations in the oral microbiome
  • Supervisor: Dr. Michelle Meyer

Skills

• R, perl, and python
• Genomics, metagenomics, transcriptomics, epigenomics, and metabolomics
• Machine learning
• Detection and discovery of structured non-coding RNA

Publications

Cell sorting analysis of geographically separated hypersaline environments

Evidence from phylogenetic and genome fingerprinting analyses suggests rapidly changing variation in Halorubrum and Haloarcula populations

Horizontal Gene Transfer, Dispersal and Haloarchaeal Speciation

Analysis of the bacteriorhodopsin-producing haloarchaea reveals a core community that is stable over time in the salt crystallizers of Eilat, Israel

The Transcriptional landscape of Streptococcus pneumoniae TIGR4 reveals a complex operon architecture and abundant riboregulation critical for growth and virulence

Regulatory context drives conservation of glycine riboswitch aptamers

Comparative Metatranscriptomics of Periodontitis Supports a Common Polymicrobial Shift in Metabolic Function and Identifies Novel Putative Disease-Associated ncRNAs

A Novel Platform Using RNA Signatures To Accelerate Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing in Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Insights into gene expression changes under conditions that facilitate horizontal gene transfer (mating) of a model archaeon

SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia Predicts Clinical Deterioration and Extrapulmonary Complications from COVID-19

Profiling chromatin accessibility responses in human neutrophils with sensitive pathogen detection

Association Between SARS-CoV-2 RNAemia and Postacute Sequelae of COVID-19

Diagnosis of Bloodstream Infections: An Evolution of Technologies towards Accurate and Rapid Identification and Antibiotic Susceptibility Testing

Using a 29-mRNA Host Response Classifier To Detect Bacterial Coinfections and Predict Outcomes in COVID-19 Patients Presenting to the Emergency Department

Talks

Etiology of periodontitis progression: A meta survey of the genes and putative RNA regulatory mechanisms driving disease

March 01, 2019

Talk at Stockton University, Stockton, New Jersey

SARS-CoV-2 RNAaemia predicts clinical deterioration and extrapulmonary complications from COVID-19.

February 01, 2021

Talk at GenomeWeb, Webinar

SARS-CoV-2 RNAaemia predicts clinical deterioration and extrapulmonary complications from COVID-19.

March 01, 2021

Talk at Al-Ameen College, India, Online

SARS-CoV-2 RNAaemia predicts clinical deterioration and extrapulmonary complications from COVID-19.

March 01, 2021

Talk at American Societ of Human Genetics, Online

Teaching

Physiology and Neurobiology

Fundamentals of Microbiology