Rithika Sankar
PhD Candidate in Integrative Systems Biology, School of Medicine
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh
A527 Langley Hall, 4249 Fifth Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
Phone: +1 412-616-6096
Email: ris84@pitt.edu, [rithikashankar100@gmail.com] LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/rithikasankar
Website: https://rithika-sankar.github.io/

EDUCATION

  • In Progress
    Ph.D., Integrative Systems Biology (Exp 2026) School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, USA

  • 2015 – 2019
    B.Tech Genetic Engineering
    Department of Bioengineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India

CURRENT POSITIONS

  • 2022 – Present
    PhD Candidate
    Advisor: Dr. Sarah J. Hainer
    Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, USA
    Research focus: Epigenetics and Genomics Responsible for leading independent research on understanding the role of histone chaperone FACT in maintaining pluripotency in mouse embryonic stem cells. Mentored 5 graduate students, 3 undergraduate students, presented 5+ oral presentations and 5+ posters. Earned grants worth 1000USD.

  • 2022 – Present Co-Chair (Communication and Outreach) Early career leadership program- Genetics Society of America (GSA) Responsible for managing 10+ science communication and outreach projects and a team of 10 members. Writer for GSA’s newsletter. Conducted and lead workshops through GSA.

  • 2023 – Present
    Consultant, Fourth River Solutions
    Recent project: Assessed and provided options for FDA approval for an AI-assisted diagnostic system for sleep apnea

PREVIOUS POSITIONS

  • 2019 – 2021
    Research Fellow
    Advisor: Dr. Gaiti Hasan
    National Institute of Science and Technology, India
    Focus: Consequences of intracellular calcium signaling in human neuronal cells

  • 2019
    Visiting Scientist - Research Assistant (Semester Abroad)
    Advisors: Dr. Hannele Ruohola Baker and Dr. Julie Mathieu
    Institute for Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
    Focus: Function and formation of human primary cilia in early stages of development Awarded opportunity (top 1% of candidates) to understand the function and formation of human primary cilia in early stages of development.

  • 2018
    Shadow Genetic Counselor - Research Assistant
    Advisor: Dr. Sujatha Jagadeesh
    Department of Genetic Counseling and Clinical Genetics, Mediscan Systems, India
    Focus: Characteristics of Mucopolysaccharide diseases; shadowed genetic counseling sessions

  • 2017–2018
    Undergraduate Research Assistant
    Advisor: Dr. Rex Arunraj
    Department of Bioengineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India
    Focus: Effects of varying concentrations of Benzyl aminopurine (BAP) on V-Branching in chickpeas

PUBLICATION

  • Wang Y, Hussein AM, Somasundaram L, Sankar R, Detraux D, Mathieu J, Ruohola-Baker H.
    MicroRNAs regulating human and mouse naïve pluripotency. International Journal of Molecular Sciences. 2019 Jan; 20(23):5864.

AWARDS

  • Biomedical Graduate Student Association Travel Award for the ASBMB Transcription Conference ($250, September 2024)
  • Travel Award for the Penn State’s 39th Summer Symposium on Chromatin and Gene Regulation ($250, August 2023)
  • Biomedical Graduate Student Association Travel Award ($250, August 2023)

ACADEMIC PRESENTATIONS

  • Oral presentation, “FACT maintains pluripotency by maintaining the genomic landscape in murine embryonic stem cells,” ABRCMS, Pittsburgh, PA (November 2024)
  • Poster, “FACT maintains pluripotency by maintaining the genomic landscape in murine embryonic stem cells,” ASBMB Transcription Regulation by Chromatin and RNA Pol II Meeting, Alexandria, VA (September 2024)
  • Oral presentation, “Investigating the precise role of FACT in maintaining pluripotency in mouse embryonic stem cells,” School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh (March 2024)
  • Poster, “FACT maintains pluripotency by maintaining the genomic landscape in murine embryonic stem cells,” Penn State 39th Summer Symposium on Chromatin and Gene Regulation (August 2023)
  • Poster, “FACT maintains pluripotency through gene distal regulation and coordinated colocalization with chromatin regulatory factors,” Biomedical Graduate Student Association, University of Pittsburgh (November 2022)
  • Oral presentation, “Investigating the role of FACT in maintaining pluripotency in mouse embryonic stem cells,” School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh (October 2022)
  • Poster, “FACT maintains pluripotency through gene distal regulation and coordinated colocalization with chromatin regulatory factors,” CSHL Epigenetics & Chromatin (September 2022)
  • Oral presentation, “Understanding the role of FACT in maintaining pluripotency in mouse embryonic stem cells,” School of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh (April 2022)
  • Oral presentation, “Morphogenesis of primary cilia during naïve to primed transition in stem cells licenses primed stage for Hh activity,” Annual Research Symposium, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, India (July 2019)

LABORATORY SKILLS AND TECHNICAL COMPETENCIES

  • Genomics : CUT&RUN, ChIP-seq, RNA-seq, TT-seq, MNase-seq, Fiber-seq, and Sanger sequencing preparation.
  • Cell culture of human, mouse pluripotent stem cells, neuronal and other mammalian cancer lines.
  • Differentiation of pluripotent stem cells to neuronal lineages.
  • Molecular biology and biochemistry: cloning, PCR, RT-PCR, qPCR, nucleic acid isolation and purification, primer designing, guide RNA designing, western blots, CRISPR targeting, and protein purification.
  • Imaging: Immunofluorescence staining, confocal microscopy and Dual excitation-emission calcium imaging, and Flow cytometry.
  • Cell transfection and transduction : Lipofection, nucleofection, Viral production, and lentiviral transduction
  • Bacteria: culture, competent cell preparation, manipulation, and transformation
  • Computational skills: Bioinformatic data analysis of genomics data (MNase-seq, fiber-seq, TT-seq, RNA-seq, CUT&RUN, and ChIP-seq) Programming in R, Python and Unix.

MENTORING AND OUTREACH

  • Mentor, Promoting PEERs program, University of Pittsburgh, leading a cohort of 20 URM undergraduates through a program designed to introduce and retain URM undergraduates in research.
  • Panelist, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh. Speaker on a panel addressing graduate school applications and process of obtaining PhD for URM at Pitt (September 2024)
  • Presenter, Language Symposium 2024, Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh Presented basic concepts of stem cell biology in Tamil as an effort to make science accessible to the global audience. (April 2024)
  • Middle-school students’ mentor, Pitt Bio Outreach, Eco-explorers program (STEAM) at Hill District Community Engagement Centre. Developed content and experiments to engage kids (3rd-5th grade) and introduce basic concepts in biology. Lead 6 weeks of conducting hands on experiments for children to build bridges between University of Pittsburgh and the larger Pittsburgh community. (Fall 2023)
  • Invited speaker, Beaver community college, Beaver County, PA. Presented basic concepts of genetics, epigenetics and chromatin to a class at the community college. (Spring 2023)
  • Graduate student mentor, Hainer lab, University of Pittsburgh.
  • Bryona Jackson (undergraduate) Aigbe Woghiren-Afegbua, Eman Soliman, Rinku Dhungana, Isa Ozdemir, Yiming Qin, Hainer lab. Trained in cell culture, CRISPR/Cas9 cell line targeting, western blots and other molecular techniques.
  • Graduate Global ties mentor, Graduate and professional student government, University of Pittsburgh, Provided mentorship to incoming URM graduate students (May 2022)
  • Undergraduate Student mentor, Department of Genetic Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology, 2016-2017.

CONFERENCES

  • ASBMB Transcriptional Regulation by Chromatin and RNA Pol II (Poster, September 2024)
  • Penn State’s 39th Summer Symposium on Chromatin and Epigenetics (Poster, August 2023)
  • CSHL Epigenetics & Chromatin (Poster, September 2022)
  • MGDB/CBMP/ISB 6th Annual Scientific Retreat, University of Pittsburgh (Attendee, May 2022)
  • Systems Biology: Global Regulation of Gene Expression, CSHL (Attendee, March 2022)
  • EMBO Symposium, Calcium Signaling, National Centre for Biological Sciences, India (Attendee, January 2019)

CAMPUS INVOLVEMENT AND VOLUNTEERING

  • Travel Awards Committee, BGSA, University of Pittsburgh (Current)
  • Volunteer Program Coordinator, EMBO Symposium, National Centre for Biological Sciences, India (January 2019)
  • Volunteer Program Coordinator, Rare Disease Day, SRM Institute of Science and Technology (2017, 2018)
  • Volunteer Program Coordinator, Recent Trends in Genetic Engineering, SRM Institute of Science and Technology (October 2017)
  • Volunteer Program Coordinator, Exploring Microbial World, SRM Institute of Science and Technology (February 2017)