TEAM
Principal Investigator
Sangita Choudhury, PhD
Gail Burns Endowed Investigator, Assistant Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School
Associate Member | Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT
Bio
Sangita Choudhury obtained her PhD in cell biology and molecular cardiology in the lab of Stephan B. Felix from the University of Greifswald, Germany. Sangita studied the mechanism of heart failure and cardiac regeneration during her postdoctoral fellowship. Her primary research interest is to investigate the genetics of human disease from a translational viewpoint by combining her expertise in clinical medicine, basic biology, and bioinformatics.
Her research project is being funded by the Boston Children’s Hospital’s Office of Faculty Development and the American Heart Association and National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.
Lab Members
Nazia H. Syed
Postdoctoral Researcher
Nazia recieved her PhD from India, and trained in understanding the interactome of Ire1 alpha and development of inhibitors of UPR markers. She also worked on the role of proteostasis and ubiquitin proteosome pathway on differential regulation of cold induced brown fat thermogenesis, a major cause for the various metabolic disorders including cardiovascular diseases. In the Choudhury lab she will dissect the role of somatic mutations in human heart development and function and investigate how genotoxic stress contributes to cardiac disorders.
Zheming An
Postdoctoral Researcher
Zheming joined the lab in 2023 after his postdoctoral training in Dr. Eduardo Sontag’s lab at the College of Bioengineering at Northeastern University. He obtained his B.S. in Biological Sciences from Zhejiang University, and Ph.D. in Computational and Integrative Biology from Dr. Benedetto Piccoli’s lab at Rutgers University. His primary research involves the interdisciplinary study of mathematical modeling (dynamical systems and control theory), machine learning (physics-informed deep learning), and bioinformatics. He is interested in developing and applying new computational methods to study the role of somatic mutation in the human genome, focusing on cardiovascular biology
Debesh Sahu
Undergraduate Researcher
Debesh is currently pursuing his B.S. in premedical and health science studies at MCPHS University. He’s excited to dive into research at Choudhury Lab, where he aims to better grasp the genetic aspects of the cardiac system as humans age and diseases develop. Outside of the lab, he enjoys dancing hip hop and bhangra.
Maniteja Arava
Postdoctoral Researcher
He completed PhD from the Department of Developmental Biology and Genetics, Indain Institute of Science (IISc), India. During his PhD, he investigated the role of epigenetics in the maintenance of imprinted and random X-inactivation in mouse extra-embryonic endoderm and epiblast stem cells. In Choudhury’s lab, he is interested in understanding the role of epigenetics, especially methylation, in heart development and congenital heart disease. Outside the lab, he likes to play chess and watersports.
Shamita Sanga
Postdoctoral Researcher
Shamita joined lab in 2024 after her PhD from NIBMG, India. Before joining Choudhury lab her research focussed on investigating the genomic signatures causal to rare congenital degenerative muscle disorders. In choudhury lab she is working on understanding the genetics of cardiac malformation utilizing single-cell genomics.
Erica Matsui
Undergraduate Researcher
Erica joined lab as an undergraduate researcher and student at Boston University. In Choudhury lab, she is interested on understanding the genetics of cardiac malformation
Previous Lab Members
Indu Sivankutty
Postdoctoral Researcher
Indu Sivankutty received her Ph.D. in Biotechnology from Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, India for her work on germline stem cells. She studied the molecular mechanisms and the role of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs) in the regulation of blood pressure during her postdoctoral studies at New York Medical College, USA. In the Choudhury lab, she works on understanding cardiomyocyte polyploidization, aging, and regeneration.
Deepa Nandan
Student
Deepa Nandan is currently pursuing her A.B. in Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Her research focused on understanding mechanisms of polyploidization in cardiomyocytes via lineage tracing.
Hoon Shin
Student at Harvard College
Hoon Shin is currently pursuing his A.B. in Computer Science at Harvard College. He is excited to be working at the Choudhury lab, where he is exploring how aging affects patterns of gene expression in the human heart. Outside of the lab, he enjoys reading, watching kdramas, and doing karaoke with friends.
Sarah Araten
MD.PhD Candidate at Princeton_Rutgers joint program.
Enning Wang
Student at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
Anushka Jetly
MD candidate at Texas Medical School