UC Davis | United States
Author Profile
🧾 Suitability Summary
Dr. Sanchita Bhatnagar is a highly accomplished biomedical scientist whose profile makes her ideally suited for leadership roles in translational cancer research, neurodevelopmental therapeutics, and academic administration. Her expertise spans gene therapy, epigenetics, and targeted drug delivery, making her a strong candidate for Principal Investigator, program leader, or scientific advisor roles in academia, biotech, or government-funded research. With her demonstrated ability to bridge basic science and clinical application, and her experience with NIH, DoD, and private foundations, she stands out as a multidisciplinary leader advancing both health equity and precision medicine.
🎓 Education & Academic Experience
Dr. Bhatnagar earned her Ph.D. in Biological Sciences from the University of Notre Dame, preceded by a Gold Medalist M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Panjab University, and a Silver Medalist B.Sc. in Biochemistry from the University of Delhi. She currently serves as an Associate Professor in Medical Microbiology and Immunology at the University of California, Davis School of Medicine, and is the Assistant Research Program Leader at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center. Previously, she held faculty appointments at the University of Virginia and was an Instructor at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and UMass Medical School. Her robust teaching portfolio includes more than 25 graduate and medical courses, reflecting deep commitment to education and mentorship.
🔬 Research Focus
Dr. Bhatnagar leads a cutting-edge research program that investigates epigenetic silencing, X-chromosome inactivation, and their implications in breast cancer, Rett syndrome, and autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Her lab is the first to demonstrate that small non-coding RNAs regulate mammalian X chromosome silencing, opening novel avenues for X-linked disease therapy. She has developed a gene therapy platform using AAV-based delivery systems for Rett syndrome, now undergoing large-scale safety studies in collaboration with Alcyone Therapeutics. Her work in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) has uncovered novel regulators like TRIM37 and ZBTB20, which drive metastasis, chemoresistance, and racial disparities. Her team also utilizes CRISPR/Cas9 screening, nanoparticle-based delivery, and environmental chemical screens to explore the gene-environment interactions contributing to ASD in girls.
🏆 Honors & Awards
Dr. Bhatnagar’s outstanding contributions have been widely recognized. She received the UC Davis Dean’s Fellowship in Environmental Health Sciences in 2022 and has won multiple DoD Breast Cancer Breakthrough Awards (2017, 2019, 2020). Her innovative work has also earned the Hartwell Individual Biomedical Research Award and the METAvivor Translational Research Award. Earlier honors include the Gold Medal in Biotechnology and several prestigious fellowships in India. She was also featured in nano.gov’s AAPI Heritage Month spotlight for her leadership in nanotechnology and gene therapy.
📜 Professional Development & Service
Dr. Bhatnagar plays an active role in the scientific community through NIH and DoD grant review panels, including the NIH NCI Translational Cancer Research, CDMRP, and METAvivor award programs. She serves as a manuscript reviewer for journals like PNAS, Frontiers in Oncology, and Scientific Reports. She was on the Scientific Advisory Board of Alcyone Therapeutics, a key partner in her clinical translation efforts for Rett syndrome. Additionally, she is a member of the X Reactivation Consortium under the Rett Syndrome Research Trust, reflecting her leadership in collaborative rare disease initiatives.
Publications
Priming a vascular-selective cytokine response permits CD8+ T-cell entry into tumors
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Authors: Dae Joong Kim, Swetha Anandh, Jamie L. Null, Piotr Przanowski, Sanchita Bhatnagar, Pankaj Kumar, Sarah E. Shelton, Erin E. Grundy, Katherine B. Chiappinelli, Roger D. Kamm et al.
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Journal: Nature Communications
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Year: 2023
Targeting HER2 beyond breast cancer
Genetic and pharmacological reactivation of the mammalian inactive X chromosome
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Authors: Sanchita Bhatnagar, Xueying Zhu, Junjian Ou, Lin Lin, Lindsay Chamberlain, Lijun Zhu, Nidhi Wajapeyee, Michael R. Green
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Journal: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
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Year: 2014
TRIM37 is a new histone H2A ubiquitin ligase and breast cancer oncoprotein
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Authors: Sanchita Bhatnagar, Claude Gazin, Lindsay Chamberlain, Junjian Ou, Xueying Zhu, Jogender S. Tushir, Christine-Marie Virbasius, Lin Lin, Lijun Zhu, Nidhi Wajapeyee, et al.
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Journal: Nature
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Year: 2014
Exosome function: From tumor immunology to pathogen biology