Affiliation: National Cancer Institute, NIH

Dr. Sounak Sahu received his PhD in 2019 at the University of Oxford, UK working in Prof. Aziz Aboobaker’s laboratory, where he focused on understanding the DNA damage response in planarian stem cells. Dr. Sahu joined the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in March 2019 for his postdoctoral research in Dr. Shyam Sharan’s Lab. He has published in well recognized peer-reviewed journals in the field of stem cell biology, regeneration and development. During his graduate studies, he has received numerous awards including the Oxford-Clarendon Scholarship and was also selected as a Sloan-Robinson Fellow at Keble College, Oxford. Dr. Sahu recently received the NCI director’s innovation award 2020 for his work on CRISPR-Cas9 based genome editing. A stem cell and developmental biologist in training, his current research interest spans at the interface of CRISPR-based genome editing and organoids to understand organ development and model disease progression. His interests also include mentoring, peer-reviewing, science communication and outreach.