Dr. Satish Nandakumar

I grew up in the coastal city of Madras in Southern India and completed my bachelor’s degree in medicine and surgery at Madras Medical College. I attended the University of Tennessee Health Science Center and the St. Jude Children’s Hospital for my Ph.D. I pursued my postdoctoral training at Boston Children’s Hospital and the Broad Institute, where I investigated gene regulatory mechanisms affecting the formation of blood cells and blood disorders, often using insights from human genetic studies.

When I first became a faculty member, I was extremely grateful for the nurturing environment in the cell biology department and at Einstein. The faculty and the trainees were tremendously supportive and welcoming to me and my team in those early days. With their assistance, we have established a fully functioning lab, with the ability to conduct CRIPSR editing in human hematopoietic stem and progenitors, and with an active mouse colony that includes immunodeficient mice. I have a received support and advice in several ways, including with grant applications, student lectures, recruitment, and lab management. The department has a vibrant trainee community, where members actively participate and discuss their research in cell biology’s work-in-progress meetings. I also enjoy my spontaneous conversations with trainees in the cell bio incubator, when I learn about other exciting science taking place in the department.