Associate Scientist

Richa graduated from Banaras Hindu University, India, in 2016. During her doctoral training, she investigated the molecular drivers of heterogeneity in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus. She then joined Mount Sinai as a postdoctoral fellow, where she identified epigenetic factors as key contributors to racial disparities in prostate cancer.

Currently, she is an associate scientist in the Department of Hematology and Oncology at the Tisch Cancer Institute, working under the mentorship of Dr. Silverman and Dr. Horowitz. Her current research focuses on understanding the pathogenic role of LGL/NK cells in promoting bone marrow failure (BMF) in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS). Specifically, her work aims to identify critical changes that occur during disease progression and at the onset of BMF associated with resistance to hypomethylating agent (HMA) therapy.

The goal of her project is to characterize the bone marrow niche in MDS patients experiencing progressive BMF and advancing MDS disease. She employs cutting-edge technologies, including single-cell sequencing, mass cytometry (CyTOF), and Olink proteomics, to study immune cell subset dysregulation at high resolution. This work will advance understanding of MDS biology during disease progression and in states of response or non-response to HMA therapy, and will be crucial for identifying druggable targets to improve bone marrow function and hematopoiesis.

Fun fact: I can sketch realistic birds.