Anjali Sarkar, Ph.D.


Anjali Sarkar, Ph.D.


Tel: 703-288-4420             8280 Greensboro Drive Suite 150
Fax: 703-288-4430            McLean, VA 22102
anjali.a.sarkar@gmail.com

Anjali A. Sarkar is part of the MindSpec annotation team working on the Animal Model module of SFARI Gene. Her work at MindSpec focuses on updating and curating mouse and rat model data of the Animal Model module and contributing to the MindSpec Reading Room. Before joining MindSpec in 2015, Sarkar was a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at George Washington University, In the Aleksander Jeremic Lab, she studied amylin trafficking, toxicity, and turnover in cellular and mouse diabetic models. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Irene Zohn Lab at Children’s National Medical Center, Washington DC, she studied the function of Hectd1, a ubiquitin ligase in neural, ocular and placental development. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Medical University of Ohio, Toledo, Sarkar studied the role of the transcription factor Hand2 in the development of sympathetic and enteric neurons in the Marthe Howard Lab. As graduate student at the University of Calcutta, India, Sarkar characterized novel mutations in human globin genes that cause Thalassaemia, in Uma Dasgupta’s lab. She holds a PhD from the University of Calcutta through the UGC/NET national scholarship program, and Master of Science and Bachelor of Science degrees in physiology from the University of Calcutta, India.

POSITIONS AND HONORS

11/2015-present: Bioinformatics Scientist, MindSpec Inc.
04/2015-10/2015: Biostatistics Consultant Scientist, Council for Aid in Education, New York.
01/2013-05/2015: Adjunct Faculty, Trinity Washington University
07/2014-03/2015: Research Assistant Professor, Department of Biological Sciences, George Washington University in the lab of Aleksander Jeremic, PhD.
03/2007-06/2014: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Department of Neurosciences, Children’s National Medical Centre (CNMC), Washington, D.C. in the lab of Irene Zohn, PhD.
09/2005-02/2007: Postdoctoral Fellow, Department of Molecular Neurosciences, Medical University of Ohio, Toledo, Ohio in the lab of Marthe Howard, PhD.

EDUCATION

2000-2005: PhD under UGC-NET National Scholarship at Department of Biophysics, Molecular Biology and Genetics, Calcutta University, Calcutta, West Bengal, India (2001-2005). Mentor: Dr. Uma Dasgupta.
1997-2000: M.Sc (Master of Science): Physiology, Calcutta University, India, 1st Div., 2nd Rank. Masters research thesis mentor: Dr. Bishwadev Bishayi.
1994-1997: B.Sc (Bachelor of Science): Chemistry , Zoology and Human Physiology Major, Surendranath College, Calcutta , India (1994-1997),1st Div., 4th Rank.
1994: Higher Secondary: Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Biology, English, Loreto Convent, Bowbazar, Calcutta, India. (10+2years), 1st Div with best all-round character and academic achievement award.

RESEARCH FOCUS

Dr. Sarkar’s current research focus is neuroinformatics including meta-statistical evaluation of biological data in the context of functional pathways and networks. Dr. Sarkar is also a dedicated science writer, committed to bridging the gap between science and public awareness through clear informative writing.

PUBLICATIONS

List of Selected Publications
Bandyopadhyay, A., Bandyopadhyay, S., Basak, J., Mondal, B. C., Sarkar, A. A., Majumdar, S., . . . Dasgupta, U. B. (2004). Profile of beta-thalassemia in eastern India and its prenatal diagnosis. Prenat Diagn, 24(12), 992-996. doi:10.1002/pd.1049
Sarkar, A. A., Banerjee, S., Chandra, S., Ghosh, M., Banerjee, D., Choudhury, M. D., . . . Dasgupta, U. B. (2005). A novel 33.3 kb deletion (- -KOL) in the alpha-globin gene cluster: a brief report on deletional alpha-thalassaemia in the heterogeneous eastern Indian population. Br J Haematol, 130(3), 454-457. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2141.2005.05626.x
Sarkar, A. A., Mukhopadhyay, C., Chandra, S., Banerjee, S., Das, M. K., & Dasgupta, U. B. (2005). Co-inheritance of the Hb Sun Prairie mutation with a point mutation at 5′-UTR in the eastern Indian population. Br J Haematol, 129(2), 282-286. doi:10.1111/j.1365-2141.2005.05451.x
Sarkar, A. A., & Howard, M. J. (2006). Perspectives on integration of cell extrinsic and cell intrinsic pathways of signaling required for differentiation of noradrenergic sympathetic ganglion neurons. Auton Neurosci, 126-127, 225-231. doi:10.1016/j.autneu.2006.02.029
Hendershot, T. J., Liu, H., Sarkar, A. A., Giovannucci, D. R., Clouthier, D. E., Abe, M., & Howard, M. J. (2007). Expression of Hand2 is sufficient for neurogenesis and cell type-specific gene expression in the enteric nervous system. Dev Dyn, 236(1), 93-105. doi:10.1002/dvdy.20989
Bhattacharya, G., Sarkar, A. A., Banerjee, D., Chandra, S., Das, M., & Dasgupta, U. B. (2008). Polymerase chain reaction-based search for two alpha-globin gene mutations in India. Hemoglobin, 32(5), 485-490. doi:10.1080/03630260802341620
Zohn, I. E., & Sarkar, A. A. (2008). Modeling neural tube defects in the mouse. Curr Top Dev Biol, 84, 1-35. doi:10.1016/S0070-2153(08)00601-7
Zohn, I. E., & Sarkar, A. A. (2010). The visceral yolk sac endoderm provides for absorption of nutrients to the embryo during neurulation. Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol, 88(8), 593-600. doi:10.1002/bdra.20705
Sarkar, A. A., & Zohn, I. E. (2012). Hectd1 regulates intracellular localization and secretion of Hsp90 to control cellular behavior of the cranial mesenchyme. J Cell Biol, 196(6), 789-800. doi:10.1083/jcb.201105101
Zohn, I. E., & Sarkar, A. A. (2012). Does the cranial mesenchyme contribute to neural fold elevation during neurulation? Birth Defects Res A Clin Mol Teratol, 94(10), 841-848. doi:10.1002/bdra.23073
Sarkar, A. A., & Zohn, I. E. (2013). An explant assay for assessing cellular behavior of the cranial mesenchyme. J Vis Exp(71). doi:10.3791/4245
Tran, H., Bustos, D., Yeh, R., Rubinfeld, B., Lam, C., Shriver, S., . . . Polakis, P. (2013). HectD1 E3 ligase modifies adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) with polyubiquitin to promote the APC-axin interaction. J Biol Chem, 288(6), 3753-3767. doi:10.1074/jbc.M112.415240
Sarkar, A. A., Nuwayhid, S. J., Maynard, T., Ghandchi, F., Hill, J. T., Lamantia, A. S., & Zohn, I. E. (2014). Hectd1 is required for development of the junctional zone of the placenta. Dev Biol, 392(2), 368-380. doi:10.1016/j.ydbio.2014.05.007
Singh, S., Trikha, S., Bhowmick, D. C., Sarkar, A. A., & Jeremic, A. M. (2015). Role of Cholesterol and Phospholipids in Amylin Misfolding, Aggregation and Etiology of Islet Amyloidosis. Adv Exp Med Biol, 855, 95-116. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-17344-3_4