Postdoctoral Fellow (2021 – present)
email: chaitali.khan@nih.gov
phone: 301-827-1112
HISTORY
2006-2009 – B.Sc., in Biomedical Sciences, University of Delhi, New Delhi, India
2009-2011 – M.Sc., in Life Sciences, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, India
2011-2017 – Ph.D., in Molecular and Cell Biology, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India
2017-2021 – Postoctoral Fellow, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY
RESEARCH
- Developed an allograft transplantation method in adult Drosophila for tumor metastasis studies
- Studied collective cancer invasion
- Utilized molecular genetics, cell biology, and state-of-the-art imaging (light and electron microscopy) to capture the tumor microenvironment of early events of brain metastasis
PUBLICATIONS
9. Thomas MS, Galleta BJ, Ryniawec JM, Amoirogou A, Khan C, Fagerstrom CJ, Rogers GC, and Rusan NM. Modeling a human Pericentrin MOPD II variant in Drosophila. (2025). (in revision)
8. Khan C, Rusan NM, and Baker NE. Dual contributions of Xrp1 to genome integrity through the DNA damage response and cell competition. (2025) BioRxiv 494998. (Submitted)
7. Khan C*and Rusan NM*. Allograft transplantation for Drosophila tumor metastasis studies. (2025) Disease Models and Mechanisms, 18 (12): dmm052543). PMID: 41163533 (*Co-corresponding author)
6. Khan C* and Rusan NM. Using Drosophila to Uncover the Role of Organismal Physiology and the Tumor-Microenvironment in Cancer. (2024) Trends in Cancer, 4;10:289-311. PMID: 38350736 (#Featured article in Trends in Cancer) (*Co-corresponding author)
5. Kiparaki M, Khan C*, Cheun J, and Baker NE. The transcription factor Xrp1 orchestrates both reduced translation and cell competition upon defective ribosome assembly or function. (2022) eLife 11:e71705. PMID: 35179490 (*significant author contribution)
4. Khan C*, Muliyil S, Ayyub C, Rao BJ*. spn-A/rad51 mutant exhibits enhanced genomic damage, cell death and low temperature sensitivity in somatic tissues. (2021) Chromosoma 130, 3–14.
PMID: 33222024. (*Co-corresponding author)
3. Baker NE, Kiparaki M, Khan C. A potential link between p53, cell competition and ribosomopathy in mammals and in Drosophila. (2019) Dev Biol. 1;446(1):17-19. PMID: 30513308
2. Khan C*, Muliyil S*, Rao BJ. Genome Damage Sensing Leads to Tissue Homeostasis in Drosophila. (2019). Int Rev Cell Mol Biol. 345:173-224. PMID: 30904193. (*equal authors)
1. Khan C*, Muliyil S, Ayyub C, Rao BJ. The initiator caspase Dronc plays a non-apoptotic role in promoting DNA damage signalling in D. melanogaster. (2017) J Cell Sci. 2017 15;130(18): 2984-2995. PMID:
INVITED TALKS
8. Annual Drosophila Research Conference (San Diego, USA, Mar. 2025)
“Dual Contribution of Xrp1 to DDR and Cell competition”
7. ASCB/EMBO Cell Bio 2024— Micro symposium (San-Diego, Dec. 2024)
“The Drosophila brain metastasis model uncovers the cellular dynamics between host and tumor cells during the early events of brain tumor invasion”
6. Drosophila Neurobiology Colloquium (National Institutes of Health, May 2024)
“Insights from the brain Drosophila metastasis model on tumor-BBB glial cells crosstalk”
5. Rising Stars in Cell Biology Symposium (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Apr. 2024)
“Insights from the brain Drosophila metastasis model on tumor-BBB glial cells crosstalk”
4. Blood Brain Barrier meeting (National Cancer Institute, Apr. 2024)
“Dynamics of tumor-BBB glial cells interaction during brain tumor invasion-insights from Drosophila model system”
3. The Allied Genetics Conference (Washington, D.C, Mar. 2024)
“Drosophila brain metastasis model uncovers injury-response-like cellular dynamics between host and tumor
cells”
2. Rising Stars in Cell Biology Symposium (Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Apr. 2022)
“Contribution of cell competition to the tumor suppression function of p53”
1. New York Fly-Eye Club meeting (New York University, Aug. 2020)
“p53 and Xrp1: Shared functions in cell competition and the DNA damage response”
POSTER PRESENTATIONS
- ASCB/EMBO Cell Bio 2024, San-Diego (2024)
- Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Conference-Tumor Microenvironment, USA (2023)
- DGRC meeting, San-Diego (Virtual), USA (2022)
- TAGC meeting, online (2020)
- Keystone-Cell Competition meeting, Lake Tahoe, USA (2019)
- DGRC meeting, Philadelphia, USA (2018)
- BSCB/BSDB, University of Warwick, UK (2016)
- Mitochondria Meeting, Mahabaleshwar, TIFR-Mumbai, India (2014)
- Indian Society of Developmental Biology, TIFR-Mumbai, India (2014)
- Gene Circuits and Development, TIFR-Mumbai, India (2013)
- Transcription meeting, Mahabaleshwar, TIFR-Mumbai, India (2012)
OF NOTE
- Winner of the “MapMySections Data Challenge” organized by the Allen Institute for Brain Science (2025)
- Klinger Conference Travel Award, Albert Einstein College of Medicine (2018 & 2019)
- Awarded fellowship for “Advanced Microscopy at Bangalore Microscopy Course” (NCBS-TIFR, India, 2013)
- Awarded TIFR-Department of Atomic Energy, research scholar fellowship at TIFR-Mumbai (2011-2017)
- All India Rank No.8 (99.98th percentile) in the competitive Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering