Arpita Kulkarni
Biologist and Associate Director, Single Cell Core, Harvard Medical School, USA
Indian, living in Cambridge, USA
Arpita is a cell biologist. She received her PhD from the Max Planck Institute for Biology (Germany) and subsequently moved to Harvard University (US) for her postdoctoral work and currently serves as the Associate Director of the Single Cell Core at Harvard Medical School . Her work aims to uncover the diverse mechanisms in which normal developmental pathways go awry, at the single cell resolution, to cause disease. She leverages her understanding of cell biology, genomics and single cell technologies to aid human therapeutics and translates her research into oncology and neuro-psychiatry clinics. In 2022, Arpita was awarded a $100,000 Mass General Brigham “Innovation Discovery Grant” for engineering a therapeutic with promise against the most lethal form of brain cancer. Arpita is also a passionate zoologist and field biologist, with an interest in biodiversity conservation given climate change. In her spare time, she volunteers with the non-profit Ocean Alliance and works towards creating a healthier planet. She has also served as one of eLife’s Global Community Ambassadors, promoting, advocating and championing gender equality and responsible behaviors in science (2019-2020), and as a Harvard Graduate Women in Science and Engineering (HGWISE) mentor to women in STEMM (2017-present). She is also creative, multilingual, a world-traveler and an avid cook.
