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. Satish K. Nandakumar, M.B.B.S., Ph.D. Read more @ Dr. Satish Nandakumar’s Lab After my postdoctoral training, I wanted to start my own research program that would leverage human genetic studies to better understand hematologic malignancies and pre-leukemic conditions. I was looking for an institution with a strong hematopoiesis and leukemia group and I am fortunate to have found a home in the cell biology department at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. It is internationally recognized for its translational research in these fields and its faculty are world leaders in the biology of leukemic and hematopoietic stem cells. Our University Hospital and academic medical center, Montefiore Health System, is a designated national Center of Excellence by the Myelodysplastic Syndromes Foundation. And beyond the walls of Montefiore Einstein, the New York area is particularly rich in opportunities for intellectual exchange and scientific collaboration. 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. I was looking for an institution with a strong hematopoiesis and leukemia group and I am fortunate to have found a home in the cell biology department at Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Satish K. Nandakumar, M.B.B.S., Ph.D. My experience as a junior faculty in Einstein has been fantastic. It has been the perfect place to put down roots and grow my independent research career. Lab website: http://nandakumarlab.org Twitter: @neuron81