Akanksha Nagarkar, B.S., B.A.

Akanksha Nagarkar, B.S., B.A. (she/her), joined DCEG as a predoctoral fellow through the NIH Medical Research Scholars Program in the Clinical Genetics Branch (CGB), in July 2024. Prior to joining DCEG, Ms. Nagarkar completed her third year of medical school at University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, Worcester, where she conducted immunology and health disparities research. She earned her B.S. in biology and B.A. in anthropology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst in 2021. Ms. Nagarkar maintained a strong passion for research throughout her undergraduate and medical school studies, which led her to apply to and be selected by the NIH Medical Research Scholars Program. She is also passionate about community-based research efforts and is the Director of a non-profit organization focused on increasing education and access to future health predictors, like nutrition.

In CGB, Ms. Nagarkar uses bioinformatics and biostatistics to investigate telomere function genes associated with numerous diseases including thyroid cancer, Coats plus syndrome, and melanoma, under the mentorship of Sharon Savage, M.D.