Chaitanya Acharya, Phd Email & Phone Number

I combine computational biology and bioinformatics with pre-clinical models to study cancer. My multidisciplinary academic training and research experience provided me with an excellent background in molecular biology, immunology, computational biology and statistics. I first trained as a Computational Biologist at Arizona State University in a Masters program. My fascination with precision medicine developed at Duke University, where I was a research associate in a cancer genomics lab. My research focused on using pre-existing statistical approaches that utilized high-throughput data from genomic assays to identify and therapeutically target various oncogenic signaling pathways. During this time, I was a two-time recipient of Duke Young Investigator Award. Consequently, my predoctoral training at Duke University focused on understanding the statistical underpinnings of these genomic models. As a result, I developed new statistical approaches that efficiently and jointly models various high-throughput genomic modalities. My research culminated in several first author publications proposing new methods to model gene expression data and various other genomic determinants. Towards the end of my predoctoral training, my continued interest in cancer genomics resulted in training in immuno-oncology at the Duke Center for Applied Therapeutics. As a postdoctoral researcher, my training focused on developing predictive (preclinical and retrospective) models and translational strategies to understand combination immunotherapy, study responses and resistance to cancer immunotherapy, and identify novel biomarkers and targets. My research obligations were furthered by a NIH-sponsored viral oncology NIH T32 training grant. My current research work, which focuses on developing novel strategies to treat HER2+ breast cancer (that is refractory and metastatic) by leveraging single cell multi-omic and spatial transcriptomic data, is supported by a pilot grant from DoD sponsored Transformative Breast Cancer Consortium (TBCC). My research obligations also include writing NIH sponsored grants, training medical and graduate students and fostering collaborations with Principal investigators both at and outside Duke University Medical Center. I am committed to excellent and rigorous translational research with an emphasis on responsible research.