Seminar Series: Nadya Dimitrova

Nadya Dimitrova, associate professor in the Molecular, Cellular & Developmental Biology department at Yale University, will be a speaker for the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research 2025-26 Seminar Series.

Dimitrova graduated with a BS in Biochemistry from Brown University and received a PhD from Rockefeller University. As a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Tyler Jacks at MIT, she pioneered the development of genetic mouse models to study long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) in cancer biology. Dimitrova is the recipient of the HHMI Predoctoral Fellowship, the Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award, the Damon Runyon Postdoctoral Fellowship Award,  the 2016 Lung Cancer Research Foundation Scientific Merit Award, the 2017 Pew-Stewart Award for Cancer Research, the NIH Merit Award, and the 2020 Lion Heart Award.

Title: Regulatory Long Noncoding RNAs: From Molecular Mechanisms to Organismal Functions

Mammalian genomes transcribe thousands of long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs), often with exquisite cell type, cell state, and disease specificity. The Dimitrova lab investigates the roles of lncRNAs in fine-tuning gene expression. The centerpiece of our research is the development and utilization of innovative genetic and epigenetic approaches to perturb endogenous lncRNAs in cultured mammalian cell lines and in genetically engineered mouse models. Using these tools, we establish fundamental principles governing the molecular contribution of lncRNAs to cellular and organismal processes and uncover their roles in disease states, such as cancer.

The event is hosted by Andrea Kasinski.