Likhith Chandragiri

EDUCATION

College / University

Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune

Highest Degree

Bachelor of Science - Master of Science Dual Degree

Major Subjects

Biology

Country

India

Lab Experience

Bacterial (E. coli and S. elongatus), insect (Sf9) and mammalian (MCF-7) cell culture; Recombinant protein expression in E. coli and Sf9 cells, protein purification by affinity chromatography using FPLC; Epifluorescence and TIRF microscopy, fluorescence recovery after photobleaching; In vitro reconstitution of liposomes, supported lipid bilayers, and purified proteins; Cloning (RE, PCR-based site-directed mutagenesis, Golden Gate), cyanobacterial genome engineering using CRISPR/Cpf1 and homologous recombination; PCR, agarose gel electrophoresis, SDS Page, Western Blot, BCA protein estimation assay, protein ultracentrifugation, glucose-sucrose estimation assay, cell migration assay

Projects / Research

2023 – 2024: MS Thesis, “Setting up an in vitro reconstitution system to study actomyosin-driven membrane organization using TIRF microscopy”
2023: Semester Project, “Studying regulation of epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT) in cancer cell lines using cell migration assay”
2022: Semester Project ,”Recombinant protein expression and purification of human PI4 Kinase B (PI4KB)”
2022: Summer Project, “Metabolic engineering of the cyanobacterium S. elongatus PCC 11801 for sucrose secretion”
2022: Semester Project, “Studying liquid-liquid phase separation of purified Cavin1”
2021: iGEM Synthetic Biology Competition, “Designing an artificial co-culture of E. coli and S. elongatus UTEX 2973 for biobutanol production derived from photosynthetically generated sucrose”

Scholarships / Awards

2025 – 2026:	Stipend by the International Max Planck Research School
2024:	Qualified for Junior Research Fellowship and received eligibility for lectureship/assistant professorship in Life Sciences by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, India
2021:	Gold Medal at the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) 2021 competition
2021:	Team Impact Grant by the iGEM Foundation
2019:	Bharat Electronics Academic Excellence Award

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS AND GOALS

I am fascinated by membrane biochemistry, cellular organization and gene regulation. I enjoy using complementary approaches spanning microscopy, genetics, biochemistry and structural biology to study cellular behavior at a mechanistic level. I am interested in studying how protein effectors regulate membrane structure, identity and dynamics during membrane remodeling and trafficking. These processes are essential for cellular signaling, material transport and organelle function, and their disruption often leads to disease. Furthermore, I am interested in experimentally mapping regulatory gene networks, signaling cascades, and whole genome changes in the context of immune responses and disease states like cancer. I am curious about how different layers of regulation – transcriptional, epigenetic and chromatin architecture – converge to establish context-specific and adaptive gene expression patterns.