The Department of Cell Biology is excited to welcome Dr. Sameer Bajikar, Ph.D., as Assistant Professor of Cell Biology. Dr. Bajikar is an alumnus of UVA’s Department of Biomedical Engineering, where he completed received his undergraduate and graduate degrees, mentored by Dr. Kevin Janes. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Molecular and Human Genetics under the mentorship of Dr. Huda Zoghbi at Baylor College of Medicine.
Dr. Bajikar uses multidisciplinary techniques to study the biological processes that go awry in brain development in neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders and intellectual disability. His group is developing novel human stem cell and genetically engineered mouse models to study a variety of neurodevelopmental disorders. By combining these models, high throughput molecular measurements, and computational systems biology, he hopes to identify key biological pathways that are involved in causing neurodevelopmental disorders.