Dr. Atrayee Basu

I am a Postdoctoral Associate at Yale School of Medicine, working with Dr. Stephen Strittmatter. I did my PhD from National Brain Research Center (NBRC), Manesar, India, supervised by Dr. Anindya Ghosh Roy. My primary research interests involve investigating whether axonal regeneration following injury in adulthood leads to functional recovery in Caenorhabditis elegans. In my PhD thesis I have also addressed the molecular and cellular basis of functional recovery, using mechanosensory neuron involving touch sensation as the model. Specifically, we showed that a self-fusion mechanism between the neuron’s severed proximal and distal part during regeneration leads to a quick functional repair and this phenomenon is regulated by a highly conserved miRNA let-7.

In another line of research I investigate the effect of DAF-16/ FOXO transcription factor in Insulin/IIS signalling, which regulates the guidance of the regrowing axon towards its proper postsynaptic target in both cell-autonomous and non-autonomous manner.

I am also highly interested to further explore neural regeneration in higher models involving vertebrates such as mouse. You can find my detailed CV here. I am a recipient of the Inspiring Science Award, 2019 from TNQ, India. My research has been featured in The Hindu, one of the leading English newspapers in India. Other than research, I am a professional Indian Classical dancer (Bharatnatyam), and love painting and composing music.