MD/PhD candidate · UCLA–Caltech MSTP
Arun Chakravorty
I study how cells coordinate across space and time to build tissue architecture and function, and how the loss of that order underlies disease.
I am drawn to genetics: how genes specify the identity of cells, and how those cells coordinate to give a tissue its architecture and rhythm. In my PhD in the Cai Lab at Caltech, I asked a deceptively simple question: can the spatial arrangement of cells tell us about their temporal dynamics? With in-situ spatial transcriptomics (seqFISH+), we showed that a single snapshot of the seminiferous epithelium gives us a timeline of the entire process of spermatogenesis; from that timeline, we discovered that Sertoli cells carry their own intrinsic transcriptional clock, one that synchronizes germ-cell development across space and time and seems to create the foundational tissue architecture (Cell, 2026).
I'm now in my clinical years and figuring out where in medicine I want to go. What stays constant is what draws me: tissue architecture and function, how cells arrange themselves to let a tissue do its job, and what breaks down when that arrangement is lost. My goal is to understand that well enough to one day give patients back the function they've lost.
Fun fact: if you're in dark mode, the background is raw imaging data of RNA dots across a small part of a tissue section.
Basic SciencePublications
Six entriesBridging Space and Time: Resolving the Temporal Dynamics of the Seminiferous Epithelial Cycle Using Spatial Transcriptomics
An internal expectation guides Drosophila egg-laying decisions
Standardization of functional reporter and antibiotic resistance cassettes to facilitate the genetic engineering of filamentous fungi
An arsenic-specific biosensor with genetically engineered Shewanella oneidensis in a bioelectrochemical system
ClinicalPublications
Four entriesWhole Genome Sequencing of Archival Human Temporal Bones – Identification and Characterization of DFNA17
Overall Efficacy and Subgroup Predictors of Biologic and Endoscopic Sinus Surgery Response in CRSwNP: A Systematic Review
Salvage High-Dose Rate Brachytherapy for Locally Recurrent Prostate Cancer: Outcomes, Predictors, and PSA Dynamics
Trends in use and comparison of stereotactic body radiation therapy, brachytherapy, and dose-escalated external beam radiation therapy for the management of localized, intermediate-risk prostate cancer