About
Dr. Dipti Rai serves as a Researcher within the Department of Biology at Utrecht University's Faculty of Science, specifically affiliated with the Cell Biology, Neurobiology and Biophysics section and the Biodynamics and Biocomplexity research group. Her laboratory is situated in room Z502 of the Hugo R. Kruytgebouw building at Padualaan 8, Utrecht, with direct contact via d.rai@uu.nl and +31 30 253 1229.
She completed her doctoral studies at Utrecht University in 2023, defending her thesis titled Dynamic life of a microtubule: From birth, growth and stabilization to damage and destruction, which established her expertise in cytoskeletal mechanics. Her research program centers on microtubule dynamics and cytoskeletal organization, employing advanced biophysical and cell biological methodologies to investigate molecular mechanisms of microtubule nucleation, stabilization, and repair. Key protein systems under investigation include CAMSAPs, γ-TuRC, and CLASPs, with implications for fundamental processes like cell division and neuronal development.
Analysis of her publication trajectory reveals consistent high-impact contributions, particularly in Nature Cell Biology (2024) and Nature Materials (2023), demonstrating expertise in mechanical regulation of microtubules and specialized nucleation mechanisms. Her work bridges biophysics and cell biology through innovative live-cell imaging and molecular perturbation approaches.
No scientific awards were documented in available sources. Dr. Rai operates within the Biodynamics and Biocomplexity group, an interdisciplinary team leveraging cutting-edge microscopy and biochemical techniques to study complex biological systems, with particular relevance to cellular mechanics and neural development.
