Kavitha Sarma

Dr. Kavitha Sarma is an Associate Professor in the Department of Cell and Developmental Biology at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, and holds a joint appointment at The Wistar Institute's Gene Expression and Regulation Program. Her lab is located at The Wistar Institute (Room 234, 3601 Spruce St, Philadelphia). She earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Rutgers University in 2007 and completed postdoctoral training at Massachusetts General Hospital-Harvard Medical School.

Her research focuses on RNA-mediated epigenetic regulation, with emphasis on:

• R-loop biology and their roles in genome stability
• Non-coding RNA mechanisms in gene silencing
• Polycomb proteins and chromatin remodeling
• Neurodevelopmental disorders and cancer epigenetics
• Development of genomic techniques like MapR for R-loop profiling

Her work connects nucleic acid structures (R-loops/G-quadruplexes) to epigenetic regulation and disease mechanisms.

Recent publications demonstrate strong emphasis on R-loop dynamics, genome organization, and their implications in neuronal differentiation, B-cell homeostasis, and cancer. Methodological innovations in proximity labeling and strand-specific mapping are consistent themes.

Dr. Sarma leads an active research team including postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, and research assistants. Current lab members include:

• Michelle Lynskey (Postdoc)
• Phillip Wulfridge (Postdoc)
• Emanuel Forciniti (Graduate Student)
• Kelvin Okpokpo (Graduate Student)

The lab utilizes embryonic stem cells, neuronal differentiation systems, and cancer models with biochemical and omics approaches. She actively advises trainees and hosts graduate rotations from UPenn programs.