Vikram R Paralkar

Vikram R Paralkar, MD, serves as Assistant Professor of Medicine in the Division of Hematology-Oncology at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine. His research program investigates transcriptional regulation of ribosomal RNA and ribosome biogenesis in normal hematopoiesis and leukemia, with affiliations spanning the Penn Epigenetics Institute, Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, Abramson Family Cancer Research Institute, and Abramson Cancer Center.

Education:

• HSC, DG Ruparel College, Mumbai, India (1998)
• MD, Seth GS Medical College, Mumbai, India (2004)

Dr. Paralkar's work integrates human patient samples, mouse models, and computational approaches to dissect gene regulation in hematopoietic stem cells and leukemic transformation. His lab specializes in ribosomal DNA mapping, nucleolar biology, and chromatin regulation, with particular focus on how transcription factors like PHF6 and CEBPA control RNA Polymerase I activity. Current projects examine ribosome biogenesis as a metabolic vulnerability in leukemia and develop bioinformatic tools for repetitive genome analysis.

Analysis of his 2023-2025 publications reveals dominant themes in ribosomal RNA dynamics across the hematopoietic tree, leukemia stem cell regulation through chromatin complexes, and clinical translation of basic findings into AML risk assessment (e.g., tumor lysis syndrome criteria) and health disparity research. His work bridges molecular mechanisms with therapeutic applications, particularly in targeting nucleolar processes in myeloid malignancies.

Dr. Paralkar actively mentors PhD candidates in Cancer Biology, Genetics and Epigenetics, and Developmental Biology programs, supervising projects ranging from spermidine metabolism in leukemia to computational genomics. His NIH-funded laboratory recruits researchers for studies on transcriptional regulation in hematopoiesis, with emphasis on both wet-lab and dry-lab approaches.

The Paralkar Lab maintains a multidisciplinary team structure with dedicated computational biologists, research specialists, and administrative support. Current initiatives include developing customized genomes for ribosomal DNA mapping, investigating PHF6-mediated stemness suppression, and exploring nucleotide metabolism as a therapeutic target in AML, operating from the BRB II/III research facility at 421 Curie Boulevard.