Soumita Das

Soumita Das, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the University of Massachusetts Lowell (UMass Lowell), affiliated with the Zuckerberg College of Health Sciences and the Center for Pathogen Research & Training (CPRT). She also serves as an Adjunct Associate Professor at UC San Diego. Her research focuses on host-microbe interactions, microbial pathogenesis, and the development of organoid models for disease modeling and drug screening. Das leads the Das Lab, specializing in biochemistry, epithelial biology, microbiology, and mucosal immunology.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Life Sciences (Genomics), Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata, India
• M.S. in Biochemistry with Advanced Microbiology, University of Calcutta
• B.S. in Chemistry Honors with Physics and Mathematics, University of Calcutta

Research Interests:

Das investigates the cross-talk between gastrointestinal (GI) epithelial cells, immune cells, and microbes/pathogens. Her lab developed the 'gut-in-a-dish' model integrating epithelial cells, immune cells, and microbes to study infection, inflammation, and cancer. Key areas include:

• Infection/inflammation-mediated carcinogenesis
• Organoid-based disease modeling (e.g., lung and gut organoids)
• Role of DNA repair enzymes (e.g., NEIL2) in infection outcomes

Key Contributions:

• Co-founder of UC San Diego’s HUMANOID Center for organoid-based research
• Pioneered stem cell-derived lung organoid models for studying SARS-CoV-2 pathogenesis
• Developed AI-driven approaches for personalized therapies in Crohn’s disease

Awards:

• Featured in GEN (2021) for 'Gut-in-a-Dish' innovation
• Helmsley Trust Award ($4.7M) for Crohn’s disease research (2021)
• Invited talks at WHO, Society of Toxicology, and American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy

Labs & Collaborations:

Das Lab at UMass Lowell collaborates with computational biologists, engineers, and clinicians to advance organoid technologies. Ongoing projects include:

• Studying e-cigarette effects on gut/lung barriers
• Developing therapies targeting microbial-induced inflammation
• AI-guided discovery of macrophage modulators for IBD