Durga Thakral – Paul & Daisy Soros Fellowships for New Americans

About Durga Thakral

Born in Illinois, Durga is the daughter of Indian immigrants. Her parents came to Chicago in pursuit of education and opportunity. Despite humble beginnings, Durga's family worked tirelessly to provide a loving and supportive environment, nurturing the cultural value of seva, or selfless service, in the setting of a new community.

Durga attended a local public high school where her admiration for the scientific mysteries of the universe was encouraged by many dedicated teachers and mentors. As an undergraduate in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate Thomas Steitz, Durga discovered a novel antibacterial compound. With support from the Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation and the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, Durga earned a combined bachelor's and master's degree in molecular biophysics and biochemistry from Yale.

Durga's work with communities with minimal healthcare resources has shown her the dire need for better access to medical care and affordable biomedical devices. She continues to find opportunities for selfless service wherever she can, sharing her enthusiasm for science with children and inspiring middle school girls to pursue careers in quantitative fields.

Durga is now an MD/PhD student in the laboratory of Richard Lifton in genetics at Yale. Her clinical experiences remind her of what a joy it is to work with patients, and she hopes to take advantage of the vast and growing power of molecular medicine in her work to improve the human condition and empower others to pursue their dreams.

Education

MS in Biochemistry, Yale University
BS in Molecular biophysics, Yale University
MD in Genetics, Yale University
PhD in Genetics, Yale University

Professional Fields

Milestones and Recognition

Barry M. Goldwater Foundation Scholar
Arnold & Mabel Beckman Foundation Scholar
Yale University Paul Sigler Memorial Prize for Excellence in Scholarship and Research in Molecular Biophysics & Biochemistry
Nkansah MK, Thakral D, Shapiro EM. Magnetic poly(lactide-co-glycolide) and cellulose particles for MRI-based cell tracking. Magn Reson Med. 2011;65(6):1776-85.
Hakim A*, Thakral D*, Zhu DF*, Nguyen JB. Expression, purification, crystallization and preliminary crystallographic studies of Rhagium inquisitor antifreeze protein. Acta Crystallogr Sect F Struct Biol Cryst Commun. 2012;68(Pt 5):547-50. *authors contributed equally
Hakim A, Nguyen JB, Basu K, Zhu DF, Thakral D, Davies PL, Isaacs FJ, Modis Y, Meng W. Crystal structure of an insect antifreeze protein and its implications for ice binding. J Biol Chem. 2013;288(17):12295-304.
Zhao S, Bellone S, Lopez S, Thakral D, et al. Mutational landscape of uterine and ovarian carcinosarcomas implicates histone genes in epithelial-mesenchymal transition. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 2016;113(43):12238-12243.
Thakral D, Tae HS. Discovery of a Structurally Unique Small Molecule that Inhibits Protein Synthesis. Yale J Biol Med. 2017;90(1):35-43.
Wang J, Perry CJ, Meeth K, Thakral D, et al. UV-induced somatic mutations elicit a functional T cell response in the YUMMER1.7 Mouse Melanoma Model. Pigment Cell Melanoma Res. 2017 (in press)