Amrita Salvi, PhD

Dr. Amrita Salvi is a postdoctoral research associate in the laboratory of Dr. Joanna Burdette at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Dr. Salvi received a Master’s in Biotechnology from the University of Mumbai, where she worked with DNA microarrays prepared using bacteria. Dr. Salvi earned her Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore in 2016. Her Ph.D. research focused on understanding the role of actin cytoskeleton regulating proteins N-WASP (Neural-Wiskott Aldrich syndrome protein) and WIP (WASP Interacting Protein) and their function in hypoxia and TGF-beta induced Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (EMT).

With great interest in gynecological cancers and drug discovery, Dr. Salvi joined the Burdette lab for her postdoctoral research in 2017. Her research focuses on using natural compounds for drug discovery in ovarian cancer. Specifically, she has studied natural compounds from the Verticillin and Phyllanthusmin families and demonstrated their mechanism of action against high grade serous ovarian cancer. In addition, she studies the role of transcription factor PAX8 in modulating the tumor microenvironment of ovarian cancer. The ultimate goal of her research is to identify biomarkers for early detection of ovarian cancer and develop new therapies for women with ovarian cancer.