Investigating genetic regulation in the human placenta, while sipping on my flat white.
Big fan ofggplot2
and Jazz music. Jack-of-all-Trades kinda person
A PhD Candidate in the Medical Genetics Graduate Program at The University of British Columbia, I currently reside in the lovely and vibrant city of Vancouver in British Columbia, Canada.
My research interests lie in developmental, cardiovascular, and population genetics. My curiosity is driven by wanting to elucidate the genetic differences that exist between populations of different ancestries.
I firmly believe that the more you give, the more you get, and as such, I try to give back as much as I can to the community.
I’m an avid bibliophile, coffee enthusiast, and culinary aficionado. I also make and sell custom genetics-themed graphics and merchandise on Etsy!
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Last updated: March 2024
Latest Highlights:
Research Background:
Genomics and bioinformatics -
developmental/embryonic genetics, cardiovascular genetics, epidemiology,
lung and liver cancer, RNA, biostatistics
Programming:
R/RMarkdown/R Shiny, Linux/BASH, HPC,
Git/GitHub, Jupyter
Database Usage:
NCBI, OMIM, GEO, UCSC Genome Browser,
ClinVar, GeneCards, UniProt, GTex, miRBase, RNACentral
Genomics Analysis Tools:
IGV, PLINK, GEMMA,
miRMaster
Data Types:
GWAS Summary Statistics/SNP (UK/China
Kadoorie/Japan Biobanks), RNA sequencing (total and small), single-cell
RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), DNA methylation (850/450K)
University of British Columbia, Canada
(2019 - )
Thesis Project: Characterizing
small non-coding RNAs in the Human Placenta.
Dr. Wendy Robinson - BC
Children’s Hospital Research Institute | Lab Website
Dr. Wan Lam - BC Cancer
Research Centre | Lab Website
Awards:
4 Year Doctoral Fellowship (4YF) Award (2020-2024) – University of British Columbia
The James Miller Memorial Prize - Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia
President’s Academic Excellence Initiative PhD Award (2020-2024) – University of British Columbia
International Tuition Award (2019-2024) – University of British Columbia
Diversity Scholar 2022 - RStudio PBC
Trainee Travel Grant 2022 - BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Virtual Knowledge Exchange Grant 2021 – BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute
Pubs:
Martinez VD, Cohn DE, Telkar N, Minatel BC, Pewarchuk ME, Marshall EA, Price ME, Robinson WP, Lam WL Profiling the Small Non-Coding RNA Transcriptome of the Human Placenta.. 2021. Sci Data; 8, 166.
Cohn DE, Barros-Filho MC, Minatel BC, Pewarchuk ME, Marshall EA, Vucic EA, Sage AP, Telkar N, Stewart GL, Jurisica I, Reis PP, Robinson WP, Lam WL. Reactivation of multiple fetal miRNAs in lung adenocarcinoma. 2021. Cancers, 13, 2686.
Marshall EA, Telkar N, Lam WL. Functional role of the cancer microbiome in the solid tumour niche. 2021. Current Research in Immunology; 2: 1–6
Rees WD, Telkar N, Lin D, Peloni C, Fathi A, Kobor M, Zachos N, Steiner T. An in vitro chronic damage model impairs inflammatory and regenerative responses in human colonoid monolayers. 2022. Cell Reports; 38(3)
Telkar N, Stewart GL, Pewarchuk ME, Cohn DE, Robinson WP, Lam WL. Small Non-Coding RNAs in the Human Placenta: regulatory roles and clinical utility. Frontiers in Genetics 2022; 13.
Minatel BC, Cohn DE, Pewarchuk ME, Barros-Filho MC, Sage AP, Stewart GL, Marshall EA, Telkar N, Martinez VD, Reis PP, Robinson WP, Lam WL. Genetic and epigenetic mechanisms deregulate the CRL2pVHL complex in hepatocellular carcinoma. 2022. Frontiers in Genetics; 13.
Forder A, Stewart GL, Telkar N, Lam WL, Garnis C. New insights into the tumour immune microenvironment of nasopharyngeal cacinoma.. 2022. Current Research in Immunology; 3: 222–227.
Forder A, Zhuang R, Souza VGP, Brockley LJ, Pewarchuk ME, Telkar N, Stewart GL, Benard K, Marshall EA, Reis PP, Lam WL (2023). Mechanisms Contributing to the Comorbidity of COPD and Lung Cancer. International Journal of Molecular Sciences; 24(3):2859
Brockley LJ, Souza VGP, Forder A, Pewarchuk ME, Erkan M, Telkar N, Benard KH, Trejo J, Stewart MD, Stewart GL, Reis PP, Lam WL, Martinez VD (2023). Sequence-Based Platforms for Discovering Biomarkers in Liquid Biopsy of Non- Small-Cell Lung Cancer. Cancers; 15(8), 2275
Souza VGP, Forder A, Brockley LJ, Pewarchuk ME, Telkar N, de Araújo RP, Trejo J, Benard KH, Seneda AL, Minutentag IW, Erkan M, Stewart GL, Hasimoto EN, Garnis C, Lam WL, Martinez VD, Reis PP (2023). Liquid Biopsy in Lung Cancer: Biomarkers for the Management of Recurrence and Metastasis. International Journal of Molecular Sciences; 24(10):8894
Souza VGP, Forder A, Telkar N, Stewart GL, RF Carvalho, Mur LAJ, Lam WL, Reis PP (2023). Identifying New Contributors to Brain Metastasis in Lung Adenocarcinoma: A Transcriptomic Meta-Analysis.. Cancers 2023, 15(18), 4526
Souza VGP, Forder A, Pewarchuk ME, Telkar N, , RF Carvalho, de Araújo RP, Stewart GL, Vieira J, Reis PP, Lam WL (2023). The Complex Role of the Microbiome in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Development and Progression. Cells 2023, 12(24), 2801
In-revisions - Souza VGP, Telkar N, Lam WL, Reis PP. Comprehensive Analysis of Lung Adenocarcinoma and Brain Metastasis through Integrated Single-Cell Transcriptomics
Submitted - Rolf N, Liu LYT, Leclair P, Lorentzian AC, Atre T, Farrokhi A, Telkar N, Casazza W, Vercauteren SM, Lange PF, Maxwell CA, Lim CJ, Reid GSD (2024). Immunophenotype shifts during childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) relapse progression result from changing abundance levels of phenotypically distinct subpopulations
Submitted - Telkar N, Stewart GL, Minatel BC, Cohn DE, Benard K, Souza VGP, Pewarchuk ME, Martinez VD, Reis PP, Robinson WP, Lam WL. Reactivation of human fetal microRNAs in liver cancer
Submitted - Telkar N, Hui D, Peñaherrera MS, Yuan V, Martinez VD, Stewart GL, Beristain AG, Lam WL, Robinson WP. Profiling the cell-specific small non-coding RNA transcriptome of the human placenta
Communication:
Selected Presentation within ‘New Technologies in Cancer Genetics’ at the European Society of Human Genetics (ESHG) 2023 Conference
University of Toronto Health Network (UHN) Seminar Series - Invited
ONCO548: Knowledge Translation, Interdisciplinary Oncology Program, UBC - Invited
University College London, London, England
Wellcome Sanger Institute, Cambridge, London
(2017 - 2018)
Dissertation: Comparing the
Genetic Architecture of Lipid Traits between Populations
Supervisor: Dr. Karoline
Kuchenbaecker
Polygenics Risk Scores published on EMBL-EBI’s PGS Catalog
University of Newcastle upon Tyne, England
(2014 -2017)
Dissertation: Genome-wide RNAi Screening to identify new genes involved in Mitochondrial Disease
Awards:
Genes and Development Summer Studentship 2016 – The Genetics Society UK
Faculty of Medical Sciences Undergraduate Research Scholarship 2016 – Newcastle University
Commendation Award – Newcastle University Student Research Scholarships and Expeditions 2016
Second Place Poster Award 2016 – Newcastle University Faculty of Medicine
ncl+ Award – Newcastle University (for extracurricular achievement)
Pubs:
Nucleate Genesis, Canada (October 2023 - )
Nucleate: Canada Chapter, Canada (October 2023 - )
Front Row Ventures, British Columbia, Canada (October 2023 - )
BenchSci, Toronto, Canada (April 2022 - October 2023)
adMare BiInnovations, Canada (April - June 2023)
Trainee Omics Group (TOG) Committee, BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute (September 2021 - Present)
BC Children’s Hospital Research Institute, Vancouver, Canada (Jan - June 2021)
University of British Columbia, Canada (Sept - Dec 2020)
"the best TA he's ever worked with"
by the Head
of the Medical Genetics Graduate Program :
“Nikita always responded promptly and thoughtfully to requests for advice. Her input and assistance helped guide the learning process. She did everything I think a good teacher should, and went above and beyond the time and effort I would expect from a TA. She was the best part of the course.”
MIT-ADT School of Bioengineering Sciences and Research, Pune, India (Feb - July 2019)
ScribblezbyNiki (June 2021 - )
SPIRITFUL (April - September 2019)
Department of Neuroscience, University College London (Nov 2017 - Jan 2018)
Department of Medical Genetics, UBC (2019 – Present)
Newcastle University and UBC (2015 – 2016 / 2020 – Present)
UBC Medical Genetics Graduate Student Association (January 2021 – Present)
Geneskool, Genome British Columbia (October 2019 – October 2020)
Newcastle South Asian Society (2016 – 2017)
rstudio::conf(2022), Washington D.C.
Shiny for R
web application developmentCentre for Teaching, Learning and Technology, UBC
"Nikita, your students will be lucky to have you, you make everything so easy to understand.”