Alumni Spotlight on Nikita Divekar

Nikita Divekar, PhD, is a CRS alumna and former PhD student in Dr. Sadie Wignall's lab. She is currently a post-doc in the lab of Dr. James Nunez at UC Berkeley.

Thesis mentor: Sadie Wignall, PhD 
Thesis title: Genetic approaches reveal novel roles of kinases in C. elegans oocyte meiosis 

What is your connection to the CRS community (mentor and position) and what is your current position? 

I was a graduate student in the lab of Dr. Sadie Wignall in the Molecular Biosciences Department, where I studied oocyte meiosis in C. elegans using microscopy and biochemistry techniques. I currently work as a post-doc at UC Berkeley in the lab of Dr. James Nunez where the goal is to understand mechanisms involved in epigenetic silencing of genes and use them to design new CRISPR-based epigenetic editors. 

Could you describe your current research/studies? 

The focus of the Nunez lab is epigenetic inheritance and CRISPR-based epigenome editing. DNA and histone tails can be modified by various chemical groups, which have the ability to affect underlying gene expression. One such modification is DNA methylation, which dynamically changes throughout development. We work with CRISPRoff, an epigenetic editing tool that enables heritable gene silencing via addition of DNA methylation and histone tail modifications. My project focuses on identifying all the genes that enable heritable epigenetic silencing using CRISPRoff and a whole genome CRISPR-based knockout approach. Thus, we hope to elucidate the mechanisms through which gene silencing is established in cells and to further expand on these findings by building new epigenetic editors. 

What aspect(s) of CRS did you find most valuable?  

There were multiple aspects of CRS that I found valuable. First, I enjoyed having a sense of community, support, and resources that CRS provided for researchers in reproductive biology. It was always a pleasure to interact with other researchers in the community across the two Northwestern campuses. A second valuable aspect for me was attending the weekly Reproductive Research Updates. These updates provided a great opportunity to gain insights into the research that is being conducted across the field. As someone who worked in basic biology, these updates also provided me with exposure to more translational research topics in reproductive biology.  

What has been the most valuable aspect to your training as a reproductive scientist in CRS? 

One of the most valuable aspects to my training as a reproductive scientist in CRS was that I was provided with a platform to present my work to a larger community that has a broad range of interests and expertise. Not only was I able to receive feedback on the work that I was conducting but also received useful inputs from my peers, which further helped guide my research. Overall, these opportunities enabled me to own my presentation skills by learning how to present my work to a wide audience as well as think about my research from variable perspectives. Overall, these opportunities significantly enriched my training as a scientist.  

What would you recommend to junior scientists in order for them succeed in their scientific careers?​  

I would recommend for junior scientists to be curious and willing to expand into different areas of science. With the rapidly developing technologies and new -omics methodologies emerging in the field, it has become more important to adapt and expand one’s skillset. This can enable them ask and answer different types of scientific questions.    

What do you think will be the next big contribution in the reproductive biology field?  

There has been a lot of development in recent years in the field of artificial organs; from using 3D printed mouse ovaries to organoids developed in a petri dish that enable infertility treatment. It would be exciting to see how these discoveries transform the field in the future. 

Do you have any notable stories from your time in CRS? 

I distinctly remember attending Dr. Teresa Woodruff’s talk while being a part of CRS on bio prosthetic ovaries and it had a profound impact on me