Vaishnavi Ganapathy Shankar
Sandy
Summary
Research Scientist with 10+ years investigating the molecular mechanisms underlying human physiology, with expertise in RNA biology, circadian biology, multi-omics, biomarker discovery, and translational neuroscience. I combine experimental biology with quantitative, systems-level analysis of complex biological datasets to uncover mechanisms of health and disease in human-derived models — directly relevant to Oura's focus on sleep, circadian rhythms, and biobehavioral health. As an independent scientist, I've led multidisciplinary research from hypothesis through publication, designing novel assays, integrating multi-omic datasets, and building cross-disciplinary collaborations, and I'm drawn to translating that mechanistic depth into insights that improve people's daily lives.
Overview
7
7
years of professional experience
Work History
Research Scientist
University Of Utah Health
Salt Lake City, UT
06.2026 - Current
- Coordinate project lifecycle from planning to execution, including data collection and analysis in stem-cell–derived brain organoid systems to investigate disease-associated molecular mechanisms.
- Mentor 4 graduate students towards thesis completion; lead scientific communication and cross-functional collaborations, and contributed to grant writing efforts including a DoD-AR funding award that has been selected for review.
- Facilitate communication between cross-functional teams, clinicians, core facility managers, biochemists and operations managers.
Research Affiliate (voluntary Role)
New York University, Center for Neural Sciences
New York, NY
11.2024 - 06.2026
- Performed off-site management of collected scientific data for 2 projects in order to make it more presentable and usable for further research and scientific publications and outreach communications, and wrote a paper of all relevant findings.
- Performed OMICs analyses on various translational datasets exploring molecular mechanism of neurodevelopment
- Trained 2 postdoctoral researchers and 2 graduate students in data handling, established protocols and result reporting
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
New York University, Center for Neural Sciences
New York, NY
07.2021 - 09.2024
- Led two concurrent research programs investigating molecular mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders, with one manuscript in preparation.
- Developed and optimized multi-modal molecular assays integrating RNA, protein, and ribosome profiling datasets; established GCLP-compliant workflows and an ELN-based recording system, reducing documentation overhead by 30%.
- Secured competitive NIH funding, contributed to peer review for Nature, Molecular Cell, and Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, and presented at 3 international conferences while initiating 2 cross-functional collaborations.
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Pittsburgh, PA
05.2019 - 06.2021
- Led 3 multidisciplinary projects on molecular regulation of circadian biology, resulting in publications in PNAS, Nature, and Biological Psychiatry.
- Developed novel biochemical and molecular biology assays to study sleep-related mechanisms using human biosamples and rodent models.
- Optimized human biosample collection and processing workflows under GCP/GCLP standards, reducing cross-sample variability by 33% and improving downstream data reliability.
- Collaborated closely with computational biologists, clinicians, and experimental scientists to integrate and interpret large-scale multi-dimensional biological datasets.
Education
Ph.D. - Biochemistry
University of Bern
Bern, Switzerland04-2019
Master of Science - Biomedical Sciences
University of Glasgow
Glasgow, Scotland09-2014
Bachelor of Science - Biotechnology
Anna University
Chennai, India05-2012
Skills
- Clinical & Translational Research Operations
Study design, protocol development, GCP, GCLP workflows, SOP adherence, regulatory awareness, milestone tracking, risk mitigation, translational study execution, and cross-functional project coordination
Molecular & Experimental BiologyRT-qPCR, multiplex PCR, RNA-seq, CLIP-seq, FISH, fluorescence-based nucleic acid detection, assay development and validation, and human biospecimen processing
- Multi-Omics & Data Science
R-based multi-omics analysis pipelines, biomarker discovery and validation, statistical analysis, data interpretation, and visualization (GraphPad Prism, MS Office, Adobe)
Scientific Leadership, Communication & Translational FocusResearch leadership, experimental design, mentorship, grant writing, scientific writing, publications, conference presentations, stakeholder communication, and cross-disciplinary collaboration in neuroscience, circadian biology, neurodevelopment, women’s health, and disease mechanisms
Accomplishments
- Led 7+ independent research programs investigating biological rhythms, RNA regulation, neurodevelopment, and translational biomarkers using multi-omics and human-derived models, resulting in 7 peer-reviewed papers.
- Designed and implemented 30+ novel molecular assays and analytical workflows that improved reproducibility by 40% and enabled discovery of disease- and physiology-associated biomarkers.
- Published research in high-impact journals including PNAS, Nature Communications, Nucleic Acids Research, and Biological Psychiatry.
- Built 12 multidisciplinary collaborations, mentored 14 trainees, and contributed to grant-funded research across multiple institutions.
- Founded Motherhood 360 Degrees, an evidence-based science communication initiative translating neuroscience and women's health research into accessible public education.
Timeline
Research Scientist
University Of Utah Health
06.2026 - Current
Research Affiliate (voluntary Role)
New York University, Center for Neural Sciences
11.2024 - 06.2026
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
New York University, Center for Neural Sciences
07.2021 - 09.2024
Postdoctoral Researcher
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
05.2019 - 06.2021
Ph.D. - Biochemistry
University of Bern
Master of Science - Biomedical Sciences
University of Glasgow
Bachelor of Science - Biotechnology
Anna University
Clinical Training and Certifications
• Clinical Trial Management and Advanced Operations — Johns Hopkins University (2025)
• Clinical Trial Data Management and Quality Assurance — Johns Hopkins University (2024)
• Design and Conduct of Clinical Trials — Johns Hopkins University (2024)
• Clinical Trial Operations (regulatory affairs, DBMS, study planning to execution)
• Good Clinical Laboratory Practice (GCLP) — The Global Health Network (2026)
• KICKOFF Project Management Program — PMI (2025)
• Lean Six Sigma White Belt — SixSigma (2026)
Selected Publications
6 peer-reviewed publications • 120+ citations
• Shankar VG et al. Size matters: Fighting repeat expansion size in fragile X syndrome using antisense oligonucleotides. PNAS
• Petersen K, … Shankar VG et al. Comparative rhythmic transcriptome profiling of human and mouse striatal subregions. Nature Neuropsychopharmacology.
• Ketchesin KD, … Shankar VG et al. Diurnal rhythms across the human dorsal and ventral striatum. PNAS