Dr. Aparna Bhaduri earned a B.S in Biochemistry and Cell Biology and a B.A in Political Science from Rice University in 2010. She completed her doctoral studies at Stanford University in Cancer Biology in 2016, where she focused on epithelial tissue differentiation and neoplasms She was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California San Francisco in the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, in the lab of Dr. Arnold Kriegstein. As a postdoctoral scholar, she has used single-cell RNA sequencing to characterize cell types in the developing cortex across cortical areas, in human and non-human primates, and in glioblastoma. Because experimental manipulations of the developing human cortex will require in vitro models, she has been using similar approaches to compare cells types in organoid models and primary tissues. Her long term interests to be pursued in her own independent laboratory at UCLA are in understanding how stem cells during cortical development give rise to the human brain, and how aspects of these developmental programs can be hijacked in cancers such as glioblastoma. One aspect of normal development and cancer that particularly interests her is the role of metabolism in regulating cell fate and tissue homeostasis. In order to explore these questions, Aparna uses single-cell genomics, informatic analysis, and organoid models. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband rock climbing, biking, and cooking.