Meet The Team

Principal Investigator
Utthara Nayar
I spent my childhood in Oman, then earned my BS (double major) from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and my PhD from Cornell University in NYC. I completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School, and started the Nayar laboratory at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2021. I'm passionate about making an impact on the lives of cancer patients, and mentoring the next generation of researchers.
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In my non-science life, I'm a professionally-trained Indian classical dancer, and adore music, travel, food, and the arts. I'm also (unfortunately?) a political junkie, and a sucker for rhetorical debates over beers.

Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr. Pooja Goswami
Hi, I’m a Postdoctoral researcher at the Nayar lab. I’m originally from India and my ethnicity is a bit chaotic as my parents are from two very different states in the country and I’ve grown up moving through an even wider array of locales.
I moved to New York, to pursue my Ph.D. at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where I learnt a lot about how our cells are brilliant at figuring out how much to grow so we stay healthy. After that adventure, I then joined the Yale School of Medicine to dip my toe into core Biology, to eventually migrate into translational, application-based research. Now, at the Nayar Lab, I look forward to making contributions towards ameliorating endocrine therapeutic resistances in cancer.
Outside the lab, I have a husband and two fur-babies, a kitty and a pup (major cuddlers) and I love mythology, horror, true-crime, fantasy and science fiction almost as much as science (you can find me passaging cells at the cell-culture hood while I listen to podcasts about mythical Greek creatures (like gorgons and centaurs) and real-life monsters (i.e, Bundy and Gacy). I love animals, music, traveling, reading, Legos, and experimenting in the kitchen! P.s- I’m a die-hard Potterhead!

Undergraduate Researcher
Julianna Wu
Hello! I’m an undergraduate at Johns Hopkins University majoring in Molecular and Cellular Biology and Public Health volunteering at the Nayar Lab. I’m passionate about breast cancer, where I previously investigated CDK4/6is and cancer resistance over the summer. Outside of the lab, I am a member of the Hopkins Women’s fencing team and I teach in Special Art, a program offering art classes to kids with special needs. In my free time, I enjoy reading and you can always find me looking for my next book on Goodreads.

ScM student
Tazrin Rahman
I'm an MHS student in the Biochemistry and Molecular Biology department, preparing to transition to the ScM program with plans to attend medical school. As a pre-med at Virginia Commonwealth University, I unknowingly began my journey into cancer research. That experience not only introduced me to the field but also set me on the path to Hopkins, where I've been able to explore cancer biology in greater depth while considering its broader clinical implications. Originally from New York City, I enjoy discovering new spots in Baltimore — especially its food scene and the endless coffee shops this city has to offer.
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Twitter: at_Nayar_Lab