Dr Suruchi Pacharne

Technical Specialist

Technical lead of the Immunology and Inflamation therapy arm of the Open Targets Validation Lab

CRISPR screening in haematopoietic systems.

As the experimental lead for the Immunology and Inflammation therapy arm at the Open Targets validation lab, I am dedicated to performing strategic and robust orthogonal validation of therapeutic targets emerging from the ambitious primary projects of Open Targets.

My current focus involves comprehensive, CRISPR-driven cellular phenotyping using a coordinated approach to screen three immune cell types: CD4+ T-cells, CD8+ T-cells, and B-cells. I specialise in establishing semi-automated arrayed CRISPR screening platforms in primary immune cells, incorporating multi parametric, cell-specific phenotypic readouts. These include, but are not limited to, proliferation, immune cell activation, cytokine profiling, and live cell and high-content imaging.

The experimentally prioritised lists of validated candidates will help us achieve our aim of expediting the industrial uptake of targets.

Before joining the Open Targets Validation lab I was a staff scientist in Prof George S Vassiliou’s lab here at Sanger, where my research focussed on identifying the genetic aberration that collaborate with FLT3-ITD mutations to establish an acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) in the absence of class defining mutations in the genes such as chimeric fusions and NPM1, MLL and RUNX1 mutations. Employing a multi-dimensional screening approach that comprised insertional mutagenesis and genome wide CRISPR-Cas9 editing, this work identified a new subclass of human FLT3-ITD AML which is driven by over-expression of the SETBP1 gene.

I also investigated synthetic lethality in myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) and AMLs  driven by mutations in the spliceosomal genes such as SF3B1, SRSF2 and U2AF1 and molecular mechanisms involved in the genetic occurrence patterns of NPM1 mutant AMLs.

My timeline

• Technical Specialist, Open Targets Validation Lab, Wellcome Sanger Institute

• Staff Scientist, Haematological cancer genetics, Cancer, Ageing and Somatic Mutation, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Vassiliou Lab

• Post-doctoral Fellow, Wellcome Sanger Institute, Vassiliou Lab

• PhD. University of Sheffield

• Research Technician, Mellanby Centre, University of Sheffield

• MSc. Molecular Medicine, University fo Sheffield

• MSc. Biotechnology, University of Mumbai

• BSc. Biotechnoly and Medical lab techniques, University of Mumbai