LAB NEWS
Saini lab at GRC Mammalian DNA repair 2025
February 6th, 2025
Dr. Saini presented at the Gordon Research Conference Mammalian DNA repair meeting in Ventura, CA. The first of many exciting conferences this year!​
Mentor of the year- Dr. Saini!!
January 6th, 2025
Great start to the new year, as our fearless leader has been voted the Department of Biochemistry Mentor of the year 2024. Big congrats!​
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New paper out in Genetics!!
December 23rd, 2024
Our latest work looking at the role of DNA repair pathways in acetaldehyde mutagenesis is accepted to Genetics! This has been a true team effort. Big congrats to Latarsha and all the other involved in this project!​
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Saini Lab in MUSC news
December 16th, 2024
Check out this cool piece on our latest ACS grant in the Hollings Cancer Center newsletter. Go team!
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Latest research talks from the lab
Dec 10th,2024
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Dr. Saini presented our latest research on somatic mutations in SSc at the Annual National Scleroderma Foundation webinar. Sriram did the same at the Department of Biochemistry Research and Methods seminar. Go team!
New rotation student!
Nov 25th, 2024
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First year PhD student Elizabeth Snow is rotating with us this Fall! Elizabeth graduated from the University of Central Florida with a degree in Molecular Microbiology and a minor in Biomedical Sciences, and is excited to pursue research in Molecular Biology! In her free time she enjoys playing musical instruments, watching theatre productions as well as films, and traveling. Welcome aboard!
Thomas rides for MUSC LowVelo 2024!
November 2nd, 2024
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Thomas completed an epic 50 mile bike ride as a participant in the MUSC LOWVELO2024. He was joined by more than 1800 other participants at the annual fundraising event. (Pictured at the finish line looking not the least bit tired.) Go Thomas!!
Saini Lab at the CBI retreat 2024
October 21st, 2024
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The Saini lab attended the annual MUSC Cancer biology and Immunology program retreat at the beautiful Riverfront park. Dr. Saini co-chaired the meeting with Dr. de Cubas, Sriram gave a nice talk, and Thomas presented his beautiful poster. Good work!
New grant!
October 20th, 2024
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Dr. Saini received the prestigious Research Scholar Grant from American Cancer Society that funds us through the end of 2028. Go team!$$$$
Our scleroderma paper accepted and is now live!!
October 15th, 2024
Delighted to announce a brand new paper from the Saini lab, this time looking at the burden of somatic mutations in systemic sclerosis (SSc), a project that was started in the lab's early days in collaboration with Dr. Carol Feghali-Bostwick over at the MUSC Dept of Rheumatology. A huge congrats to all the authors! Read our TL;DR blog here
Thomas presents at Lowvelo 2024
October 4th, 2024
Thomas presented a poster on his research at the annual MUSC LowVelo research symposium. Good job representing the Saini lab!
New paper!
September 12th, 2024
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Our review on aldehydes and DPCs is out on Frontiers. Congrats to Thomas for his first publication! Many more to come hopefully
Newest lab member!
August 5th, 2024
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Sam Becker joins us from Pennsylvania as our lab's new research assistant. Sam graduated from Penn State in Spring 2024 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. In his free time, he likes to play soccer, ski, and play guitar. Welcome aboard!
Award for Dr. Saini!!
August 13th, 2024
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Dr. Saini won the prestigious Developing Scholar Award 2024 (Basic Sciences category) from MUSC College of Medicine. The award recognizes an early career researcher who successfully demonstrated competitiveness for extramural funding, and displayed exceptional promise for research. Big honor and Huge congrats!!
Farewell trainees!
August 3rd, 2024
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Bittersweet summer for the Saini lab as we bid adieu to some of our exceptional students. Brief highlights:
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Our brilliant tech Alessandra starts grad school at KSU in a couple of weeks
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SURP trainee Yashvi did a fantastic summer rotation project and followed it up with a cool presentation at the SURP trainee symposium. She goes back to finish her degree at Clemson
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High School students Sarah and Emily finished their lab rotations. Sarah goes off to USC this fall, while Emily goes back to high school.
We thank all these amazing individuals for a fantastic summer, and wish them all the very best in their respective journeys. Onwards and upwards!
New grant from the cancer center!
July 29th, 2024
A joint research proposal from our lab and Dr. Judit Jimenez Sainz at MUSC Hollings cancer center has been awarded a pilot HCC Cancer Center Support Grant for one year. Team science!!
Saini Lab at FASEB meeting!
July 15th,2024
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Sriram presented a poster at the 2024 FASEB Genetic recombinations and genome rearrangements conference in Tucson, Arizona. Fantastic meeting!
June 17th, 2024
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Dr. Saini and grad student Thomas attended GRC Mutagenesis in New Hampshire and presented their work. Thomas did an awesome job at his poster! 👉 👉
The Saini Lab at GRC Mutagenesis 2024!
New High School student!
June 11th, 2024
Emily Ruth Wilson joins us for the summer from the Governors School of South Carolina for Science and Math. She loves STEM and hopes to attend medical school in the future. Welcome aboard!
Thomas passed his comps!!
May 23rd, 2024
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Thomas wowed his committee with an excellent research proposal and presentation and passed his comprehensive exam with flying colors!! A big congrats to the official PhD candidate!
New SURP student!
June 4th, 2024
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The Saini lab is super excited to have Yashvi Patel join us this summer! Yashvi is a junior biochemistry and psychology major at Clemson University, and will complete her summer research internship with us as a part of MUSC's SURP program. When not in the lab, she likes hiking (anything outdoors really), traveling, and listening to music. Welcome aboard Yashvi!
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Latest lab grant!
February 20th, 2024
We have been awarded a one year grant from the Nothstein-Cerasa foundation. Woohoo!!
February 20th, 2024
We have been awarded a one year grant from the Nothstein-Cerasa foundation. Woohoo!!
New high school research trainee!
February 20th, 2024
Our first high school trainee! Academic magnet High school junior Sarah Bordyn joins our lab for a research internship. She loves science, learning about new things, and working out! Welcome aboard!
Alessandra graduates from the College of Charleston!
December 16th, 2023
Years of blood, sweat, and toil finally paid off for Alessandra as she successfully completed her college journey ! Many congratulations, and looking forward to great things from her in the future!
Latest preprint from the Saini lab!
January 8th, 2024
Our work on acetaldehyde-associated mutagenesis in repair-deficient yeast strains is now live on BiorXiv! Congrats to first author Latarsha and all the others who contributed, Great start to the year!
The Saini Lab at the 2023 LowVelo Trainee symposium
December 1st, 2023
Thomas did an awesome job presenting a poster on his work at the 2023 Lowvelo trainee symposium organized by the Hollings Cancer Center (MUSC). Well done Thomas!
The Saini Lab has a new grant from MUSC COBRE/ CDLD
October 10th, 2023
Our Pilot and Feasibility application has been selected for funding through the MUSC Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Digestive & Liver Disease (CDLD). Woohoo!​
Saini lab at EMGS 2023!
September 19th, 2023
Students Alessandra and Thomas presented posters and Dr. Saini gave a talk at the EMGS 2023 meeting in Chicago. What a fantastic meeting!!
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Our R35 application got funded!
25th July, 2023
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A huge day for the Saini Lab! We received the NOA for Maximizing Investigators' Research Award (MIRA) (R35) from NIGMS. Go team!!
New review out from the Saini Lab!
25th June, 2023
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Our review article "Aldehyde-Associated Mutagenesis- Current State of Knowledge" got published in Chemical Research in Toxicology. Many congrats to Sriram!
Alessandra wins travel award!
23rd June, 2023
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The Awards & Honors Committee of the Environmental Mutagenesis and Genomics Society (EMGS) selected Alessandra's application to receive an EMGS Student and New Investigator Travel Awards for 2023. She will travel to Chicago later this Fall to present her work at the EMGS conference 2023. Congrats!!
Thomas joins the lab!
23rd May, 2023
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A big day for the Saini lab, as Thomas Blouin officially joins the group as the lab's very first graduate student! Welcome Thomas!!
Elizabeth Ampolini joins the lab for rotations!
February 21st, 2023
Elizabeth graduated from NC State University (go Pack!) in 2022 with a BS in Biochemistry and a Genetics minor, and is now a first year in the Biomedical Sciences PhD program here at MUSC. She is excited to pursue research in molecular biology. In her free time Elizabeth loves painting and going to the beach! Welcome to the lab!
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Feb 5-10 2023
Saini Lab at GRC Mammalian DNA repair 2023
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Dr. Saini presented our exciting new work with human cells as a platform talk and a poster at the Gordon Research Conference on Mammalian DNA repair in Ventura, California. Go team!
The National Scleroderma Foundation awarded us a prestigious Established Investigator Grant totaling $200,000 for the next two years! Go team!
December 19th, 2022
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New funding from the National Scleroderma foundation
November 29th, 2022
First year student Thomas Blouin joins us for his PhD rotations. Welcome Thomas!
Thomas joins the lab for rotations
Our acetaldehyde paper gets COM award!
Oct 26th, 2022
Dr. Saini received the MUSC College of Medicine Research Excellence Award, which is awarded for a recent high impact publication. Big congratulations! More information can be found here.
Kristina joins the lab for her PhD rotation!
Sept 26, 2022
Kristina Stayer is first year PhD student and is doing research with the Saini Lab this Fall as a part of her MUSC PhD program rotations. In her free time, she likes to play video games and listen to music. Welcome Kristina!
Jimmy presents at the SURP seminar
July 28th, 2022
Jimmy wrapped up his two-month internship in the lab with a great talk at the Summer Undergraduate Research Program seminar at MUSC. Well done and good luck!
Saini lab at the 2nd Southern Genome Maintenance Conference in Miami, FL
June 26th, 2022
Members of the Saini lab presented their work at the 2nd Southern Genome conference in Miami. Great job from Latarsha and Alessandra in presenting their work at the poster session! Dr. Saini didn't do too badly at her talk either!
The Saini Lab represented at GRC Mutagenesis 2022
June 17th,2022
Sriram gave a talk and presented a poster at the Gordon Research Conference on Mutagenesis over at Sunday River, Maine. Well done!
Our first paper has been accepted!
June 16th, 2022
A truly momentous occasion for the Saini lab! Our first paper got accepted to Nucleic Acids Research. A huge congrats to all the authors!
Jimmy joins the Saini lab!
June 1st, 2022
James "Jimmy" McCollum joins the Saini lab as part of the MUSC Student Undergraduate Research Program (SURP). Welcome Jimmy!
First ever pre-print from our lab is now live!
March 22, 2022
A truly great moment for the Saini lab! The very first (pre) publication from our lab is now hosted on BiorXiV. Congratulations to all involved in the study!
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New undergraduate researchers join the lab!
January 12, 2022
We're excited to have Alessandra Ruggiero and Sydney Gordon join the Saini lab. They're both juniors at the College of Charleston and are eager to do some exciting research over the next few months. Welcome!
Saini Lab receives first grant!
January 3rd, 2022
Hollings Cancer Center has awarded us the American Cancer Society-IRG grant that funds us for a full year. Go team!
Sriram gives a talk at HCC retreat
October 15th, 2021
Great platform talk by Sriram at the HCC retreat, talking about his research in the Cancer Biology Section. Cool stuff!
Happy first birthday to the Saini Lab!
October 1st, 2021
And just like that, we're a year old, and we've come a long way with hopefully lots more exciting stuff to come in the years ahead! Congrats to us :)
Dr. Saini presents at the HCC Cancer Biology meeting
September 22, 2021
Dr. Saini presented the latest work from our lab at the local Cancer center meeting. A story shaping up nicely!
Saini lab at EMGS 2021
September 20th, 2021
Sriram presented the first poster from the Saini Lab at the EMGS 2021 Virtual conference! Cool stuff!
Welcome students! Let's learn some genetics!
August 23rd, 2021
Dr. Saini is delivering 2 exciting graduate-level lectures for the "genes, inheritance and expression" course in the Fall semester. Great way to learn about model systems and genetic screens!
Latarsha Porcher joins the lab as our new Research Assistant
January 25th, 2021
Latarsha joins us from USC Pharmacology. Welcome!
January 14th, 2021
Saini.et.al describe the UV-induced DNA damage and mutation spectrum in human skin samples, accounting for the age, sex and skin color of the individual donors.
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Click on the heading for link to the full text. Click here to see a report on our paper by The Scientist magazine
Sriram joins the lab!
October 1st, 2020
We have the first member of our lab! Dr. Sriram Vijayraghavan joins us from Duke University as a Staff Scientist. Welcome aboard!
The Saini lab is open!
October 1st, 2020
Welcome to the Saini lab! We are located in Basic Sciences Building Room 526. The freezers and incubators are humming!