Bio

I am interested to study how various dynamic epigenetic changes in chromatin structure impact gene expression during stem cell pluripotency/self-renewal, cellular differentiation, and reprogramming. Prior to joining as a Postdoc here, I studied the role of chromatin-associated processes in DNA damage response and repair.

Honors & Awards

  • SUN-SID Young Investigator Fellowship Award, Society of Investigative Dermatalogy and SUN Pharma (March 2020-Jan 2021)
  • Dean's Postdoctoral Fellowship Award, Stanford University (June 2019-2020)

Boards, Advisory Committees, Professional Organizations

  • Council Member, SURPAS (2021 - Present)

Professional Education

  • PhD, The University of Texas at Austin, Cell and Molecular Genetics (2017)

Contact

  • Academic
    poonamag@stanford.edu
    University - Scholar Department: Dermatology Position: Postdoctoral Scholar

Additional Info

  • Mail Code: 5168

Links

Current Research and Scholarly Interests

Understanding epigenetic mechanisms of stem cells, development and cancer

Lab Affiliations

All Publications

  • Global survey-based assessment of lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. PloS one Agarwal, P., Kaushik, A., Sarkar, S., Rao, D., Mukherjee, N., Bharat, V., Das, S., Saha, A. K. 2021; 16 (8): e0255399

    Abstract

    Along with the major impact on public health, the COVID-19 outbreak has caused unprecedented concerns ranging from sudden loss of employment to mental stress and anxiety. We implemented a survey-based data collection platform to characterize how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the socio-economic, physical and mental health conditions of individuals. We focused on three broad areas, namely, changes in social interaction during home confinement, economic impact and their health status. We identified a substantial increase in virtual interaction among individuals, which might be a way to alleviate the sudden unprecedented mental health burden, exacerbated by general awareness about viral infections or other manifestations associated with them. The majority of participants (85%) lived with one or more companions and unemployment issues did not affect 91% of the total survey takers, which was one of the crucial consequences of the pandemic. Nevertheless, measures such as an increased frequency of technology-aided distant social interaction, focus on physical fitness and leisure activities were adopted as coping mechanisms during this period of home isolation. Collectively, these metrics provide a succinct and informative summary of the socio-economic and health impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the individuals. Findings from our study reflect that continuous surveillance of the psychological consequences for outbreaks should become routine as part of preparedness efforts worldwide. Given the limitations of analyzing the large number of variables, we have made the raw data publicly available on the OMF ME/CFS Data Center server to facilitate further analyses (https://igenomed.stanford.edu/dataset/survey-study-on-lifestyle-changes-during-covid-19-pandemic).

    View details for DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0255399

    View details for PubMedID 34388151