Academic Title: Professor of Ophthalmology and Pathology
Position Title: Director of Basic Science Research, Ophthalmology, Interim Vice Chair for Research
Appointments/Affiliations: Primary Appointment: Department of Ophthalmology; Second
Appointment: Pathology
646-501-8464 (Office)
646-501-8470 (Lab)
Email: Shukti.Chakravarti@NYULangone.org

Shukti Chakravarti obtained her BS in botany from Calcutta University in India, followed by a year of undergraduate training at the University of Washington, Seattle. She received her MS and PhD at the School of Arts and Sciences, University of Pittsburgh where she conducted her thesis work in the laboratory of Dr. Albert Chung, working on the structure and functions of an extracellular matrix protein, entactin. For her fellowship trainings she went to the Eye and Ear Institute in Pittsburgh and Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland. She joined Johns Hopkins University as an assistant professor in 2000 and was promoted to professor of medicine, ophthalmology and cell biology. In 2018 Dr. Chakravarti joined NYU Langone Health as a professor of ophthalmology and pathology, and Director of Basic Science Research in Ophthalmology. At NYU Langone her research continues to focus on extracellular matrix proteins in cellular functions that modulate tissue integrity, inflammation, and immune response.

Associate Research Technician
2024–Present
Elizabeth holds a BA in neuroscience from Swarthmore College and previously worked for the Cardiovascular Research Center at Massachusetts General Hospital. In August 2024, she joined Dr. Chakravarti’s lab as an associate research technician to join our Keratoconus Study and assist in daily lab operations.

Elizabeth is involved in research investigating the role of pathogenic mutations in keratoconus as well as utilizing mice models to study extracellular matrix interactions with immune cells in the context of corneal infection.

Postdoctoral Fellow
2023–Present

Madhuri obtained her master’s in Biotechnology from Kakatiya University, Telangana, India, in 2017. She then completed her doctoral degree from L V Prasad Eye Institute, Hyderabad, India, in 2023. In her PhD, she investigated the tear proteome and mechanism of lid margin keratinization in chronic Stevens-Johnson syndrome. Her research interests include ocular surface immunology, the cornea, and molecular and cell biology. In 2023, Madhuri joined Dr. Shukti Chakravarti’s lab as a postdoctoral fellow. In this role, she focuses on corneal stromal cells, utilizing mice models, exploring corneal organoids, and the functional analysis of oxidative stress in keratoconus. In her free time, Madhuri likes to play chess, badminton and she enjoys pencil art.

Postdoctoral Fellow
2022–present

Sean completed his BSc in Biochemistry, followed by an MSc in Stem Cells, Development and Regenerative Medicine at the University of Southampton, in the UK. He then obtained his PhD in Vision Science from Cardiff University, where he investigated the effect of endogenous extracellular matrix proteins on the differentiation of corneal epithelial cells and other ocular cell lineages from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs). His research interests include pluripotent stem cell modelling of development and disease, connective tissue biology and pathology, and molecular biology and cell and organoid culture. Sean joined Dr. Shukti Chakravarti’s lab in 2022 as a postdoctoral fellow, where he investigates the impact of novel, potentially pathogenic mutations in the development of the cornea and keratoconus, using patient-specific, iPSC-derived corneal organoids.

Associate Research Scientist
2016–present

George obtained his doctorate degree from University of Calcutta, India, in 2014. His Ph.D. work involved understanding the role of Wnt5a signaling in macrophage functions. He joined Dr. Chakravarti’s lab at Johns Hopkins University to study the role of small leucine-rich proteoglycans (SLRPs) in TLR4/TLR9 responses in macrophages and dendritic cells during ocular infection. He relocated with her group to NYU Langone Health to continue working on these projects.

Violet has a BS in neuroscience from the University of Vermont and is currently a first-year PhD student in neuroscience at the Vilcek Institute of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at NYU Langone. Her rotation project focuses on understanding fibrosis-related changes in human cornea organoids after treatment with pro-fibrotic factors.

Mahitha, a master’s student at the NYU Tandon School of Engineering, is currently working on her thesis in our lab. Her research focuses on investigating how lumican influences TLR9 signaling.