Ranu Mahla

Translational immunologist and antibody discovery scientist with 17+ years post MS and 5+ post-PhD of experimental biology experience spanning infectious disease, oncology, and autoimmunity, with formal training in AI/ML to bridge computational prediction and bench validation. Leads a translational antibody discovery program from antigen-specific B cell isolation through monoclonal antibody generation, functional characterization (ELISA, Luminex, neutralization, ADCC), and in vivo efficacy testing in murine disease models. Builds and runs the computational pipelines (R, Python, HPC) that process the single-cell, multi-omic, and repertoire data generated at the bench.

Formal computational training includes an M.S. in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning, an Executive PG Programme in AI/ML, and ongoing specialization in RAG and agentic AI systems. Author of 50+ peer-reviewed publications and 6 book chapters.

Staff Scientist at Fred Hutch Cancer Centre (2024-12 – Present)

Leading in-vivo translational antibody discovery program evaluating therapeutic efficacy and immune protection in murine disease models.

• Discovered novel herpesvirus-specific antibody candidates (EBV, HSV-2) currently advancing toward preclinical development
• Isolated antigen-specific B cell clones from peripheral blood using tetramer-based multiparametric flow cytometry; expanded clones via feeder-cell systems and generated mAbs through BCR sequencing and molecular cloning
• Characterized antibody specificity and binding (Luminex, ELISA) and evaluated functional activity (neutralization, ADCC) for lead candidate selection
• Designed and executed genital herpes mouse efficacy studies, quantifying viral load (vaginal swabs, DRG tissue) and longitudinal serum antibody titers to assess protection
• Mentor junior scientists and manage grant reporting, external collaborations, and manuscript/conference contributions

Industrial postdoc fellow (Oxford BMS Research Fellow) at The Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology, University of Oxford, UK (BMS Pharmaceuticals Ltd. & Celgene Ltd.) (2021-10 – 2024-09)

Project: Single Cell Analysis of Autoreactive B cells in Sjögren's Syndrome

• Characterized autoreactive B cell populations in Sjögren's disease using multiparametric flow cytometry and paired 5′ scRNA-seq (GEX + BCR + TCR) and 3′ scRNA-seq of stromal cells, identifying disease-relevant B cell subsets
• Built scRNA-seq analysis pipelines in R/Python on HPC clusters to process and interpret multi-omic single-cell datasets
• Generated antigen-specific IgA/IgG monoclonal antibodies (antigenic bait design, BCR heavy/light chain cloning into pFUSE) and validated binding specificity via single-cell assays and ELISA
• Supervised DPhil and visiting students; secured small-scale funding and co-authored multiple publications

Project Senior Research Fellow at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)-Bhopal, India (2021-05 – 2021-09)

Project: COVID-19 Testing Center (MoE & ICMR, Government of India)

• Operated KingFisher Flex automated RNA extraction, processing ~300 diagnostic samples/day
• Performed qRT-PCR-based COVID-19 diagnostics and compiled results for government reporting systems

PhD Research (JRF Aug 2014-Dec 2016 and SRF Dec 2016-May 2021) at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)-Bhopal, India (2014-08 – 2021-05)

Thesis: Mycobacterial infection instigates mitophagy mediated metabolic reprogramming of immune cells

• Led a mechanistic study identifying NIX/BNIP3L-mediated mitophagy as a driver of immunometabolic reprogramming in macrophages during Mycobacterium tuberculosis and BCG infection, published in Tuberculosis (2021)
• Performed whole-transcriptome RNA-seq profiling of PBMCs from treatment-naïve TB patients and healthy controls, with KEGG/GO pathway analysis revealing coordinated upregulation of glycolysis, mitophagy, and HIF-1α signaling alongside downregulated OXPHOS and fatty acid metabolism; validated findings by qRT-PCR in an independent cohort (n=44) and cross-validated against public GEO transcriptomic datasets
• Quantified glycolytic flux and glucose/lactate metabolism using ¹³C-glucose tracing NMR spectroscopy and 2-NBDG glucose uptake assays; measured mitochondrial mass by MitoTracker Red flow cytometry to track infection-induced mitophagy
• Established causality via siRNA-mediated knockdown of NIX, demonstrating its requirement for glycolytic reprogramming, pro-inflammatory macrophage (M1) polarization, and bacterial clearance (colony-forming unit assays)
• Studied anticancer activity of macrocyclic compounds in breast cancer cell models

Junior Research Fellow (Project) at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER)-Bhopal, India (2012-11 – 2014-07)

Project: Identification and characterization of miRNA involve in regulation of antiviral innate immunity (funding from DBT India)

• Identified microRNA-mediated regulation of genotype-specific GNLY expression
• Linked GNLY 3′UTR SNPs to tuberculosis prevalence and SNP-dependent expression regulation

Project Fellow at Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB), CSIR, Hyderabad, India (2011-11 – 2012-11)

Project: Heat shock proteins as potential cancer biomarkers: role in disease progression through multi drug resistance and metastasis (funding from Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) India)

• Established cisplatin- and doxorubicin-resistant cell lines to model drug resistance
• Investigated resistance mechanisms

PhD in Biological Science – IISER Bhopal, India (2014-01 – 2021-01)

MS in Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning – LJMU, UK (2022-01 – 2025-01)

Executive PG Programme in AI & ML – IIIT Bangalore, India (2022-01 – 2023-01)

One Year Training Course in Science Journalism – ISCOS, India (2018-01 – 2019-01)

M.Sc. in Life Science – Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya, Indore, India (2007-01 – 2009-01)

B.Sc. in Biotechnology – University of Rajasthan, Jaipur, India (2003-01 – 2006-01)