Sita Chandrasekaran
PhD Candidate
UC San Francisco-UC Berkeley Joint Bioengineering Program
Sita Chandrasekaran graduated from SF State in 2019 with a B.S. in Biochemistry and
minors in Computer Applications and Chinese Language. While at SF State, Sita worked
in Raymond Esquerra鈥檚 biochemistry and biophysics lab, where she led multiple research
projects. Sita also joined the first cohort of PINC (Promoting Inclusivity in Computing)
students, a minor program for biologists with peer-mentorship to train and increase
retention of diverse students in computer science. As she moved through the program,
she became a mentor herself, teaching students Python and facilitating research projects.
After spending a summer working part-time with Simone Bianco鈥檚 lab at IBM Research
through the Center for Cellular Construction NSF-STC, Sita joined the UCSF-UCB joint
bioengineering PhD program, where she is currently studying. She joined the lab of
Patrick Hsu at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, during which the lab shifted focus
to developing a fast and scalable diagnostic.
