Bishal Tandukar, PhD
Postdoctoral Scholar
Dermatology
School of Medicine
Bishal Tandukar is a postdoctoral research fellow in the laboratory of Dr. Hunter Shain within the Department of Dermatology at the University of California, San Francisco. He specializes in skin biology and cancer genomics, applying integrated molecular and computational approaches to investigate the genomic mechanisms driving skin cancer, particularly across diverse populations.
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Bishal has extensive hands-on experience with primary cell culture, G&T-seq, spatial transcriptomics, and Next Generation Sequencing (NGS). He also develops and implements innovative wet and dry lab techniques, including robust bioinformatic workflows for high-throughput sequencing data analysis.
His research in the Shain Lab combines pigment cell biology and cancer genomics, focusing on the genomic and transcriptomic characterization of melanocytes, keratinocytes, and fibroblasts. By examining DNA damage and gene expression patterns at single-cell resolution, his work aims to provide comprehensive insights into both normal skin function and tumor progression, with a strong emphasis on demographic variability. Currently, Bishal is primarily involved in the Pre-Cancer Atlas of Skin Cancer as part of the NCI Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) project.
His work has been recognized through multiple awards and featured in leading journals and conferences, including the Melanoma Research Alliance (MRA), Society for Melanoma Research (SMR), International Pigment Cell Conference (IPCC), and the PanAmerican Society of Pigment Cell Research (PASPCR).
In addition to his research, Bishal is engaged in science communication and mentorship. He has served as a reporter and assistant editor for the PASPCR newsletter and has trained students and research assistants in both experimental and computational methodologies.
Education & Training
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- PhD Biochemistry (Molecular Biochemistry) University of Maryland, Baltimore 12/2020
- BS Molecular Biology (Minors: Biochemistry & Bioinformatics) Towson University 05/2011
Publications (9)
Top publication keywords:
FormaldehydeGene Expression RegulationTetracyclineAU Rich ElementsHair FollicleOxidoreductasesMicrophthalmia-Associated Transcription FactorModels, BiologicalCell DifferentiationStem CellsNeural CrestAntigens, CD34Membrane GlycoproteinsHSP70 Heat-Shock ProteinsMelanocytes
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Somatic mutations distinguish melanocyte subpopulations in human skin.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2025 Tandukar B, Deivendran D, Chen L, Bahrani N, Weier B, Sharma H, Cruz-Pacheco N, Hu M, Marks K, Zitnay RG, Bandari AK, Nekoonam R, Yeh I, Judson-Torres R, Shain AH -
Genetic evolution of keratinocytes to cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2024 Tandukar B, Deivendran D, Chen L, Cruz-Pacheco N, Sharma H, Xu A, Bandari AK, Chen DB, George C, Marty A, Cho RJ, Cheng J, Saylor D, Gerami P, Arron ST, Bastian BC, Shain AH -
Molecular effects of indoor tanning.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2024 Gerami P, Tandukar B, Deivendran D, Olivares S, Chen L, Tang J, Tan T, Sharma H, Bandari AK, Cruz-Pacheco N, Chang D, Marty A, Olshen A, Murad NF, Song J, Lee J, Yeh I, Hunter Shain A -
STmut: a framework for visualizing somatic alterations in spatial transcriptomics data of cancer.
Genome biology 2023 Chen L, Chang D, Tandukar B, Deivendran D, Pozniak J, Cruz-Pacheco N, Cho RJ, Cheng J, Yeh I, Marine C, Bastian BC, Ji AL, Shain AH -
B6-Dct-H2BGFP bitransgenic mice: A standardized mouse model for in vivo characterization of melanocyte development and stem cell differentiation.
Pigment cell & melanoma research 2021 Tandukar B, Kalapurakal E, Hornyak TJ
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CD34 defines melanocyte stem cell subpopulations with distinct regenerative properties.
PLoS genetics 2019 Joshi SS, Tandukar B, Pan L, Huang JM, Livak F, Smith BJ, Hodges T, Mahurkar AA, Hornyak TJ -
Characterization of a new, inducible transgenic mouse model with GFP expression in melanocytes and their precursors.
Gene expression patterns : GEP 2017 Joshi SS, Tandukar B, Castaneda M, Jiang S, Diwakar G, Hertzano RP, Hornyak TJ -
Hsp70's RNA-binding and mRNA-stabilizing activities are independent of its protein chaperone functions.
The Journal of biological chemistry 2017 Kishor A, White EJF, Matsangos AE, Yan Z, Tandukar B, Wilson GM -
Hsp70 is a novel posttranscriptional regulator of gene expression that binds and stabilizes selected mRNAs containing AU-rich elements.
Molecular and cellular biology 2012 Kishor A, Tandukar B, Ly YV, Toth EA, Suarez Y, Brewer G, Wilson GM