Saumya Gopalkrishnan, PhD
Scientific Program Manager
Bioengineering
School of Pharmacy
My work centers on advancing pathogen-targeted and antimicrobial drug discovery through large, collaborative research programs. From 2023–2025 at UCSF’s Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI), I led scientific and administrative operations for two major multi-institutional initiatives: the $67.5M NIH-funded AViDD program and the $35M+ OpenADMET/Avoid-ome project supported by ARPA-H and the Gates Foundation.
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Together, these efforts brought together more than 50 laboratories and 200 researchers across academia, biotech, and government to accelerate therapeutic development for global health threats.
I now serve as Senior Scientific Program Manager for the PReDiCTR-TB Consortium in the Savic Lab (Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic Sciences), where I oversee program design, coordination, and day-to-day operations. My responsibilities span strategic planning, implementation of key program components, and management of timelines, budgets, and regulatory requirements across a distributed, multidisciplinary team.
Across these roles, I have built and managed the operational infrastructure necessary for effective multi-partner collaboration, including data-sharing systems, multi-institutional agreements, and vendor and contract oversight. I work closely with principal investigators, industry partners, and funding agencies to align scientific priorities, streamline workflows, and ensure clear communication. At the core of my portfolio is a commitment to collaborative team science. I integrate perspectives from chemistry, biology, structural biology, AI/ML, and clinical research to help advance early-stage discoveries toward therapeutic candidates. My goal is to enable efficient, high-impact scientific progress that supports the development of safe, effective, and accessible antimicrobial treatments.
Education & Training
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- Postdoc Pathogen Resistance & Adaptive Mechanisms University of Wisconsin 2018
- Ph.D Biochemistry, Microbiology and Molecular Biology The Pennsylvania State University 2012
Publications (12)
Top publication keywords:
Escherichia coli ProteinsGuanosine PentaphosphateEscherichia coliTranscription Initiation, GeneticDNA-Directed RNA PolymerasesPromoter Regions, GeneticPoliticsTranscription FactorsSigma FactorHoloenzymesRNA, BacterialLaboratoriesBacteriophage lambdaGene Expression Regulation, BacterialGuanosine Tetraphosphate
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The Mac1 ADP-ribosylhydrolase is a Therapeutic Target for SARS-CoV-2.
bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology 2025 Suryawanshi RK, Jaishankar P, Correy GJ, Rachman MM, O'Leary PC, Taha TY, Matsui Y, Zapatero-Belinchón FJ, McCavitt-Malvido M, Doruk YU, Stevens MGV, Diolaiti ME, Jogalekar MP, Chen H, Richards AL, … -
From labs to legislation: The interplay between academic research and political realities.
SLAS discovery : advancing life sciences R & D 2024 Gopalkrishnan S -
Homologs of the Escherichia coli F Element Protein TraR, Including Phage Lambda Orf73, Directly Reprogram Host Transcription.
mBio 2022 Gopalkrishnan S, Ross W, Akbari MS, Li X, Haycocks JRJ, Grainger DC, Court DL, Gourse RL -
Stepwise Promoter Melting by Bacterial RNA Polymerase.
Molecular cell 2020 Chen J, Chiu C, Gopalkrishnan S, Chen AY, Olinares PDB, Saecker RM, Winkelman JT, Maloney MF, Chait BT, Ross W, Gourse RL, Campbell EA, Darst SA -
E. coli TraR allosterically regulates transcription initiation by altering RNA polymerase conformation.
eLife 2019 Chen J, Gopalkrishnan S, Chiu C, Chen AY, Campbell EA, Gourse RL, Ross W, Darst SA
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Transcriptional Responses to ppGpp and DksA.
Annual review of microbiology 2018 Gourse RL, Chen AY, Gopalkrishnan S, Sanchez-Vazquez P, Myers A, Ross W -
DksA and ppGpp Regulate the σS Stress Response by Activating Promoters for the Small RNA DsrA and the Anti-Adapter Protein IraP.
Journal of bacteriology 2017 Girard ME, Gopalkrishnan S, Grace ED, Halliday JA, Gourse RL, Herman C -
TraR directly regulates transcription initiation by mimicking the combined effects of the global regulators DksA and ppGpp.
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2017 Gopalkrishnan S, Ross W, Chen AY, Gourse RL -
Appropriate Regulation of the σE-Dependent Envelope Stress Response Is Necessary To Maintain Cell Envelope Integrity and Stationary-Phase Survival in Escherichia coli.
Journal of bacteriology 2017 Nicoloff H, Gopalkrishnan S, Ades SE -
Activation of the σE-dependent stress pathway by conjugative TraR may anticipate conjugational stress.
Journal of bacteriology 2014 Grace ED, Gopalkrishnan S, Girard ME, Blankschien MD, Ross W, Gourse RL, Herman C -
Co-ordinated regulation of the extracytoplasmic stress factor, sigmaE, with other Escherichia coli sigma factors by (p)ppGpp and DksA may be achieved by specific regulation of individual holoenzymes.
Molecular microbiology 2014 Gopalkrishnan S, Nicoloff H, Ades SE -
Enhancement of aerobic degradation of benzoate and 2-chlorobenzoate by adapted activated sludge.
Microbiological research 2009 Dennison SG, O'Brien P, Gopalkrishnan S, Stark BC