Dr. Chitra Thakur is a Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at Stony Brook University Cancer Center, where she also serves as Assistant Director of Community Outreach and Engagement. With over a decade of research experience spanning molecular oncology, biochemistry, epigenetics, and environmental toxicology, Dr. Thakur brings a multidisciplinary and global perspective to cancer research. She earned her Ph.D. in Molecular Oncology from the University of Würzburg, with doctoral training at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Munich, Germany. Her research on modeling metastasis using transgenic mouse models was supported by the prestigious DFG German Excellence Initiative Fellowship. To complement her bench-based research with computational acumen, she completed the Applied Data Science Program at MIT Professional Education, gaining expertise in next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics. Dr. Thakur's research focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms of cancer stem cells, metastasis, and survivorship through integrative approaches that include proteomics, genomics, and environmental toxicology. She was the first to demonstrate that the mdig gene regulates breast cancer metastasis via epigenetic pathways. For this work, she received a research award from the American Cancer Society – Institutional Research Grant, recognizing the impact and innovation of her studies in breast cancer biology. As a Biomedical Scientist at Stony Brook Cancer Center, she leads a team dedicated to identifying novel biomarkers and therapeutic targets, applying big data analytics to unravel cancer biology. Her work has resulted in over 48 peer-reviewed publications in high-impact journals, reflecting her leadership in interdisciplinary and translational research. She is the author of a scholarly book on cancer epigenetics and nanomedicine, published by Elsevier Academic Press, which explores the intersection of molecular regulation, epigenetics and emerging technologies in oncology research. In addition to her laboratory work, Dr. Thakur is actively engaged in community-focused initiatives, including projects that investigate how yoga and mindfulness interventions impact the epigenetic and inflammatory profiles of cancer survivors. This research aims to improve the quality of life and inform survivorship care strategies. Dr. Thakur has received numerous honors and awards, including the NIH-funded Award for Big Data Training in Translational Omics and a competitive Ph.D. fellowship from the German Excellence Initiative. Her international training and commitment to collaborative science uniquely position her to bridge basic research and clinical applications, furthering the mission of Stony Brook Medicine to advance cancer prevention, treatment, and survivorship.