Understanding how RNA structure and dynamics shape biological function through the lens of solution-state NMR spectroscopy.
Assistant Professor (Research) · Faculty In-charge, NMR Facility · Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University
Dr. Niyati Jain is an Assistant Professor (Research) at Ashoka University and Faculty In-charge of the NMR Facility. She is an RNA structural biologist who uses solution-state NMR spectroscopy, together with biochemical and biophysical approaches, to understand how RNA structure and dynamics shape biological function with interests spanning RNA-protein interactions, RNA-ligand recognition, and non-coding RNA structures.
Her research journey has taken her across leading institutions in India and the United States. Most recently, as a Ramalingaswami Fellow and Assistant Professor at CSIR-IGIB, New Delhi, she established and led her own research group, where she directed structural and biophysical studies of RNA, mentored students, and published her work on RNA structure, dynamics, and RNA-protein interactions. Prior to that, she carried out research with Dr. Blanton Tolbert at Case Western Reserve University, studying how RNA sequence motifs and secondary structure govern the binding of hnRNPA1, a key splicing regulator, to control HIV-1 alternative splicing. As a postdoctoral researcher with Dr. Daniel Battle at The Ohio State University, she investigated RNA-protein interactions involved in snRNP assembly. She earned her Ph.D. with Dr. Tianbing Xia at the University of Texas at Dallas, studying the dynamics of purine-sensing riboswitches.