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2025
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Molecular Biology
USA
2026

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Best Female Scientists

D-Index
144
Citations
90357
World Ranking
187
National Ranking
115

Molecular Biology

D-Index
144
Citations
87831
World Ranking
103
National Ranking
66

Research.com Recognitions

  • 2026 - Research.com Molecular Biology in United States Leader Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Best Female Scientists Award
  • 2025 - Research.com Molecular Biology in United States Leader Award
  • 2023 - Research.com Molecular Biology in United States Leader Award
  • 2009 - Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences
  • 2008 - Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
  • 2008 - Member of the National Academy of Sciences

Overview

Anjana Rao is affiliated with the La Jolla Institute For Allergy & Immunology in the United States. Their research spans biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology with a particular focus on molecular biology, immunology, oncology, hematology, and biomedical engineering.

Their scientific contributions emphasize key topics such as epigenetics and DNA methylation, RNA modifications and cancer, immune cell function and interaction, acute myeloid leukemia research, cancer-related gene regulation, CAR-T cell therapy research, and T-cell and B-cell immunology.

Recent publications by Anjana Rao include:

  • "BATF and IRF4 cooperate to counter exhaustion in tumor-infiltrating CAR T cells" (2021, Nature Immunology)
  • "Nano-optogenetic engineering of CAR T cells for precision immunotherapy with enhanced safety" (2021, Nature Nanotechnology)
  • "TET family dioxygenases and the TET activator vitamin C in immune responses and cancer" (2020, Blood)
  • "TET deficiency perturbs mature B cell homeostasis and promotes oncogenesis associated with accumulation of G-quadruplex and R-loop structures" (2021, Nature Immunology)
  • "TET methylcytosine oxidases: new insights from a decade of research" (2020, Journal of Biosciences)

Frequent co-authors collaborating with Anjana Rao include:

  • Hugo Sepúlveda
  • Samuel A. Myers
  • Isaac F. López-Moyado
  • Edahí González-Avalos
  • Xiaojing Yue

Common publication venues for their work are:

  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory)
  • Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
  • Nature Immunology
  • Blood
  • Genome biology

Anjana Rao's research includes extensive investigation of TET enzymes in epigenetic regulation and immune function. Their work on CAR-T cells explores mechanisms of cell exhaustion and the application of nano-optogenetics for improved safety in immunotherapy.

Recognition of their scientific contributions includes election as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2009, membership in the National Academy of Sciences since 2008, and Fellowship of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) also awarded in 2008.

Best Publications

  • Conversion of 5-Methylcytosine to 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine in Mammalian DNA by MLL Partner TET1

    Mamta V. Tahiliani;Kian Peng Koh;Yinghua Shen;William Abraham Pastor

  • TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS OF THE NFAT FAMILY:Regulation and Function

    Anjana Rao;Chun Luo;Patrick G. Hogan

  • IKK-1 and IKK-2: Cytokine-Activated IκB Kinases Essential for NF-κB Activation

    Frank Mercurio;Hengyi Zhu;Brion W. Murray;Andrej Shevchenko

  • A mutation in Orai1 causes immune deficiency by abrogating CRAC channel function

    Stefan Feske;Yousang Gwack;Murali Prakriya;Sonal Srikanth

  • Transcriptional regulation by calcium, calcineurin, and NFAT

    Patrick G. Hogan;Lin Chen;Julie Nardone;Anjana Rao

  • Global Epigenomic Reconfiguration During Mammalian Brain Development

    Ryan Lister;Ryan Lister;Eran A. Mukamel;Joseph R. Nery;Mark Urich

  • Regulation of the Germinal Center Response by MicroRNA-155

    To-Ha Thai;Dinis Pedro Calado;Stefano Casola;K. Mark Ansel

  • Orai1 is an essential pore subunit of the CRAC channel

    Murali Prakriya;Stefan Feske;Yousang Gwack;Sonal Srikanth

  • Defining ‘T cell exhaustion’

    Christian U Blank;W Nicholas Haining;Werner Held;Patrick G Hogan;Patrick G Hogan

  • FOXP3 Controls Regulatory T Cell Function through Cooperation with NFAT

    Yongqing Wu;Madhuri Borde;Vigo Heissmeyer;Markus Feuerer

  • Impaired hydroxylation of 5-methylcytosine in myeloid cancers with mutant TET2

    Myunggon Ko;Yun Huang;Yun Huang;Anna M. Jankowska;Utz J. Pape;Utz J. Pape

  • Interleukin-2 and Inflammation Induce Distinct Transcriptional Programs that Promote the Differentiation of Effector Cytolytic T Cells

    Matthew E. Pipkin;Jilian A. Sacks;Fernando Cruz-Guilloty;Mathias G. Lichtenheld

  • Partners in transcription: NFAT and AP-1.

    Fernando Macián;Cristina López-Rodríguez;Anjana Rao

  • The T-cell transcription factor NFATp is a substrate for calcineurin and interacts with Fos and Jun.

    Jain J;McCaffrey Pg;Miner Z;Miner Z;Kerppola Tk

  • Genome-wide mapping of 5-hydroxymethylcytosine in embryonic stem cells

    William A. Pastor;Utz J. Pape;Utz J. Pape;Yun Huang;Hope R. Henderson;Hope R. Henderson

  • TETonic shift: biological roles of TET proteins in DNA demethylation and transcription

    William A. Pastor;L. Aravind;Anjana Rao

  • Tet1 and Tet2 Regulate 5-Hydroxymethylcytosine Production and Cell Lineage Specification in Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

    Kian Peng Koh;Akiko Yabuuchi;Sridhar Rao;Yun Huang

  • Modulation of chromatin structure regulates cytokine gene expression during T cell differentiation.

    Suneet Agarwal;Anjana Rao

  • Molecular Basis of Calcium Signaling in Lymphocytes: STIM and ORAI

    Patrick G. Hogan;Richard S. Lewis;Anjana Rao

  • Vitamin C induces Tet-dependent DNA demethylation and a blastocyst-like state in ES cells

    Kathryn Blaschke;Kevin T. Ebata;Mohammad M. Karimi;Mohammad M. Karimi;Jorge A. Zepeda-Martínez

Frequent Co-Authors

Stefan Feske
Stefan Feske New York University
K. Mark Ansel
K. Mark Ansel University of California, San Francisco
Klaus Rajewsky
Klaus Rajewsky Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine
Lukas Chavez
Lukas Chavez University of California, San Diego
Harri Lähdesmäki
Harri Lähdesmäki Aalto University
L. Aravind
L. Aravind National Institutes of Health
Lin Chen
Lin Chen University of Chicago
Lothar Kanz
Lothar Kanz University of Tübingen
Pandurangan Vijayanand
Pandurangan Vijayanand La Jolla Institute For Allergy & Immunology
Sin-Hyeog Im
Sin-Hyeog Im Pohang University of Science and Technology

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