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Hire Poojitha R.

United Kingdom

USD 30 /hr

Freelance Big Data Analyst, statistician, expert in R and scientific writing/proof-reading

Profile Summary

I bring over 12 years of experience in R-based big data analysis, with deep expertise in transcriptomics, epigenomics, particularly DNA methylation and multi-omics approaches. I have a strong track record in producing high-quality, publication-ready data visualisations using both R and Python, ensuring that complex findings are clearly and effectively communicated via summary illustrations. Currently, I am engaged in several multi-omics research projects and exploring long-read sequencing technologies for integrated genetic and epigenetic profiling. In addition to my research background, I have 9 years of teaching and academic supervision experience, having mentored undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students across diverse bioinformatics projects.

Subject Matter Expertise

• ☆ Biostatistics
• ☆ Molecular Biology
• ☆ Microarrays
• ☆ Epigenetics
• ☆ DNA Sequencing
• ☆ RNA Sequencing
• ☆ R
• ☆ Medical Genetics
• ☆ Immunogenetics
• ☆ Human Biology
• ☆ Precision Medicine
• ☆ Health Informatics

Services

• Writing
• Research
• Consulting
• Data & AI

Writing Medical Writing, Technical Writing, Copywriting, Creative Writing, Audio Transcription, General Proofreading & Editing

Research Meta-Research, Feasibility Study, Fact Checking, Scientific and Technical Research, Systematic Literature Review

Consulting Scientific and Technical Consulting

Data & AI Statistical Analysis, Data Visualization, Big Data Analytics, Data Cleaning, Data Processing

Work Experience

Research Associate

University of Nottingham

June 2016 - Present

Education

MSc

University College London, University of London - United Kingdom

September 2011 - September 2012

B. Tech

Anna University of Technology, Tirunelveli - India

September 2007 - September 2011

Certifications

• Post Graduate Dip in Stem Cell Research

  NCBS, Bangalore

  September 2011 - Present

Publications

JOURNAL ARTICLE

Poojitha Rajasekar, Kamini Rakkar, Yik L. Pang, Michael Portelli, Robert J Hall, Rachel L Clifford, Dominick Shaw, Ian Sayers (2024). Mepolizumab Induced Changes in Nasal Methylome and Transcriptome to Predict Response in Asthma . American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

Poojitha Rajasekar, Robert Hall, Binaya KC, Parth Sarathi Mahapatra, Siva P. Puppala, Dhruma Thakker, Julia L. MacIsaac, David Lin, Michael Kobor, Charlotte Bolton, et al. (2023). Nepalese indoor cookstove smoke extracts alter human airway epithelial gene expression, DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation . Environmental Pollution.

Poojitha Rajasekar and Jamie Patel and Rachel L. Clifford(2021). DNA Methylation of Fibroblast Phenotypes and Contributions to Lung Fibrosis . Cells. 10. (8). p. 1977. {MDPI} {AG}

Sawadkar P, Mandakhbayar N, Patel KD, Buitrago JO, Kim TH, Rajasekar P, Lali F, Kyriakidis C, Rahmani B, Mohanakrishnan J, et al.(2021). Three dimensional porous scaffolds derived from collagen, elastin and fibrin proteins orchestrate adipose tissue regeneration . Journal of tissue engineering.

(2020). A Synergistic Relationship between Polycaprolactone and Natural Polymers Enhances the Physical Properties and Biological Activity of Scaffolds . ACS applied materials & interfaces.

Rajasekar P, O'Neill CL, Eeles L, Stitt AW, Medina RJ(2015). Epigenetic Changes in Endothelial Progenitors as a Possible Cellular Basis for Glycemic Memory in Diabetic Vascular Complications . Journal of diabetes research.

Dhanasekaran M, Indumathi S, Poojitha R, Kanmani A, Rajkumar JS, Sudarsanam D(2013). Plasticity and banking potential of cultured adipose tissue derived mesenchymal stem cells . Cell and tissue banking.

Dhanasekaran M, Indumathi S, Kanmani A, Poojitha R, Revathy KM, Rajkumar JS, Sudarsanam D(2012). Surface antigenic profiling of stem cells from human omentum fat in comparison with subcutaneous fat and bone marrow . Cytotechnology.

PREPRINT

Poojitha Rajasekar, Emanuele Marchi, Timothy Hinks, Matthew Richardson, Latifa Khalfaou, Fiona A. Symon, Rachel Clifford, Beverley Hargadon, Cary D. Austin, Julia L. MacIsaac, et al. (2023). The effects of inhaled corticosteroids on healthy airways .

CONFERENCE ABSTRACT

P. Rajasekar, A. Lagan, J. Patel, B. Barksby, R.A. Burgoyne, J.L. MacIssac, D.T.S. Lin, S.T. May, M. Castellanos-Uribe, M.S. Kobor, et al. (2023). Distinct Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Associated Transcriptome and Methylome Changes in Airway and Parenchymal Fibroblasts . D29. TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH IN IPF.

K Rakkar, Y L Pang, P Rajasekar, M A Portelli, R Hall, R L Clifford, D Shaw, I Sayers (2022). Gene expression and DNA methylation changes induced by Mepolizumab in the nasal epithelium in severe asthma . 03.01 - Molecular pathology and functional genomics.

P Rajasekar, R Hall, B K C, P S Mahapatra, S P Puppala, D Thakker, J Macisaac, D Lin, M Kobor, C E Bolton, et al. (2022). Short term exposure to respirable smoke extracts from indoor cooking in Nepal leads to altered human airway epithelial cell (AEC) gene expression, DNA methylation (mC) and hydroxymethylation (hmC) . 06.02 - Occupational and environmental health.

P. Rajasekar, R. Hall, B. K C, P.S. Mahapatra, S.P. Puppala, D.A. Thakker, J. MacIssac, D. Lin, M. Kobor, C.E.R. Bolton, et al. (2022). Effect of Nepal Cook Stove Smoke Exposure on Human Bronchial Epithelial Cell Gene Expression and DNA Methylation . C69. OCCUPATIONAL AND ENVIRONMENTAL EXPOSURES: MODELS AND MECHANISMS.

P. Rajasekar, A.L. Lagan, J. Patel, B. Barksby, R.A. Burgoyne, J. MacIsaac, D.T.S. Lin, S.T. May, M. Castellanos-Uribe, M.S. Kobor, et al. (2022). Differential IPF Associated Gene Expression and DNA Methylation Changes in Human Airway and Parenchymal Fibroblasts . C109. PULMONARY FIBROSIS: MOVING FORWARD WITH GENETICS AND SEQUENCING.

Investigating Genome Wide DNA Methylation in Bronchial and Lung Fibroblasts from Healthy Individuals and Individuals with COPD Rachel L. Clifford, Nick Fishbane, Poojitha Rajasekar, Julie L. MacIsaac, Lisa M. McEwen, Andrew Fisher, Michael Kobor, Alan J. Knox, and Tillie-Louise Hackett C108. GETTING INFLAMED: MARKERS OF LUNG INJURY AND REMODELLING. May 1, 2017, A6939-A6939 .

CONFERENCE PAPER

Poojitha Rajasekar and K C Binaya and Parth Sarathi Mahapatra and Siva Praveen Puppala and Dhruma Thakker and Julie Macisaac and David Lin and Michael Kobor and Charlotte E Bolton and Ian Sayers and Ian Hall and Rachel Clifford(2021). Late Breaking Abstract - Changes in human bronchial epithelial cell (BEC) DNA 5-methylcytosine (mC) And 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (hmC) in response to Nepal cook stove smoke exposure . Mechanisms of lung injury and repair. European Respiratory Society

P. Rajasekar and L. Latimer and T. Constantin-Teodosiu and J.L. MacIsaac and D.T.S. Lin and B. Popat and D. Constantin and M.S. Kobor and M. Steiner and P. Greenhaff and C.E.R. Bolton and R.L. Clifford(2020). Investigating Changes to DNA Methylation in Association with Supervised Exercise in Individuals with COPD and Age Matched Controls . C107. IMPROVING OUR PRACTICE: NOVEL APPROACHES TO PULMONARY REHABILITATION. American Thoracic Society

P. Rajasekar and S.M. Thompson and J. Patel and I. Adejumo and J. MacIsaac and D.T.S. Lin and A.J. Knox and M.S. Kobor and T. Harrison and D. Shaw and R.L. Clifford(2020). Differential Methylation of Plasma Cell Free DNA: A Potential Asthma Biomarker? . A67. STRUCTURE-FUNCTION RELATIONSHIPS. American Thoracic Society

P. Rajasekar and A. Knox and R.L. Clifford(2019). A Novel In-Vitro Model to Study Endothelial Dysfunction in Asthma . B32. ASTHMA: MECHANISMS OF DISEASE I. American Thoracic Society

Use of novel DNA methylation signatures to distinguish between human airway structural cell types @inproceedings{Rajasekar, 2017,title={Use of novel DNA methylation signatures to distinguish between human airway structural cell types},abstract={INTRODUCTION: Chronic inflammatory and fibrotic lung diseases like asthma, COPD and pulmonary fibrosis are characterised by modified phenotype of the airway structural cells. Airway walls are comprised of a robust epithelial layer that lines the lumen followed by the basement membrane, submucosa predominantly composed of fibroblasts and finally enveloped by a bulk of smooth muscle cells that determine the relaxation and constriction of the airways. The phenotype of airway structural cells is determined by epigenetic alterations such as DNA methylation, which alters the activation status of a range of important inflammatory and remodelling genes. Here we determined if airway structural cells (Epithelial cells, fibroblasts and smooth muscle cells) have different DNA methylome signatures that can be used to distinguish between them. This will offer a reference standard for identifying cell type specific DNA methylation changes induced by various inflammatory stimuli. EXPERIMENTAL METHODS: Illumina Human Methylation 450K Beadchip (HM450K) was used to perform genome-wide methylome screening on 17 bronchial fibroblast (BrF), 23 lung parenchymal fibroblast (LgF), 17 airway epithelial cell (Ep) and 6 airway smooth muscle cell (ASM) samples isolated from healthy individuals. The data was normalised using funtoonorm, a specialised algorithm in R developed for multiple tissue types. R packages minfi, limma and DMRcate was used for CpG site exclusion and identification of significant differentially methylated regions (DMR) specific to each of the four cell types. RESULTS AND DISCUSSION: Epithelial cells distinctly separated from other lung cells (791 DMR). LgF, BrF and ASM had 13, 10 and 1 signature DMR respectively. Despite close anatomical proximity, ASM and BrF displayed 2 DMR when compared to each other. Interestingly, fibroblasts obtained from airway showed 6 DMR in comparison to those obtained from lung parenchyma, suggesting that the same cell type obtained from different parts of the lung can have significantly different methylation patterns that might lead to phenotypic differences. CONCLUSION: We have identified cell and tissue specific methylation signatures which can be used to differentiate between different types of airway structural cells. The airway epithelial cells showed the greatest separation from other airway structural cells. The Bronchial fibroblasts varied minimally from airway smooth muscle cells despite its significant separation from airway epithelial cells and parenchymal fibroblasts.},conference={American Thoracic Society 2017 International Conference},note={12 months embargo. Date of acceptance is provisional. No doi. Ol 14.12.2017},organization={Washington, D.C., USA},publicationstatus={Published},url={http://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/id/eprint/48743},year={2017},author={Rajasekar, P. and Clifford, R.L. and MacIsaac, J.L. and McEwen, L.M. and Kobor, M. and Knox, A.J.}} .