Sharanya is a Cancer Biology PhD student in the Churpek Lab at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she is investigating the role of homologous recombination repair deficiencies (HRD) in mesothelioma. Her research focuses on characterizing the genome-wide mutational landscape associated with HRD to develop a prediction model for platinum-based chemotherapy response in mesothelioma. She employs a multifaceted approach that integrates functional HR assays, mesothelioma cell line models, CRISPR-based perturbation, and comprehensive genomic profiling, including whole-genome and transcriptomic analyses, to construct clinically relevant HRD classification systems. Sharanya earned her Master’s of Research in Medical Genetics degree from Newcastle University, UK, where she contributed to multiple projects in translational oncology, including liquid biopsy characterization in neuroblastoma and the influence of exercise-induced IL-6 on DNA repair in colorectal cancer.