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Sayan Nandi Picture
Faculty
Faculty

Sayan Nandi

Assistant Professor

sayan.nandi@howard.edu
202-806-6365

Department/Office

  • Anatomy

School/College

  • College of Medicine

Biography

Dr. Sayan Nandi received his Ph.D. degree from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY, where he studied the roles of hematopoietic cytokines in bone and brain development. He subsequently completed postdoctoral studies in Columbia University, NY, focusing on the roles of small noncoding RNAs in brain function, and in Einstein, where he studied fibroblast growth factor signaling in telencephalon development and in hippocampal neurogenesis and synaptogenesis. As a junior faculty in the research-track at Einstein, Dr. Nandi investigated the roles of microglia in synaptic remodeling and behavior and he further received two co-PI NIH pilot awards. This work also formally established the roles for Iba1, a protein that has long been known as a microglial marker, in normal brain function. As an Assistant Professor in the tenure-track at Howard University College of Medicine, Dr. Nandi focuses on the discovery of neural mechanisms as well as those related to neuroimmune interactions underlying neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, as well as neural injury.

Education & Expertise

Education

M.S. (first division)

Biotechnology
Guha Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, India
2001

M.S. (with distinction)

Developmental and Molecular Biology
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
2004

Ph.D.

Developmental and Molecular Biology
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York
2009

Postdoctoral

Neuroscience
Columbia University, New York

Postdoctoral

Neuroscience
Albert Einstein College of Medicine, New York

Expertise

Neuroscience, Immunology, Genetically-engineered mouse models, Biochemistry, Cell Biology, Imaging

Academics

Academics

Neuroanatomy Lab, Neurohistology, Molecules and Cells 01, Structure-Function 2

Research

Research

Specialty

Cell Signaling, Neurodevelopment, Inflammation, Microglia, Synapses, Behavior, Mouse Genetics, Biochemistry, Confocal Microscopy, Neurophysiology

Funding

(Active)

01/15/2024-01/15/2026

Brain and Behavior Research Foundations         

NANDI, Sayan (PI)

Testing potential for targeting of microglial proinflammatory protein Iba1 in mitigating schizophrenia-like symptoms in mice

This proposal assesses the direct contribution of the principal immune cell type in the brain called microglia in schizophrenia development in mice.

Role: PI

 

11/1/22-10/31/24 (NCE)

7 R21 MH124294, NIMH/NIH           

NANDI, Sayan (PI)

Microglia-neuron interactions – Roles for microglial Iba1

This project investigates the roles of Iba1 in synaptic function in the developing brain.

Role: PI

 

(Completed)

12/1/20-10/31/22

5 R21 MH124294, NIMH/NIH            

NANDI, Sayan (PI), CASTILLO, Pablo E (PI)

Microglia-neuron interactions – Roles for microglial Iba1

This project investigates the roles of Iba1 in synaptic function in the developing brain.

Role: Co-PI

 

7/1/20-6/30/22

R21 NS116480, NINDS/NIH              

SIBINGA, Nicholas ES (PI), NANDI, Sayan (PI)

AIF1/Iba1 in microglial function and stroke

This project assesses the roles of Iba1 in ischemic stroke recovery and in relevant microglial properties.

Role: Co-PI

Accomplishments

Accomplishments

Chinnasamy, P., Casimiro, I., Riascos-Bernal, D.F., Venkatesh, S., Parikh, D., Maira, A., Srinivasan, A., Zheng, W., Tarabra, E., Zong, H., Jayakumar, S., Jeganathan, V., Pradan K., Aleman, J.O., Singh, R., Nandi, S., Pessin, J.E., Sibinga, N.E.S. (2023) Increased adipose catecholamine levels and protection from obesity with loss of Allograft Inflammatory Factor-1. Nature Communications. 14(1):38. PMID: 36596796 PMCID: PMC9810600

Lituma, P.J., Woo, E., O’Hara, B.F., Castillo, P.E., Sibinga, N.E.S., Nandi, S. (2021). Altered synaptic connectivity and brain function in mice lacking microglial adapter protein Iba1. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 118 (46) e2115539118 PMID: 34764226

Blackwood, C.A., Bailetti, A., Nandi, S., Gridley, T., Hébert, J.M. (2020). Notch dosage: jagged1 haploinsufficiency is associated with reduced neuronal division and disruption of periglomerular interneurons in mice. Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology. 8:113. PMID: 32161758 PMCID: PMC7054221

Nandi, S., Alviña, K., Lituma, P.J., Castillo, P.E., Hébert, J.M. (2018). Neurotrophin and FGF signaling adapter proteins, FRS2 and FRS3 regulate dentate granule cell maturation and excitatory synaptogenesis. Neuroscience. 369:192-201. PMID: 29155277 PMCID: PMC5766409

Nandi, S., Gutin, G., Blackwood, C.A., Kamatkar, N.G., Lee, K.W., Wang, F., Fishell, G., Goldfarb, M., Hébert, J.M. (2017). FGF-dependent, context-driven role for FRS adapters in the early telencephalon. Journal of Neuroscience. 37(23):5690-5698. PMID: 28483978 PMCID: PMC5469306

Nandi, S., Chandramohan, D., Fioriti, L., Melnick, A.M., Hébert, J.M., Mason, C.E., Rajasethupathy, P., Kandel, E.R. (2016). Roles for small non-coding RNAs in silencing of retrotransposons in the mammalian brain. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 113(45):12697-12702. PMID: 27791114 PMCID: PMC5111663

Chitu, V., Gokhan, S., Nandi, S., Mehler, M.F., Stanley, E.R. (2016). Emerging Roles for CSF-1 Receptor and its Ligands in the Nervous System. Trends in Neurosciences. 39(6):378-93. PMID: 27083478 PMCID: PMC4884457 

Nandi, S., Mioce, M., Yeung, Y.G., Nieves, E., Tesfa, L., Lin, H., Hsu, A.W., Halenbeck, R., Cheng, H.Y., Gokhan, S., Mehler, M.F., Stanley, E.R. (2013). Receptor-type protein tyrosine phosphatase zeta is a functional receptor for interleukin-34. The Journal of Biological Chemistry. 288(30):21972-86. PMID: 23744080 PMCID: PMC3724651

Nandi, S., Gokhan, S., Dai, X.M., Wei, S., Enikolopov, G., Lin, H., Mehler, M.F., Stanley, E.R. (2012). The CSF-1 receptor ligands IL-34 and CSF-1 exhibit distinct developmental brain expression patterns and regulate neural progenitor cell maintenance and maturation. Developmental Biology. 367(2):100-13. PMID: 22542597 PMCID: PMC3388946

Chitu, V., Nacu, V., Charles, J.F., Henne, W.M., McMahon, H.T., Nandi, S., Ketchum, H., Harris, R., Nakamura, M.C., Stanley, E.R. (2012). PSTPIP2 deficiency in mice causes osteopenia and increased differentiation of multipotent myeloid precursors into osteoclasts. Blood. 120(15):3126-35. PMID: 22923495 PMCID: PMC3471520

Chitu, V., Yeung, Y.G., Yu, W., Nandi, S., Stanley, E.R. (2011). Measurement of Macrophage Growth and Differentiation. Current Protocols in Immunology. Chapter 14:Unit 14.20.1-26. PMID: 21400680 PMCID: PMC4184440 

Ginhoux, F., Greter, M., Leboeuf, M., Nandi, S., See, P., Gokhan, S., Mehler, M.F., Conway, S.J., Ng, L.G., Stanley, E.R., Samokhvalov, I.M., Merad, M. (2010). Fate mapping analysis reveals that adult microglia derive from primitive macrophages. Science. 330(6005):841-5. PMID: 20966214 PMCID: PMC3719181

Wei, S., Nandi, S., Chitu, V., Yeung, Y.G., Huang, M., Williams, L.T., Lin, H., Stanley, E.R. (2010). Functional overlap, but differential expression of CSF-1 and IL-34, in their CSF-1 receptor mediated regulation of myeloid cells. Journal of Leukocyte Biology. 88(3):495-505. PMID: 20504948 PMCID: PMC2924605

Huynh, D., Dai, X.M., Nandi, S., Lightowler, S., Trivett, M., Chan, C.K., Bertoncello, I., Ramsay, R., Stanley, E.R. (2009). CSF-1 dependence of Paneth cell development in the mouse small intestine. Gastroenterology. 137(1): 136-44. PMID: 19303020 PMCID: PMC2706482

Jang, M.H., Herber, D.M., Jiang, X., Nandi, S., Dai, X.M., Zeller, G., Stanley, E.R., Kelley, V.R. (2006). Distinct in vivo roles of colony-stimulating factor-1 isoforms in renal inflammation. Journal of Immunology. 177(6):4055-63. PMID: 16951369

Nandi, S., Akhter, M.P., Seifert, M.F., Dai, X.M., Stanley, E.R. (2006). Developmental and functional significance of the CSF-1 proteoglycan chondroitin sulfate chain. Blood. 107(2):786-95. PMID: 16210339 PMCID: PMC1895624