Dr. Rajbir Batra

Dr. Rajbir Batra is a DKFZ PostDoctoral Fellow, and in 2021 further secured the prestigious Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Individual Fellowship (MSCA-IF) awarded by the European Commission to conduct an early-career academic position at the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ, Germany). Under the MSCA-IF, he has initiated an alliance between the Plass Division (Cancer Epigenomics) and the Stegle Division (Computational Genomics) at DKFZ, and his project focuses on interdisciplinary research at the interface between machine learning; genome-scale analysis, and translational research in cancer. He will investigate cancer (epi)genomes, particularly prostate cancer (the most common cause of cancer deaths in men in Europe) at an unprecedented resolution at the single-cell level, allowing true elucidation of how tumors evolve. Successful translation of this project can deliver novel diagnostic and therapeutic applications into the clinic and move us closer to personalized cancer medicine.

Rajbir obtained an MSc in Applied Statistics at the University of Oxford, UK where he secured the highly competitive Clarendon Fund Scholarship based on proven academic excellence and future potential. His introduction to medical research was established at the Department of Musculoskeletal Sciences (NDORMS), Oxford where he developed prognostic tools to complement patient decision-making in clinical practice in the UK National Health Service (NHS). For his work in pediatric musculoskeletal sciences, Rajbir was awarded a New Investigator Award in 2013.

Consequently in 2013, he secured the competitive Wellcome Trust PhD grant, as well as a Commonwealth Trust scholarship to undertake a PhD in Mathematical Genomics and Medicine at the University of Cambridge, UK. As part of his PhD, he worked in the Caldas laboratory at the Cancer Research UK, Cambridge Institute where he led the largest epigenomics study of 1500 tumors in breast cancer, the most frequent cause of cancer in women worldwide. During his PhD, Rajbir also won an EACR Travel fellowship that facilitated research visits the cancer epigenomic laboratories at with Professors Chris Mason and Ari Melnick at Weill Cornell Medicine, NYC, USA; and with Professor Amos Tanay at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel.

He is an active member of multi-national research consortiums - International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC); PanProstate Cancer Group (PPCG); and a member of professional scientific societies including BACR, EACR and AACR.

FELLOWSHIPS AND GRANTS

2021      Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Fellowship. European Commission.

2019      DKFZ PostDoctoral Fellowship. DKFZ, Heidelberg.

2016      EACR Travel Fellowship. Visit to Weill Cornell Medicine.

2015      Diagenode DNA Methylation Research Grant. Diagenode.

2013      Wellcome Trust Four-year PhD Felllowship. University of Cambridge.

2013      Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Scholarship. University of Cambridge

2008      Clarendon Fund Scholarship. University of Oxford.

2007      Department of Statistics Scholarship. University of Warwick.

2006      Department of Statistics Scholarship. University of Warwick.

2005      India Undergraduate Scholarship. (Lone Recipient). University of Warwick.

PRIZES AND AWARDS

2018     1st PhD student with highest distinction of No Corrections, Cancer Research UK Institute, University of Cambridge, UK

2017     Best Talk Prize, International PhD Student Cancer Conference 2017, Berlin, Germany

2015      EACR Meeting Award, EACR Basic Epigenetic Mechanisms in Cancer, Berlin, Germany

2013     New Investigator Award, International Conference on Children’s Bone Health, Netherlands

2013     Top Graduate Applicant in Department of Musculoskeletal Sciences, University of Oxford

2008      Ronald A. Fisher Prize for Standing First in 3rd Year, Statistics Dept., University of Warwick

2007      Karl Pearson Prize for Standing First in 2nd Year, Statistics Dept., University of Warwick

2006     First Year Prize for Standing First in 1st Year, Statistics Dept., University of Warwick