Akul Y Mehta, Ph.D.

Staff Scientist and Instructor, National Center for Functional Glycomics

BIDMC, Harvard Medical School

NCFG Website Administrator

Education

2014- Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Medicinal Chemistry from Virginia Commonwealth University.
2007- B. Pharm. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Mumbai Educational Trust Institute of Pharmacy, University of Mumbai.

Background

Dr. Mehta obtained his B. Pharmacy from University of Mumbai in 2007 laying the foundation for his exploration of pharmaceutical sciences. His pursuit of knowledge led him to Virginia Commonwealth University, where he earned a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences within the Department of Medicinal Chemistry. Under the mentorship of Dr. Umesh Desai, Dr. Mehta gained experience in synthesis and biological evaluation of heparin mimetic antithrombotics. Dr. Mehta joined the NCFG in 2017 as a Research Scholar and was promoted to Instructor at Harvard Medical School in 2021.

Research Focus

Dr. Mehta's research focuses on glycan-protein interactions, high-throughput screening, and the development of bioinformatics tools for data analysis, structure representation and data management. Dr. Mehta has made significant contributions to glycan microarray platforms with improvements in microarray printing and glycan microarray assays. He has also developed several glycopeptide libraries which were useful in studying glycan protein interactions. Dr. Mehta is passionate about developing new methodologies, contributing to the development of tools that enhance our understanding of glycans and their roles in health and disease.

See also: Senior Personnel