Joined the Miller lab in 2022

Research Interests

Embryonic stem (ES) and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells are versatile cell sources for transplantation and tissue engineering due to their ability to self-renew and differentiate into any other type of cell in the body. Akhilesh's research aims to differentiate human pluripotent stem (HPS) cells into hematopoietic progenitors and mature blood cells to provide a new source of immune cells for bone marrow transplantation, transfusion, and cancer immunotherapy. During his postdoctoral training, his research showed the identification of multiple novel hematoendothelial, hematopoietic, and mesenchymal progenitors and deciphered various molecular determinants and cellular pathways leading to the formation of blood cells. He also developed several protocols for the scalable production of arterial hemogenic endothelium, hematopoietic progenitors, immune cells (T, B, and NK), vasculogenic cells (MSC, endothelial, pericytes, and SMCs), and myeloid cells from human and non-human primate (NHP) PSCs. Currently, his research focuses on 1) optimization of the iPSC platform for scalable manufacturing of hematopoietic progenitors and immune cells, primarily on natural killer (NK) cell development. 2) Genetic engineering of iPSC using cutting-edge CRISPR/Cas9 technology to escalate the function and maturation of NK cells for immunotherapies.