Dr. Nitika Taneja, PhD is an Associate Professor and Principal Investigator at the Department of Molecular Genetics, Erasmus University Medical Center (Erasmus MC) and also affiliated with Technical University, Delft (TU, Delft) since 2018. She is an Oncode Investigator and consequently her group became part of Oncode Institute since 2024. The central theme of her research activities has been focused on understanding complex molecular mechanisms of chromatin remodeling upon DNA replication and replication stress in maintaining genome stability.

She obtained her PhD from University of Zurich, Switzerland, in 2013 and her postdoctoral training from National Cancer Institute, NIH, USA, in 2017, studying epigenetics using Drosophila and fission yeast as model organisms. In her own lab, she uses mammalian system (human/mouse cell lines, tumor organoids and patient tumor samples including PDX) to study chromatin organization upon replication stress. Overall, there is a significant knowledge gap in the understanding of 3-D chromatin architecture organization in mediating replication fork stability upon replication stress. Understanding these connections and identifying the factors involved in this process can open up several new avenues to be investigated in the field of aging and cancer. Her group develops novel state-of-the-art tools and technologies to investigate this uncharted field that bypass the limitations of studying transient chromatin changes at the local site of replication forks and at genome-wide level to capture spatial re-organization of chromatin in response to replication stress.

She has been honored with grants and awards including the Young Investigator award by the Daniel den Hoed Stitching foundation, Erasmus+ fellowship, Convergence: Open Mind call, VIDI talent award, Aspasia premium grant, Recognition & Incentive grant for Women in STEM by NWO, and a European Research Council (ERC)-Starting grant. She has also garnered support from the Oncode Institute and has been appointed as an Oncode Investigator.