Shanta Messerli, Ph.D., has made a number of significant scientific contributions in biomedical research and academia. Currently working as a Staff Scientist in the Cancer Biology and Immunotherapies Department at Sanford Research in Sioux Falls, SD, she also serves as an instructor of Physiology for the Continuing Education Department and the Biology and Microbiology Department at South Dakota State University (SDSU) in Brookings, South Dakota. Messerli obtained her undergraduate degree in Psychobiology from Wellesley College in Wellesley, MA. and her doctorate in Biology, with a focus in Neuroscience, from Purdue University in West Lafayette, Indiana. She has successfully completed her training as a Post doctorate fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School in Charlestown, MA (Dr. Xandra Breakefield Supervisor) and at Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, MA. She was appointed to the Cellular Dynamics Department at Marine Biological Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA as an Assistant Research Scientist.

Messerli (birth name Kumar) has made a number of important scholarly contributions in the areas of cell and cancer biology and neuroscience in publications such as the Journal of Molecular Biology, Journal of Neuroscience, Journal of Oncology, and Nature Cell Biology, among others. She has taught courses within the field of biomedical science at institutions such as Brown University, Bridgewater State University, Northern State University, the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, and SDSU. For her contributions to academia, Messerli has received numerous invitations to lecture on various topics at National Cancer Institute (NCI) sponsored workshops and the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, University of South Dakota, among other venues.

Her research has been exclusively funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Department of Defense (DOD), multiple foundations, industry (Merrimack/Sanofi), and National Science Foundation (NSF). In addition to being co-investigator on a DOD major research initiative, she has received fellowships and grants to support her research, such as the MGH Medical Discover Fund. Her current research examines the use of potential therapeutics and natural compounds for neuronal damage found in the Chemo brain and Alzheimer’s Disease (AD).

Shanta Messerli