Hersh Bhargava

I'm Hersh, a student and scientist with a background in biology and computer science.

I am interested in fusing computational and synthetic biology to advance the field of cell design, in particular for the development of cellular therapies.

I am currently a Biophysics Ph.D. candidate at UCSF in the labs of Hana El-Samad and Wendell Lim. I am also a co-founder of Skolay and H2 Micro.

Here are some highlights.

Original Research | Structural Biology

Structural basis for autophagy inhibition by the human Rubicon-Rab7 complex.

2020 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Science | Bhargava H.K., Tabata K., Byck J.M., Hamasaki M., Farrell D.P., Anishchenko I., DiMaio F., Im Y.J., Yoshimori T., Hurley J.H.

We report the novel atomic structure of autophagy inhibitor Rubicon bound to GTPase Rab7. Our work provides a roadmap to block Rubicon localization and activity in order to upregulate autophagy, a major drug development goal.

PDF Journal Website PDB Entry

Original Research | AI Driven Medicine

Computationally derived image signature of stromal morphology is prognostic of prostate cancer recurrence following prostatectomy in African American patients.

2020 | Clinical Cancer Research | Bhargava H.K., Leo, P., Elliott, R., Janowcyzk, A., Whitney, J., Gupta, S., Fu, P., Yamoah, K., Rebbeck, T., Feldman, D., Lal, P., Madabhushi, A.

We developed computer vision and machine learning to predict prostate cancer recurrence risk based on quantitative measurements of the intratumoral stroma computed from digitized H&E images.

PDF Journal Website

New Venture | Human Connection | Beta

Skolay

Skolay helps thoughtful people with an audience (like authors, podcasters, Substackers, journalists) have casual 1:1 office-hours-like conversations without the need to give out personal info, send emails, reconcile schedules, or independently solicit payment.

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H2 Micro Project | Healthcare | Beta

Medical Crosscheck

Crosscheck allows medical professionals to create, share, and use checklists in all aspects of their clinical practice and research. Checklists have been demonstrated time and again to improve safety and reliability in medicine, and we are bringing them to your fingertips.

Crosscheck Website

Me and my vision.

I am fascinated by biological systems, from molecular physics to human behavior. My goal is to shine light on how life works from the ground up, and in doing so contribute to the improvement of the human condition. I am pursuing this goal through a career in life science research, augmented with computational techniques.

Currently, I am acquiring the skills to effectively tackle questions in life science. I have been part of several different labs, working with techniques ranging from x-ray crystallography to deep learning. In addition, I co-founded the software development and consulting company H2 Micro. In 2019, I graduated from Berkeley with a degree in Molecular and Cell Biology, and am now pursuing a Ph.D. in Biophysics at UCSF.

I was born and raised in Maine, and enjoy playing the violin, rock climbing, and drinking coffee. I graduated in 2015 from the New Hampshire boarding school Phillips Exeter Academy, where I focused on classical languages and molecular biology.