Dr. Mayank
Chugh

I am Mayank Chugh. I am a first-generation college graduate, born and raised in Anglophilic India before I started my academic journey. I reside in Baltimore, MD. I am an Assistant Professor (Teaching) in Biology at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

 

I am fascinated by life; its beauty in form, shape, pattern, function, and dynamics in space and time. I am excited by how a single cell develops into a multicellular organism with sophisticated organs and coherent behaviour. I have spent the last 10 years learning and investigating this fundamental question in different organisms and with various techniques.  

 
I am also constantly inspired by the life around me: change of the seasons, music, murals in the streets, mountains, people's faces and emotions, et cetera. I channel this inspiration into my scientific research and more so, writing and art. I do not like to border science, art, and society. They belong together.

Hence, I very much believe in community. No man is an island, and neither is science. Representation matters in- and outside science. I am action-oriented about the betterment of our communities at institutional and federal levels, with data-driven research informed policy and academic culture change.  My tenure at Harvard has aligned my academic trajectory with my core values and led me to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, where I now teach & direct the graduate program 'Applied Molecular Biology Lab', and and lead a research program I call the 'ReForm Lab'.