Dr. Simran Arora

Biography

Simran was born and raised in Malout, India. She obtained her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in chemistry from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar. In January 2025, she received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai. During her doctoral research, Simran employed a range of spectroscopic and microscopic techniques to investigate how post-translational modifications influence the liquid–liquid phase separation of proteins. In September 2025, she moved to U.S. and joined the Wittung-Stafshede research group as a postdoctoral fellow. Her postdoctoral work focuses on understanding how various cellular factors modulate α-synuclein phase separation and catalytic activity, with potential links to disease. Outside the lab, Simran enjoys practicing yoga, cooking, and watching Netflix.

Thesis title: Roles of Post-Translational Modifier Proteins Beyond Signaling Tags: Phase-Separation Characteristics and Interactions with the Substrate.