Headshot of Karthik Shekhar.

Karthik Shekhar

Assistant professor of chemical and biomolecular engineering
University of California, Berkeley

Karthik Shekhar is John F. Heil Jr. Professor in the chemical and biomolecular engineering department at the University of California, Berkeley. His laboratory is cross-affiliated with neuroscience, vision science and the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. His interests are at the interface of neuroscience, genomics and applied mathematics, and his group uses both experimental and computational approaches to understand how diverse types of neurons in the brain develop and evolve, and how they become selectively vulnerable during diseases. He has received the NIH Pathway to Independence Award, the Hellman Fellowship and the McKnight Fellowship in Neuroscience. He also recently received the Donald E. Noyce Prize for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching.

From this contributor

Explore more from The Transmitter

Adriano Aguzzi.

Neuropathologist not guilty of research misconduct, says university probe

The investigation determined that seven papers by corresponding author Adriano Aguzzi have “scientifically significant” errors, which Aguzzi attributes to his former students.

By Dalmeet Singh Chawla
8 July 2026 | 5 min read
Research image of proliferating neural cells.

Diverse autism genes derail common developmental pathways

Multiple genetic mouse models initially show delayed cortical development, but the animals’ molecular trajectories diverge within weeks after birth, a new study finds.

By Holly Barker
8 July 2026 | 5 min read
Brain scans showing sex-based activation differences.

Brain’s sex differences are subtle and contradictory, large MRI study finds

Sex-based behavioral differences do not match with variations in brain activation or structure in a study of almost 1,000 people.

By Lauren Schenkman
8 July 2026 | 5 min read