Saket Navlakha
Associate Professor
Ph.D., University of Maryland College Park, 2011
[email protected] | 516-367-5540
Biological systems must solve problems to survive, and their solutions can be viewed as “algorithms.” Our goal is to uncover these algorithms, translate them to improve computer science, and use them to spark new hypotheses about biological function and dysfunction.
Saket Navlakha鈥檚 lab studies 鈥渁lgorithms in nature,鈥 i.e., how collections of molecules, cells, and organisms process information and solve interesting computational problems critical for survival. Indeed, there are many shared goals and constraints faced by biological and engineered systems, including: (1) the use of distributed networks as a backbone for information processing and communication; (2) trade-颅offs between optimization criteria, including efficiency, robustness, and adaptability; and (3) the need to develop low颅-cost, scalable solutions that conserve important metabolic or physical resources. An algorithmic perspective on biological problem-solving can lead to two ends: (1) new biological algorithms that are simple, flexible, and robust for use in computer science applications, and (2) quantitative frameworks to predict behavior, raise testable hypotheses, and guide experiments. Our lab has most recently focused on studying neural circuit computation and plant architecture optimization from this perspective.
Simons Pivot Fellowship (2024)
Keynote speaker at NIPS (2016)
鈥楴ature鈥檚 algorithm鈥 found in Chinese money plants
May 12, 2026
How a common housewarming gift helped scientists solve a longstanding biological mystery.
The magnetic math of breast health
October 2, 2025
Three grad students at CSHL have developed a new tool to study changes in mouse mammary glands. It may one day allow for earlier cancer diagnoses.
BATMAN brings TCR therapy out of the shadows
July 25, 2025
A new AI model developed by CSHL quantitative biologists could help improve immunotherapy treatments 鈥渘ot only for cancer, but all human illnesses.鈥
The CSHL School of Biological Sciences鈥 class of 2025
May 5, 2025
The School of Biological Sciences awarded Ph.D. degrees to nine students this year. Read some of their stories and reflections on their time at CSHL.
A perception quiz to blow your mind
March 26, 2025
Ready to think differently about how you see, smell, hear, taste, touch, and make sense of the world around you?
Navlakha named Simons Foundation Pivot fellow
December 5, 2024
The computational biologist teams with CSHL鈥檚 Hannah Meyer to explore how the immune system solves problems also common in AI.
At the Lab Season 1 Research Rewind: AI+
October 29, 2024
This season鈥檚 final Research Rewind brings us from the realm of quantitative biology to neuroscience, genomics, and beyond.
The nervous system鈥檚 matchmaker
September 2, 2024
CSHL鈥檚 Saket Navlakha has devised a new computer algorithm that could have many popular real-world applications. His inspiration: the nervous system.
At the Lab Episode 14: What鈥檚 that smell?
July 9, 2024
You might not realize, but that question is central to the human experience. On this week鈥檚 podcast, CSHL鈥檚 Saket Navlakha sniffs out answers.
Smells like learning
October 31, 2023
CSHL research suggests certain neurons help us tell apart different smells while others help us learn to distinguish between similar odors.
All Publications
26 Sep 2025 | Journal of Mammary Gland Biology and Neoplasia | 30(1):13
Lewis, Steven; Tellez-Perez, Lucia; Henry, Samantha; Zheng, Xingyu; Navlakha, Saket; Dos Santos, Camila;  
26 Jul 2025 | bioRxiv
Faizi, Kian; Mehta, Preyanka; Maida, Amy; Humphreys, Taylor; Berrigan, Elizabeth; Reid, Leo; McCorkell, Robbie; Tagade, Arush; Rumbelow, Jessica; Showalter, Julia; Brent, Lukas; Coroenne, Clementine; Rigaud, Audrey; Chandrasekhar, Arjun; Navlakha, Saket; Martin, Antoine; Pradal, Christophe; Lee, Sanghwa; Busch, Wolfgang; Platre, Matthieu;  
23 Jul 2025 | Cell Systems | :101345
Banerjee, Amitava; Pattinson, David; Wincek, Cornelia; Bunk, Paul; Axhemi, Armend; Chapin, Sarah; Navlakha, Saket; Meyer, Hannah;  
18 Feb 2025 | bioRxiv
Shen, Yang; Banerjee, Arkarup; Albeanu, Dinu; Navlakha, Saket;  
10 Sep 2024 | Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | 121(37):e2321032121
Dasgupta, Sanjoy; Meirovitch, Yaron; Zheng, Xingyu; Bush, Inle; Lichtman, Jeff; Navlakha, Saket;  
26 Aug 2024 | Journal of Neuroscience | :e0116242024
Pirhayati, Delaram; Smith, Cameron; Kroeger, Ryan; Navlakha, Saket; Pfaffinger, Paul; Reimer, Jacob; Arenkiel, Benjamin; Patel, Ankit; Moss, Elizabeth;  
25 Jan 2024 | bioRxiv
Banerjee, Amitava; Pattinson, David; Wincek, Cornelia; Bunk, Paul; Chapin, Sarah; Navlakha, Saket; Meyer, Hannah;  
Oct 2023 | PLoS Biology | 21(10):e3002206
Srinivasan, Shyam; Daste, Simon; Modi, Mehrab; Turner, Glenn; Fleischmann, Alexander; Navlakha, Saket; Benton, Richard;  
19 Sep 2023 | Neural Computation | :1-23
Shen, Yang; Dasgupta, Sanjoy; Navlakha, Saket;  
10 Oct 2022 | Nature Communications | 13(1):5961
Dasgupta, Sanjoy; Hattori, Daisuke; Navlakha, Saket;