Nisha Cavanaugh

Nisha Cavanaugh, Ph.D., currently serves as the Associate Director of Career Development & Postdoctoral Programs at the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, where responsibilities include teaching a required course on Scientific Communication, expanding on the prior Senior Manager role, and participating in postdoctoral recruitment strategies. Cavanaugh has a robust background in career development program design for postdocs and graduate students, with previous positions including Director of the Office of Postdoctoral Affairs at North Carolina State University and consultant at SAMSI. As a postdoctoral fellow at NIEHS, Cavanaugh conducted significant research on DNA polymerase beta, contributing to multiple publications. Cavanaugh earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Colorado Boulder, with a dissertation focused on herpes DNA synthesis.