Neeti Swarup, B.D.S., M.D.S., Ph.D.
Adjunct Assistant Professor
73-043 CHS
UCLA School of Dentistry
10833 Le Conte Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90095
About
Dr. Neeti Swarup is an adjunct assistant professor in the Center for Oral/Head and Neck Oncology Research at the UCLA School of Dentistry, working in the laboratory of Dr. David T.W. Wong. Trained as a dentist and oral pathologist in India and awarded a Ph.D. from Seoul National University in 2021, she joined UCLA as a NIDCR R90 postdoctoral fellow before her faculty appointment in 2025. Her research develops the salivary and plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragmentomics, methylation, and machine-learning methods underlying the BRcfDNA-Seq platform, and she is one of only two researchers at UCLA qualified to perform the assay. She is a member of the NCI Liquid Biopsy Consortium and a Co-Investigator on NCI U01 CA233370, funded by the NIH, NCI, and ACS. Her work spans noninvasive detection of gastric, oral, and lung cancers, as well as the biology of circulating nucleic acids.
Research and Academic Interests
- Salivary and plasma cell-free DNA (cfDNA) fragmentomics and the BRcfDNA-Seq platform
- cfDNA methylation analysis and chromatin-based tissue-of-origin inference
- Machine learning for noninvasive, multi-cancer early detection
- Liquid biopsy for gastric, oral, and head and neck cancers
- Molecular mechanisms of oral squamous cell carcinoma
Education and Degree(s)
- Ph.D., Oral Pathology, Seoul National University, Republic of Korea, 2021
- M.D.S., Oral Pathology & Microbiology, Teerthanker Mahaveer University, Moradabad, India, 2017
- B.D.S., Pt. B.D. Sharma University of Health Sciences & Research, Haryana, India, 2013
Publications
- Swarup N, Leung HY, Choi I, Aziz MA, Cheng JC, Wong DTW. Cell-free DNA: features and attributes shaping the next frontier in liquid biopsy. Molecular Diagnosis & Therapy. 2025;29(3):277–290.
- Swarup N, Cheng J, Choi I, Heo YJ, Kordi M, Aziz M, Arora A, Li F, Chia D, et al. Multi-faceted attributes of salivary cell-free DNA as liquid biopsy biomarkers for gastric cancer detection. Biomarker Research. 2023;11(1):90.
- Cheng JC, Swarup N, Morselli M, Huang WL, Aziz M, Caggiano C, et al. Single-stranded pre-methylated 5mC adapters uncover the methylation profile of plasma ultrashort single-stranded cell-free DNA. Nucleic Acids Research. 2024;52(11):e50.
- Cheng J, Swarup N, Li F, Kordi M, Lin CC, Yang SC, Huang WL, Aziz M, et al. Distinct features of plasma ultrashort single-stranded cell-free DNA as biomarkers for lung cancer detection. Clinical Chemistry. 2023;69(11):1270–1282.
- Swarup N, Hong KO, Chawla K, Choi SJ, Shin JA, Oh KY, Yoon HJ, Lee JI, et al. Effect of PAIP1 on the metastatic potential and prognostic significance in oral squamous cell carcinoma. International Journal of Oral Science. 2022;14(1):9.
All publications:
PubMed
Google Scholar
Honors and Awards
- Seoul National University Global Scholarship for Foreign Students (2018–2021)
- Graduate Student Instructor, Seoul National University (2021)
- Second Prize, Scientific Content & Quality of Presentation, 18th International Congress on Oral Pathology and Medicine / XXV IAOMP Conference (2016)
- UCLA–NIDCR T90/R90 Research Fellowship (2021–2024)
Membership and Service
- American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) — Associate Member (2016–present)
- International Association of Oral Pathologists (IAOP) — Member (2016–present)