Dhruv D. Jatkar

Hi, I’m Dhruv. I am currently working as a Research Assistant in the Laboratory for Control, Learning, and Systems Biology housed in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department at Northeastern University.

I recently graduated Northeastern University with a degree in Computer Science and Mathematics. I have been jointly advised by Prof. Benjamin Woolston (Fall 2021–Fall 2025), Prof. Eduardo Sontag (Summer 2023–Fall 2025), and Prof. Domitilla Del Vecchio (Summer 2024–Fall 2025).

My research has spanned theoretical and experimental directions in systems and control, synthetic biology, and machine learning, with a particular emphasis on robustness, modularity, and learning in dynamical systems. I am broadly interested in developing principled and widely applicable methods through the lens of systems theory.

selected publications

CDC

Competition for binding targets results in paradoxical effects for simultaneous activator and repressor action

M. A. Al-Radhawi, K. Manoj, D. D. Jatkar, and 3 more authors

In 2024 IEEE 63rd Conference on Decision and Control (CDC), Dec 2024

Bib

@inproceedings{alradhawi2024competition,
  title = {Competition for binding targets results in paradoxical effects for simultaneous activator and repressor action},
  author = {Al-Radhawi, M. A. and Manoj, K. and Jatkar, D. D. and Duvall, A. and Del Vecchio, D. and Sontag, E. D.},
  booktitle = {2024 IEEE 63rd Conference on Decision and Control (CDC)},
  pages = {5579--5585},
  year = {2024},
  month = dec,
  organization = {IEEE},
}

bioRxiv

Modeling and minimization of dCas9-induced competition in CRISPRi-based genetic circuits

D. D. Jatkar, M. A. Al-Radhawi, C. A. Voigt, and 1 more author

bioRxiv, Dec 2025

DOI Bib

@article{jatkar2025modeling,
  title = {Modeling and minimization of dCas9-induced competition in CRISPRi-based genetic circuits},
  author = {Jatkar, D. D. and Al-Radhawi, M. A. and Voigt, C. A. and Sontag, E. D.},
  journal = {bioRxiv},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1101/2025.11.05.686856},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.05.686856},
}

arXiv

On the convergence of overparameterized problems: Inherent properties of the compositional structure of neural networks

A. C. B. Oliveira, D. D. Jatkar, and E. D. Sontag

arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.09810, Dec 2025

Submitted to Learning for Dynamics and Control (L4DC) 2026

arXiv Bib

@article{deoliveira2025convergence,
  title = {On the convergence of overparameterized problems: Inherent properties of the compositional structure of neural networks},
  author = {de Oliveira, A. C. B. and Jatkar, D. D. and Sontag, E. D.},
  journal = {arXiv preprint arXiv:2511.09810},
  year = {2025},
  url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2511.09810},
  note = {Submitted to Learning for Dynamics and Control (L4DC) 2026},
}

bioRxiv

Paradoxical gene regulation explained by competition for genomic sites

D. D. Jatkar, K. Manoj, E. D. Sontag, and 1 more author

bioRxiv, Dec 2025

DOI Bib

@article{jatkar2025paradoxical,
  title = {Paradoxical gene regulation explained by competition for genomic sites},
  author = {Jatkar, D. D. and Manoj, K. and Sontag, E. D. and Del Vecchio, D.},
  journal = {bioRxiv},
  year = {2025},
  doi = {10.1101/2025.11.27.691022},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.11.27.691022},
}