Meet our EXPERTs
We bring to you an opportunity to informally interact with experts of various fields. This is a further attempt to emulate in-person interactions in a conference.
Rakesh Mishra
Director ccmb
His lab works on genome organization and nuclear architecture primarily using fruit flies and zebra fishes as model systems. As the director of CCMB in the past few years, he has facilitated several institute level collaborative projects, science outreach efforts and most recently to effective anti-Covid-19 measures.
Debojyoti Chakraborty
scientist csir-igib
His lab works on three aspects: developing CRISPR/Cas9 based tools for therapeutic genome engineering; brain development using cerebral organoids; understanding of embryonic stem cell fate. He was recently involved in the development of the Covid-19 diagnostic test strip named ‘Feluda’ along with Dr. Souvik Maiti.
Jahnavi Joshi
scientist ccmb
A newly instated PI at CCMB, her interests are in the fields of ecology and evolution, especially tropical forest ecology, biodiversity and speciation. She has worked on the biodiversity of invertebrates like centipedes and butterflies during PhD and also did a stint at the Natural History Museum, UK.
Bushra Ateeq
associate professor IIt kanpur
Her group mainly works on various aspects of prostate cancer including genome sequencing from Indian patient cohorts, understanding the importance of genetic and epigenetic alterations and drug screens with the long term goal of developing effective therapeutics.
Karthikeyan Vasudevan
Scientist ccmb
He heads the Laboratory for the Conservation of Endangered species (LaCONES) of CCMB. His research group works on evolutionary biogeography and systematics, focusing on Asian amphibians and reptiles. He has also authored a book ‘Amphibians and Reptiles of Uttarakhand, India’.
Jyotsna Dhawan
Scientist ccmb
Her research group which is almost 25 years old, works on adult skeletal muscle stem cell biology and muscle repair. She’s the current president of the Indian Society for Cell Biology and has been an active advocate for promoting cutting edge biomedical research in India.
Bittu Rajaraman
Associate professor ashoka university
His expertise is in the evolution of neural and behavioural systems of communication in insects, combining aspects of neuroscience, engineering and ecology. He’s an anti-caste queer activist who is vocal about the need to do away with discrimination.
Aashima Freidog
co-founder the life of science
She’s a science writer with several years of experience and has worked with many media platforms. She founded The Life of Science, a science media platform along with Nandita Jayaraj with the primary goal of chronicling the lives of Indian women scientists.
Vidita Vaidya
professor tifr
Her lab of over 25 years works in the field of molecular neuropsychiatry with a focus on neural circuits of emotions and mood disorders like depression and their relationship with stress and early life experiences. She received the Nature Award for Mentorship in Science in 2019.
Shashi Thutupalli
scientist ncbs
His research group aims to understand the origins and organisation of living systems. They combine experimental and theoretical methods at the intersection of physics, engineering and biology.
Rashna bhandhari
scientist cdfd
Her group studies signal transduction in biological systems with special focus on the role of inositol pyrophosphates in physiology and metabolism. She has time and again advocated for gender quality and also written about subtle biases in a booklet called ‘Spoorthi’ by IndiaBioscience.
Nandita Jayaraj
Co-founder-the life of science
She’s a science communicator and co-founder of The Life of Science along with Aashima Freidog. Nandita and Aashima recently penned a book called ‘31 Fantastic Adventures in Science: Women Scientists in India’.
Meghna Krishnadas
Scientist ccmb
Her newly established lab studies the impact of climate change on forest regeneration and the effects of human influence on forest biodiversity, species and overall ecological dynamics. She’s passionate about ecology and conservation and took to it after obtaining a degree in medicine.
Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan
Scientist iisc
Her research interests lie in the study of cytoskeleton and associated proteins using biophysical approaches. She runs an initiative called ‘BiasWatchIndia’ along with Dr. Shruti Muralidhar that documents women representation and aims to combat gender biased panels in Indian Science conferences and meets.
