About Me

I am intrigued by the ability of stem cells to navigate through several plastic cell states, differentiate under specific cues, and maintain the stemness and integrity of involved tissue types. These unparalleled abilities profoundly impact physiological processes such as development, regeneration, and pathophysiological conditions of tumorigenesis. An embryonic pool of stem cells, the neural crest cells (NCCs), sets a paradigm for stem cell multipotency and lineage specification and serves as a model to understand fate decisions critical for forming several cell types and tissues, including the vertebrate head. My doctoral work focused on delineating the mechanisms involved in NCC to melanocyte cell fate transitions using a multipronged approach involving zebrafish and embryonic stem cells, focusing on epigenetic regulators.

As a postdoctoral scholar in Prof. Marianne Bronner’s lab at the California Institute of Technology, USA, I am interested in examining the regulatory networks involved in developing vertebrate cranial meninges. For the first stage of my postdoctoral training, I acquired funding from Alex's Lemonade Stand—Young Investigator Award to establish zebrafish as a model to study the developing meninges and establish zebrafish to study meningiomas, tumors of the meninges. Recently, I have been awarded the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award to investigate the regulatory logic underlying meningeal development and tumorigenesis.     

 

  • Positions and Employment 

    Postdoctoral Researcher, California Institute of Technology 2020 - present  

    Ph.D., CSIR-IGIB 2014 - 2019  

    Project Assistant, CSIR-IGIB 2011 - 2014  

  • Honors & Awards 

    NIH (NIDCR) K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award                                       2025 - 2027

    Society for Developmental Biology Travel Award                                                    2023

    Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation – Young Investigator Award                        2022 - 2025

    American Heart Association – Postdoctoral fellowship (Declined)                      2021

    ICMR - International travel grant                                                                                2018

    Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) Senior Researcher Fellowship       2015 - 2018

    CSIR NET for Lectureship                                                                                              2010

    Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering (GATE); 95th Percentile                          2010

    Indian Academy of Science summer research fellowship                                       2010

    Bachelor’s degree first position award                                                                        2008 & 2009

    President’s Scout Award (The highest honor for a student scout)                        2006