Akhila completed BS-MS dual degree from IISER Pune (2016-2021). Her interests in biology broadly lie in animal behaviour and evolutionary biology. She is currently exploring the effect of nutrition on physiology and life history in Drosophila. Apart from science, she is fond of reading, cooking and true crime.

Itibaw has a Masters in Biomedical Sciences from Jamia Hamdard and an Honors in Zoology from the University of Delhi. Her research interest lies in human health and disease intervention. Previously, she has worked on the opportunistic pathogen-Leishmania mexicana. In the free time, she enjoys travelling or watching sitcoms with good food. She also plays martial arts and badminton. 

Hisham joined our lab to conduct his Master's dissertation project as a part of his curriculum at Central University of Jharkhand. He explored the effects of varying nutrient ratios on gut microbiota composition resulting his thesis titled "Gut microbiota analysis of Drosophila melanogaster reared on different P:C ratios." 

Ruchitha joined us for her final year MS dissertation project as a part of her integrated BS-MS curriculum at IISER Pune. For her thesis, Ruchitha investigated the impact of stage-specific dietary macronutrient composition on reproductive aging in Drosophila melanogaster.

Bhavana completed her Master's thesis at IGEL, focusing on how nutritional metabolism regulates cellular physiology, particularly in the context of gut health. Passionate about working with Drosophila (fruit flies), Bhavana is truly a "drosophilic" person. She is also an avid foodie, with egg biryani being her ultimate comfort food. Her preferred beverage is not chai or coffee, but badam milk. In her spare time, Bhavana enjoys cooking and drawing comics.

Souti joined us as a 4th year ASP graduate student at Ashoka University. He completed a BSc degree in Biology, and is pursuing a second major equivalent in Chemistry. For his ASP thesis, Souti investigated the effect of macronutrients on neuromuscular performance using negative geotaxis assay.

Ambar joined us as a 4th year ASP graduate student at Ashoka University. At IGEL, he worked on a series of computational simulations to model non-genetic effects on population dynamics. 

Prithika joined IGEL as an IASc-INSA-NASI Summer Research Fellow while pursuing her M.Sc. in Bioinformatics at Central University of Punjab. Here she investigated gut microbes in diet-adapted Drosophila populations and how they affect growth and development. In her spare time, you will find her singing or capturing nature through her camera lens.

Aharnish joined IGEL as an undergraduate at Cornell University. Here, he worked on investigating the effect of dietary composition on flight ability in fruit flies.

Shanti is an Undergraduate student at Azim Premji University, pursuing a major in biology and a minor in economics. At IGEL she explored the field of evolution. She also has a deep interest in exploring the field of Public Policy. Apart from academics, she enjoys having genuine conversations with people. Also keeps an interest in table tennis, singing, and art.

Ishita joined IGEL as an IASc-INSA-NASI Summer Research Fellow  while pursuing her M.Sc. in Bioinformatics at Central University of Punjab. Here she investigated gut microbes in diet-adapted Drosophila populations and how they affect growth and development. In her spare time, you will find her singing or capturing nature through her camera lens.

Haruna joined IGEL as an undergraduate ('26) at Cornell University pursuing a B.S. in Nutritional Sciences. She worked on investigating the effect of dietary composition on social space behaviour in fruit flies.

Ruchitha is an integrated BS-MS student at IISER Pune. She is broadly interested in understanding the effect of various environmental and genetic factors on health, especially that of ageing individuals. 

She is presently investigating the effect of aging on locomotor activity in Drosophila populations selected for greater dispersal. Her past project at IGEL involved computer simulations to investigate how population abundance pattern and organismal traits are affected by deteriorating environments.

Soumili is pursuing integrated BS-MS at IACS Kolkata. 

She is presently studying the effect of macronutrient composition of diet on various larval and adult traits, and in turn their effect on the adult population stability, using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. Apart from being deeply interested in biology, she dabbles in German and Korean.

Esha is a B.Sc Computer Science & Health Sciences Student at Ashoka University. Her work involves studying type II  diabetes through computational modelling.

Akanksha is pursuing integrated BS-MS at IISER Mohali. She is conducting computer simulations to study impact of various factors affecting population stability.

Sreeya is a third-year undergraduate at Ashoka University, pursuing a major in Biology. She is broadly interested in evolutionary genetics and computational biology. She would like to venture into projects involving the quantitative aspects of biology like genomics, bioinformatics, computational and statistical models.

Riya worked with us on experiments related to diet-induced behavioural plasticity, particularly in the context of exposure to ethanol.

Tanvi Agarwal

Sri Venkateswara College,

University of Delhi

[Summer, 2021]

Sarthak is an integrated BS-MS student at IISER Mohali. At IGEL, he undertook a simulation project on modelling populations facing environmental mismatches. 

Deepanshu Mann, Intern

Panjab University, Chandigarh

[Summer, 2022]

Jeevak, Intern

Fergusson College, Pune

[Summer, 2023]