The Team

DR. AKASH GAUTAM (ASSISTANT PROFESSOR)

Dr Gautam is a trained teacher with a BSc BEd from the Regional Institute of Education (NCERT), Ajmer. After earning both MSc and PhD degrees from the Department of Zoology, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi (India), he has worked as an Assistant Professor at the CNCS, University of Hyderabad, since 2013. Currently, he supervises research students and regularly teaches PG/PhD classes.

Jayashree Thanukrishnan (PhD student)

An integrated MSc graduate in life sciences from the Central University of Tamil Nadu, she joined us in 2020. During her sophomore year, she found her passion for Neuroscience and decided to pursue it. She embarked on the journey for her master’s degree dissertation at the University of Sheffield, UK. Her current research is on the study of molecular mechanisms associated with diabetes-induced memory loss. 

Sheetal Kaur (PhD student)

Sheetal has an MSc in Neural and Cognitive Sciences from our centre at the University of Hyderabad. A profound curiosity for treating brain disorders has driven her journey in the world of neuroscience research. With an interest in unravelling the intricate workings of the human brain at the molecular level, she joined our lab in Jan. 2023. Her current research focuses on exploring the genetic markers of various neurodegenerative disorders. 

Bhavani Thorra (PhD student)

Ms. Bhavani completed her master's in neural and cognitive sciences at the University of Hyderabad. She joined our lab in the Sept. 2023 session. Her MSc dissertation project, "The effect of curcumin on synaptic plasticity genes during amnesia", in our lab made her interested in studying more about the neurobiology of diseases. She is currently exploring the effects of neurotoxins at the molecular level using various animal and computational models.

Faiza Gilani (PhD student)

Faiza joined the University of Hyderabad in September 2023 after finishing her master's degree in Biotechnology at Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi. She is interested in the fascinating sphere of microglia-neuron interactions and the intriguing world of developmental neuroscience and neuroepigenetics. Earlier, she worked on analysing the upper airway craniofacial parameters and oral microbial analysis in Obstructive Sleep Apnea patients during her master's dissertation project.

DR. VISHNU SHANDILYA MC (PhD)

A BTech graduate from IIT-Dhanbad, Vishnu Shandilya, was an MPhil-PhD integrated student at the CNCS, University of Hyderabad. He earned his Ph.D. in 2021. Currently, he works as a post-doctoral scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, USA.