Amitesh Anand, Ph.D.

Reader and Principal Investigator

Amitesh is a chemical biologist whose work spans microbiology and evolutionary biology. He earned his PhD with Prof. Rajesh S. Gokhale at CSIR-IGIB, India, and later advanced his research on microbial systems and evolution with Prof. Bernhard Palsson at the University of California San Diego, USA. As principal investigator, he leads a dynamic research group exploring the respiratory Electron Transport System revealing how its rewiring drives bacterial adaptation. His team’s research addresses antimicrobial stress tolerance, multicellular behaviors such as biofilm formation, and metabolic influences on host-associated microbial communities, offering new insights into microbial resilience and evolution.

Anjali Vijay Patil

Integrated PhD Student

Anjali is a Microbiology graduate from St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. Her research interests are understanding the adaptive features of bacteria thriving in extreme environments, and she is currently exploring the bioenergetic flexibilities of bacteria.

She aims to learn some exciting science and become a skillful and thoughtful person. Apart from science, she enjoys listening to music and sketching.

Stuti Srivastav

Doctoral Student (Ph.D.)

Stuti has a Microbiology background with post-graduation from the University of Hyderabad and graduation from the University of Delhi. She is interested in understanding interspecies microbial interactions and exploring respiratory supercomplexes.

In her leisure time, she loves to read, paint and travel.

Neha Banwani

Doctoral Student (Ph.D.)

Neha is a post-graduate in Biochemistry from MSU, Baroda, with graduation in Microbiology from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. She is interested in understanding the interplay between energetic plasticity and bacterial communication within biofilms, in the background of deciphering the metabolic changes that enable multicellularity in bacteria. 

She is an avid reader, and a trained Kathak dancer, who loves to write and explore new places around.

Akshay Shirsath

Project Assistant

Akshay has done his post-graduation in Bioinformatics and bachelor's in Microbiology from Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune. He's interested in Machine learning, Omics, and System Biology. 

Apart from hovering in the realm of computation, he is a film buff who enjoys exploring different genres in Music. 

Snehal Khairnar

Junior Research Fellow

Snehal is a post-graduate of the Institute of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Savitribai Phule Pune University, where she completed her integrated MSc in biotechnology and bioinformatics. Her passion lies in the field of Computational Biology and Omics analysis.

When she's not debugging her code errors, you can find her listening to songs or dancing.

Kaushik Poddar

Integrated PhD Student

Kaushik has his bachelor's in Microbiology from the University of Delhi. He is interested in exploring various facets of mycobacterial biofilms, with a particular focus on unraveling the quorum-sensing mechanisms utilized by the bacteria throughout the biofilm formation process. He is also interested in studying adaptive hierarchy in bacterial physiology.

In his free time, he watches anime and reads manga.

Arpita Biswas

Doctoral Student (Ph.D.)

Postgraduate in Biotechnology holding a B.Tech and M.Tech dual degree from KIIT University, Bhubaneswar. Arpita is interested in understanding the intricacies of fundamental bacterial metabolism and its adaptive plasticity in order to address antimicrobial resistance.

She enjoys the company of a good book and can be found dancing to Bollywood tunes and experimenting with diverse paint mediums in her free time.

Amartya Chowdhury

Doctoral Student (Ph.D.)

Amartya has done his Master’s in genetics from the Centre for Human Genetics, Bangalore, and a Bachelor's in Microbiology from the University of Calcutta. He is interested in bacterial metabolism and especially its adaptive plasticity, allowing Salmonella enterica to infect their hosts.

He likes drawing, reading, cooking, playing chess, and table tennis in his leisure time.

Upasana Nandi

Integrated PhD Student

Upasana is a Microbiology-Biochemistry graduate from St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai. Her research interests include understanding the influence of metabolism on antimicrobial resistance in Mycobacterium tuberculosis and exploring bacterial stress responses, including oxidative stress.

In her free time, she enjoys reading, listening to music, and sketching.

Gunjan Tripathi

Postdoctoral Researcher

Gunjan earned her doctorate at CSIR-CDRI, India, studying antibiotic transport transmembrane protein. She is particularly interested in exploring the intricate relationship between the bacterial electron transport chain and its drug resistance capabilities.

Outside of research, she enjoys reading novels and poetry, as well as cycling in her free time.