Amitesh Anand, Ph.D.
Reader and Principal Investigator
Dr. Anand is a chemistry graduate and earned his doctorate in Chemical Biology working with Prof. Rajesh S. Gokhale at CSIR-IGIB, India. He later worked on microbial systems and evolutionary biology with Prof. Bernhard Palsson at the University of California San Diego, USA. His works have made a significant contribution to the understanding of bacterial adaptive features and their stress response pathways.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Nikita Goel
Graduate Student (MS)
Nikita is a Botany graduate from the University of Delhi. She is interested in cellular metabolic and signaling pathways to understand the fundamentals of the biological system. She is exploring the adaptive responses of the bacterial bioenergetic pathways.
In her leisure, she paints, reads fiction, or explores her surroundings.
Divya M. Prabhakaran, Ph.D.
Postdoctoral Scholar
Divya received her Ph.D. in Biotechnology from RGCB, Kerala, where she worked on deciphering the pathogenic and genomic properties of the environmental population of the diarrhoeal pathogen Vibrio parahaemolyticus. She aims to understand the mechanisms by which oxygen affects biofilm formation in the opportunistic pathogen Pseudomonas aeruginosa and the consequent acquisition of antibiotic tolerance.
She is into reading and gardening and plans to restart her Carnatic music lessons.
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.
L. Karvannan
B. Tech Biotechnology Student
Karvannan is an undergraduate student at the School of Chemical and Biotechnology at SASTRA, deemed to be a University. He is currently interested in bacterial adaptability and the intricacies of microbial biofilm biology.
In his leisure time, he practices Hindustani classical music and directs theatrical plays.