G. Narahari Sastry FNA, FNASc, FASc, FRSC

Professor (HAG scale),Dean SRC IIT Hyderabad

Department of Biotechnology

Indian Institute of Technology(IIT), Hyderabad, India

Email: gnsastry@bt.iith.ac.in, gnsastry@gmail.com

Former Director, CSIR-NEIST, Jorhat, Assam, India

Former Professor, Academy of Scientific and Innovative Research (AcSIR) , India

Former Adjunct Professor, Department of Biotechnology, IIT, Hyderabad

Former Adjunct Professor, Department of Computational Biology, IIIT, Delhi

Former Adjunct Professor, NIPER, Kolkata, India

Ananya is a Ph.D. scholar in the Department of Biotechnology at IIT Hyderabad. She completed her Bachelor of Science in Zoology from BRABU, Bihar. she qualified for CUCET  and pursued her Master of Science in bioinformatics from Central university of South Bihar. After masters, She was working as Project Associate-I in NIAB, Hyderbad. Ananya further clear JGEEBILS 2022, GATE 2023 and CSIR-JRF Dec 2023 . Now, as a Ph.D. scholar funded under CSIR JRF, Ananya is engaged in "Deciphering aging signature and drug repurposing in geroprotection using bioinformatics and machine learning approaches".

Chalsi B P is a research scholar in the Department of Biotechnology at IIT Hyderabad. She holds a Master's degree in Microbiology from Mangalore University and has qualified CSIR-UGC NET-JRF examination. Her research focuses on unraveling the intricate relationship between nutrients and mental health. By integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML), she aims to develop predictive models that elucidate how nutrients influence depression, anxiety, mood regulation, and overall mental well-being.

Milind Bose is a research scholar in the Department of Biotechnology at IIT Hyderabad. He has a Master of Science in Botany from Visva Bharati University and a CSIR-UGC NET qualification. He is interested in dig deeper into the intricacies of disease pathophysiology of neurodegenerative diseases. He uses cutting-edge technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning and various other computational tools and focused to identify potential therapeutics, using drug repurposing, to combat these challenging conditions.
Beyond academics, he is an avid reader and has a keen interest in sketching, finding inspiration and creativity in his free time.

Sanskriti Singh is a PhD scholar funded through the CSIR NET fellowship. She holds a B.Tech in Biotechnology from Dr. A. P. J. Abdul Kalam Technical University, Lucknow. She has gained hands-on industrial training, including proficiency in microbiological, molecular biology, and biochemical techniques at Helix Biogenesis, Noida. Additionally, she completed specialized industrial training at Dugdh Utpadak Sahakari Sangh Ltd. (PARAG), Varanasi, acquiring practical expertise in bioprocessing. Her academic accomplishments include qualifying several national-level examinations, such as GATE-BT (2022, 2023, and 2024), GATE-XL (2023), and CSIR-NET-JRF (2024, AIR-142). She is pursuing her PhD at the Fifth Paradigm Lab, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Hyderabad, where her research focuses on advanced bioinformatics approaches to unravel the complexities of neuropsychiatric mental health disorders through AI and ML.

Vishnu Pandey is a PhD scholar in the Department of Biotechnology at IIT Hyderabad and has previously contributed to impactful research at IIT Bombay. Vishnu Pandey is a seasoned Data Scientist and AI specialist with over a decade of experience in machine learning, generative AI, and data analytics. 

Currently serving as Vice President – Data Science & AI at Knight Frank India, he brings deep expertise in predictive modeling, large language models (LLMs), and data analytics. 

His work bridges applied machine learning with domain-specific challenges in healthcare, finance and bioinformatics.

Abhijith Paul T is a Ph.D. scholar in the Department of Biotechnology at IIT Hyderabad. He completed his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Maharaja’s College, Ernakulam (Government Autonomous), in 2020. He qualified for JAM 2020 and pursued his Master of Science in Chemistry at the National Institute of Technology (NIT), Calicut, graduating in 2022. He gained professional experience as a Quality Control Executive at Megasys Biotek Pvt. Ltd. during the period 2022 to 2024. Abhijith further strengthen  his credentials by qualifying GATE (Chemistry) in 2023. Now, as a Ph.D. scholar funded under the DIRECT MoE scheme, Abhijith is engaged in exploring computational tools to advance molecular modeling and unlock insights into complex biological systems. He is also keenly interested in integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning (AI-ML) into his research to push the boundaries of innovation in his field.

Aman Parashar is a Ph.D. scholar at the Department of Biotechnology, IIT Hyderabad. He holds a Bachelor's degree in Bioinformatics from Govt. Holkar Science College and pursued his Master's in Biotechnology at Jaypee University of Information Technology after qualifying the GAT-B exam. He also secured the CSIR-JRF fellowship in June 2024.His research focuses on the intersection of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Generative AI (GenAI) with a strong emphasis on core computer science applications such as deep learning architectures, generative modeling, and large-scale data processing.

Aayushi has done her Masters in Bioinformatics from University of Mumbai. 

She is currently pursuing her PhD in Bioinformatics from Lovely Professional University, Punjab.

Her work is inclined towards the cancer genomics niche, to find a common link between breast cancer and metabolic disorders, pivoting on adipocytes. Presently working on investigating  the dysregulation of the adipocyte differentiation pathway, which may lead to breast cancer progression via the proliferation of cancer associated adipocytes. She works on identification of novel variants and variant driven drug discovery using contemporary bioinformatics techniques. Besides science, she is an ardent reader, writer and spends her free time journaling and annotating books.

Kalyani Gajbhiye is an M.Tech student in Medical Biotechnology at IIT Hyderabad. She completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy (B.Pharm) from Sant Gadge Baba Amravati University, Maharashtra. She qualified the GATE-BT examination in 2024, GPAT and NIPER-JEE. Currently, Kalyani is working on a research project focused on the application of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Generative AI (GenAI) within the field of pharmacovigilance. Her academic interests lie at the intersection of biotechnology and advanced computational technologies, aiming to enhance drug safety and healthcare outcomes.

Pratiksha Kala is currently pursuing her M.Tech in Medical Biotechnology at the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad. She previously completed her B.Tech from Uttarakhand Technical University, Dehradun. She has qualified GATE in both Biotechnology (BT) with an All India Rank of 193 and in Life Sciences (XL) as well. Her present research is centered on the application of artificial intelligence in the field of plant metabolomics, combining computational approaches with complex biological data to explore innovative solutions in plant science. 

Simran Kumari (Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi) 

Project Summary: Structure-guided mutagenesis strategies to improve enzyme robustness while preserving catalytic efficiency. This work provided valuable insights into balancing flexibility and stability in cold-adapted enzymes while developing proficiency in computational tools for protein engineering. 

Arnab Ghosh ( Pondicherry Central University) 

Project Summary: Understanding of the gut microbiome and its impact on human health. He has engaged in gut microbiota research focusing on implementing Natural Language Processing (NLP) and Large Language Models (LLMs) to analyze gut microbiota studies and explore their links to disease pathogenesis. 

Vandan Joan Rasquinha  (St. Aloysius (Deemed to be University), Mangalore)

Summer Research Fellowship Program awarded by the Indian Academy of Sciences

During this internship, she explored the applications of generative AI in modeling Cardiotoxicity.

Pujaa Dharshini G.S. (PSG College of Pharmacy, Coimbatore)

IAS-NASI-INSA Summer Research Fellowship Programme (2025)

Project Summary:  Identification and Designing of transport proteins to increase the yield of medicinally favourable secondary metabolites.

Asmit Bhattacharya (VIT Vellore)

Summer Undergraduate Research Exposure (SURE) Internships 2025

Project Summary: in-silico design and optimization of guide RNA spacer sequences for CRISPR activation, targeting some specific genes involved in DNA repair and telomere maintenance, and explored their potential links to cellular ageing. 

Ayushi Singh(Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology (RGCB), Thiruvananthapuram)

Summer Undergraduate Research Exposure (SURE) Internships 2025

Project Summary: building of AI-based pipeline to predict drug-induced nephrotoxicity, integrating Generative AI techniques for improved prediction and analysis