Team

Our team is driven by curiosity, collaboration, and the pursuit of meaningful scientific questions. We believe impactful research emerges through rigorous science, critical thinking, and the open exchange of ideas. We are committed to fostering an environment that values mentorship, teamwork, mental well-being, personal growth. We encourage every member of our team to think independently, ask questions, and grow both scientifically and personally within a supportive and collaborative environment.

Madhavi Gorla, PhD (PI)

Assistant ProfessorDST-INSPIRE Faculty FellowDepartment of Animal BiologySchool of Life SciencesUniversity of HyderabadHyderabad, Telangana, India

Dr. Gorla completed her doctoral research at UoH with support from a CSIR Fellowship, where she investigated the non-canonical roles of tRNA in apoptosis and explored how cytosolic tRNA import into mitochondria regulates mitochondrial function. She then joined the Bashaw Lab in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, where she studied the molecular mechanisms governing commissural axon responsiveness using mouse and Drosophila embryonic models. Following her postdoctoral training, she returned to India as a DST-INSPIRE Faculty Fellow and investigated the role of ubiquitin adaptor proteins in regulating amyloidogenic processing and how alterations in these pathways contribute to neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. She also served as a Visiting Faculty Fellow at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, where she developed expertise in human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC) systems and differentiation strategies for studying neurodevelopmental mechanisms using 2D neuronal cultures and 3D organoid models. Dr. Gorla now leads her research group at UoH, where her lab investigates the molecular and cellular mechanisms that shape neural circuit development, with a focus on neuronal surface dynamics, neuron-glia communication, and pathways linking development and disease.

Education/Training:

Visiting Faculty Fellow, Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC), Berlin, GermanyPostdoctoral Fellow, C, University of Pennsylvania (UPenn), Philadelphia, USAPh.D, University of Hyderabad, Hyderabad, IndiaMS, Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, India

Awards:

2020- DST-INSPIRE Faculty Award/Grant 2018- Best Presentation Award, CSHL Axon guidance Meet, New York, USA.2012- Gold Medal in Master’s program, SV University, Tirupati, India2012- Best Presentation Award in RNA Meet, IISC, Bangalore, India2012- Senior Research Fellowship, CSIR-India2010- Junior Research Fellowship, CSIR-India