Her academic journey has been shaped by a deep interest in chronobiology, human physiology, and the subtle interplay between biological rhythms and modern lifestyles.

With a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Lucknow and SRF/RA from ICMR, her early research focused on circadian patterns in adolescents, exploring how stress and academic pressures influence hormonal cycles, emotion rhythms, hunger/feeding, and sleep behaviour in school-going adolescents. Over time, her work has expanded to include occupational health and behavioural physiology, always with a focus on how science can serve society.

She is honoured to be working as a Scientist under the DST WISE-SCOPE programme, where she continues to explore the Genome-Phenotype association of various chronotypes and the physiological responses of individuals with varied chronotypes to sleep and stress, particularly among North Indian adults. Her research has been presented at national and international forums, and she remain committed to interdisciplinary collaboration and public engagement.

She also has a longstanding interest in science communication, having hosted educational radio programs on All India Radio (Akashvani) Lucknow and Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, for over a decade. She believes that research must be rigorous, relatable, and inclusive.

She is now a UPPSC Scientific Officer at the State Forensic Science Laboratories.

Urgyan Chorol is from Ladakh union territory of India. She has done her schooling from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, Leh, Ladakh. She pursed her B.Sc. from Jammu University in 2014 and done her M.Sc. from Banaras Hindu University in 2017. She qualified CSIR-JRF and GATE in 2019. She took training for “Spawn culture and Mushroom farming” from ministry of small and medium enterprises at Ladakh. In 2019, she worked as a Project Associate -1 in the COVID lab in Ladakh under the project entitled “Novel Corona Virus(2019-nCov) testing in human clinical samples in Ladakh”. Then she worked as SRF in AIIMS, New Delhi on the project “Human Microbiome Initiatives of select endogamous groups of India”. She joined our lab as a Ph.D. student on CSIR fellowship in year 2020. She has worked for short term in CCMB-Hyderabad as a part of her research work and training program. Currently, her work focuses specifically on “The genomic history and diseases mapping among tribes of Ladakh population”. 

She is currently working as Science Teacher at the Education department UT Ladakh

Vanya joined our lab in 2020. She is currently pursuing her Ph.D. at the Department of Zoology, Institute of Science, B.H.U. “Genomic history and selection of cervical cancer patients in the Gangetic plain population”. She received her bachelor's and master's degrees from Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi, where she was a gold medalist in both her bachelor's and master's degrees. Her M.Sc. dissertation was titled "Role of Transcription Factor- BRN3A in Cervical Cancer”. She is artistic and enjoys food and fashion.

Currently, she is an Assistant Professor at Department of Higher Education, Haryana. 

Dr Rudra Kumar Pandey actively researching COVID-19 host genomics, specifically focusing on identifying host susceptible loci influencing disease severity within Indian populations using a Genome-Wide Association Study (GWAS) approach. This crucial work aims to uncover genetic predispositions and facilitate personalized treatment strategies in the ongoing pandemic, a vital area previously unaddressed for this demographic. His robust background includes a B.Sc. from V.B.S Purvanchal University and an M.Sc. in Biotechnology from Singhania University. Prior experiences include a significant dissertation on neuroprotection, lecturing, and a DBT-BITP internship. His academic prowess is evident from clearing DBT-JRF and GATE, leading to his Ph.D. enrollment in 2019. He has also contributed to numerous disease genetics studies, with several publications in international journals. He defended his PhD in 2026. He is currently a PostDoc fellow at CSIR-IGIB. 

Dr. Audditiya completed her PhD (2025) and Masters at Banaras Hindu University in 2018, after which she joined Gyan Lab as a Research Fellow. She holds expertise in the field of Population Genetics and Disease Genomics, and her research primarily focuses on the Demographic History of South and Southeast Asia, its role in old world peopling, and the shaping of the Disease Landscape within the region. She defended her PhD on the Genetics of Cardiovascular Disorders among South Asians and has published several research articles in many internationally reputed journals. She is a Curious Traveller, an Absolute Aesthete, and a Connoisseur of Good Food.

Dr. Rahul has done his Master in Biotechnology from VBS Purvanchal University, Jaunpur, India in 2008. Then he worked in the lab of Prof. DD Dubey at Purvanchal University, on “Yeast DNA replication origins” as ICMR-SRF from 2010-2012. Dr. Mishra achieved “Marie Curie Early-Stage Researcher fellowship” for which he moved to Paris to pursue his PhD from Sorbonne University (QS world ranking #39). There he worked in the lab of Dr. Hervé Le Hir. In his primary work project he discovered “Exon Junction complex dependent RNA localization” in mouse neural stem cells. This work was published in Nature Communications. Dr. Mishra then did a short postdoc of one year in university of Lorraine, Nancy, France (QS World ranking #332), where he worked on ribosomal-RNA secondary modifications. Then from 2018-2021, he worked as a Postdoctoral Research Scientist at Academy of Sciences of Czech Republic (QS world ranking #401-450). There, Dr. Mishra developed inducible gene expression system in Leishmania species. In 2021 Dr. Mishra obtained prestigious “Malviya Postdoc Fellowship” to work in our lab.

He is now the faculty at Amity University, Raipur.

Dr. Prajjval Pratap Singh, a founding member of this lab, is currently a Post-Doctoral Fellow in Israel, having previously held a Raja Jwala Prasad Post-Doctoral Fellowship at BHU. He earned his Master's in Biotechnology from V.B.S. Purvanchal University in 2016. Dr. Singh's expertise lies in population genetics. He conducted his Ph.D. as a CSIR-Junior Research Fellow in this lab, focusing on the peopling of Bangladesh. His research extends to the ancestry of South Asian caste and tribal groups, and he contributes to projects in modern human and disease genetics. Notably, his work on the genetic identity of Sri Lankan Vedda tribes, published in Mitochondrion, highlighted their origins from India's earliest inhabitants. Additionally, his paper on Andaman Islanders in Genes & Immunity was recognized as the best paper in 2021. He also received DORA and GYAN scholarships during his doctoral studies. He is currently a MK Bhan Fellow at BRIC-CDFD, Hyderabad.