Neuroscience Archives

Pranathi Dandu

Pranathi Dandu received both her BSPH in biostatistics and her BS in neuroscience, with a minor in chemistry, from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She graduated with distinction and honors as both a Carolina Research Scholar and as a Buckley Public Service Scholar, and recently completed her MS in physiology from North Carolina State University. Her academic and research interests focus on the neural mechanisms underlying sensory processing and predictive coding, and their implications for neurological and developmental disorders, particularly autism spectrum disorder. Given her background in public health and experiences in rural India, Pranathi is interested in understanding how gaps in healthcare access and literacy can create barriers to receiving effective medical care. She is especially interested in the role cross-cultural and global health perspectives can play in shaping more accessible and equitable care.

At UNC Chapel Hill, Pranathi worked as a research assistant in Dr. Hiroyuki Kato’s lab in the Department of Psychiatry, investigating the neural circuits underlying predictive coding in the auditory cortex. Her work involved neural tracing and imaging to study how the brain filters and adapts to sensory information. During her time there, she completed an honors thesis examining topographic projections from the orbitofrontal cortex to the auditory cortex; she also coauthored publications. Outside of research, she served as a copresident for the Biostatistics Student Association and was involved with the American Mock World Health Organization as a DAIS codirector. Pranathi also cofounded SPROUT Nutrition, a community initiative focused on providing nutrition education and support for underserved families, for which she received the Robert E. Bryan Fellowship. She hopes to pursue a career as a physician dedicated to translating neuroscience research into accessible, culturally informed interventions for children with neurodevelopmental conditions.

For children with autism spectrum disorder, ordinary sounds like traffic can be overwhelming and disrupt daily life, yet effective interventions remain underdeveloped. Motivated by this gap, Pranathi’s Fulbright-Nehru project is investigating whether structured auditory training can improve sensory adaptation in autistic children, reducing sensory distress. Working with the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, she is developing and piloting a low-cost, tablet-based intervention and collecting neurophysiological data to assess its efficacy in reducing sensory hypersensitivity and improving adaptive functioning. The findings aim to inform scalable interventions for autism in low-resource settings while advancing our understanding of sensory processing in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Amol Yadav

Dr. Amol Yadav is a tenure-track assistant professor in the Lampe Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of North Carolina (UNC) – Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University – with affiliations in neurosurgery and neuroscience at the UNC School of Medicine. He is a biomedical engineer and neuroscientist by training. After obtaining his PhD in biomedical engineering from Duke University under the mentorship of Dr. Miguel Nicolelis, Dr. Yadav honed his expertise through advanced postdoctoral training in neurobiology and neurosurgery at Duke. This propelled him to establish the Brain-Spine-Machine Interfaces Lab at UNC. His laboratory’s research is interdisciplinary in its approach, merging techniques and concepts from brain-machine interfaces with spinal neuromodulation to innovate in the field of neuroengineering. Dr. Yadav works closely with surgeons and clinicians to adapt new therapies tested in preclinical animal models into clinical applications for patients suffering from sensorimotor loss due to neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, spinal cord injury, and stroke. He is the principal investigator of several ongoing preclinical studies and clinical trials at UNC. His research efforts have been recognized with several accolades, including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the NIH K12 Early Career Investigator Award, the Duke Germinator Research Award, and the UNC Junior Faculty Development Award. In addition to leading an active research group, Dr. Yadav tutors undergraduate and graduate students at UNC on brain-machine interfaces and human physiology.

Dr. Yadav’s Fulbright-Nehru project is developing clinical protocols and tools for brain-computer interface (BCI) and neuromodulation trials for the Indian patient population, in collaboration with scientists, engineers, and clinicians at IIT Delhi and AIIMS Delhi. The expected outcomes of the project include a research protocol for BCI and neuromodulation trials for sensorimotor rehabilitation, regulatory filings, clinical metrics to evaluate musculoskeletal function, Indian context-specific computational tools and algorithms, and collaborative manuscript/grant submissions.

Srikanta Mishra

“Blindness separates people from things; deafness separates people from people.” — Helen Keller

What if you struggle to follow conversations in a noisy restaurant or classroom, yet a hearing test tells you your hearing is “normal”? Why do some people hear effortlessly while others struggle long before any obvious hearing loss appears? These and many other questions that affect millions of people are at the center of Dr. Srikanta Mishra’s research.

Dr. Mishra is an audiologist, auditory neuroscientist, and educator who studies the earliest signs of hearing changes that may occur years before they become visible on standard hearing tests. He completed his schooling from Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya, a unique residential public school system designed to nurture talented students from diverse and often underserved communities. This early educational experience shaped his appreciation for opportunity, education, and the importance of expanding access across backgrounds. He later pursued higher education in India, completed doctoral training in the UK, and continued his research career in the U.S., giving him an international perspective on science, hearing healthcare, and education. He is currently a tenured associate professor at the University of Texas at Austin.

His research explores why some individuals, children and adults alike, experience listening difficulties despite appearing to have “normal” hearing. By combining neuroscience, clinical science, engineering, and computational approaches, Dr. Mishra seeks to identify subtle changes in the auditory system at an early stage; his endeavor is to improve how hearing problems are detected and treated. His work aims to move hearing healthcare beyond simply asking whether someone can hear sounds, toward understanding how people function in real-world environments. Supported by research funding from the National Institutes of Health, Dr. Mishra is also committed to mentoring future scientists and building international collaborations.

Dr. Mishra’s Fulbright-Nehru research project is addressing a growing global health challenge at the intersection of hearing and brain health. Today, approximately 1.5 billion people worldwide live with hearing loss, and more than 55 million people live with dementia. The project is focusing on hearing loss, one of the largest modifiable risk factors for dementia, and is examining how social and economic inequalities shape these conditions in low- and middle-income countries. Working with the Centre for Brain Research at the Indian Institute of Science, Dr. Mishra aims to improve early identification and intervention strategies that may help people maintain healthier hearing, healthier brains, and better quality of life as they age.

Megha Vemuri

Megha Vemuri received her BS in computation and cognition and in linguistics and philosophy from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in May 2025. Her academic and research interests center on the neurobiology of language and its developmental foundations. She worked as an undergraduate research assistant in various neuroscience labs throughout her time in the university. Her early research spanned both assistive technology and interspecies communication. At the Senseable Intelligence Lab, she worked on Mumble Melody, a mobile application serving as a free, accessible alternative to assistive technology for people who stutter. Building on this interest in social connection, she co-led a novel study in interspecies communication, designing and analyzing a video-calling system for socially isolated parrots. The work received press coverage and an honorable mention at the 2023 Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. In 2024, she conducted infant neuroimaging research in South Africa with the Neurodevelopment Group at the University of Cape Town, using EEG and portable MRI to identify early brain development biomarkers in low-resource settings. For the last two years, she has been working in the EvLab at MIT’s McGovern Institute for Brain Research, on fMRI projects focused on multilingualism, heritage speakers, and language processing, many of which serve to diversify neurolinguistics data.

In her Fulbright-Nehru project, Megha is examining the neural signatures of individuals who acquired three or more languages at a young age. The fMRI study is being conducted at the National Brain Research Centre in Gurugram under Dr. Arpan Banerjee. Using fMRI methods adapted from the EvLab, the study is addressing a critical gap in neurolinguistics by examining an understudied population between bilinguals and polyglots. By collecting and analyzing brain imaging data from 80–90 participants, the project seeks to diversify language research by studying underrepresented profiles. The findings and materials will contribute to global cognitive science and support future language-related studies in South Asia, particularly in developmental contexts.

Trisha Gongalore

Trisha Gongalore is a dedicated multidisciplinary scholar who recently completed her BA in neuroscience from Pomona College, where she engaged deeply with coursework spanning neurobiology, biochemistry, genetics, and public health. Her academic and research interests lie at the intersection of molecular neuroscience, neurodegeneration, and health equity, with a specific focus on Parkinson’s Disease (PD). She has conducted research across five laboratories, mastering techniques such as electrophysiology, immunohistochemistry, and molecular cloning. Notably, she has investigated alpha-synuclein aggregation in fruit flies, heteroplasmy in mouse myoblasts, and cholinergic signaling in C. elegans. Her work has been shared at the International Congress of Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders and the Genetics Society of America’s 66th Drosophila Research Conference. A paper that she co-authored is currently under review to be published in peer-reviewed journals like Developmental Biology.

Trisha’s commitment to health equity is embodied by her leadership in the student-run organization, Health Bridges, at the Draper Center for Community Partnerships in Pomona College, where she organized health fairs and gathered and analyzed uniquely disaggregated data for the Tongan American populations in the Inland Empire. She has also studied abroad in Argentina, where she learned about public health issues on an international scale and worked with dementia patients to explore the benefits of community-based, non-pharmaceutical interventions.

Trisha’s Fulbright-Nehru research at NIMHANS under Dr. Indrani Datta is investigating the mechanism behind exosome-mediated delivery of a neuroprotective drug to midbrain organoids derived from sporadic PD patients in India. Addressing the limitations of current PD therapies, the treatment aims to reduce oxidative stress and support neuronal regeneration using mesenchymal stromal cell-derived exosomes that cross the blood-brain barrier. Leveraging NIMHANS’ expertise in the LRRK2-I1371V mutation, more common in the Eastern Hemisphere PD populations, Trisha is evaluating treatment efficacy through advanced imaging, electrophysiology, and biochemical assays. The study aims to develop more effective, non-invasive therapeutic approaches tailored for the PD population in India.

Neha Lodha

Dr. Neha Lodha is an engineer-turned-neuroscientist. She is a tenured associate professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science and the School of Biomedical Engineering at Colorado State University (CSU). She earned her PhD in kinesiology from the University of Florida, following a BTech in information and communication technology from DA-IICT, Gandhinagar, India.

Dr. Lodha directs the Laboratory of Movement Neuroscience and Rehabilitation at CSU. Her research applies approaches in cognitive aging, movement neuroscience, and neurorehabilitation with the goal of improving functional independence, mobility, and overall well-being of individuals facing age-related or neurological challenges. Her interdisciplinary approach bridges biomechanics, neuroscience, and digital health to better understand and support cognitive and physical functioning in everyday life. Her current work in her lab focuses on identifying early indicators of reduced mobility and cognitive performance. This includes examining how people move in their daily environments, how their cognitive and motor systems interact, and how technology can assist in rehabilitation and health monitoring. Complementing her research, Dr. Lodha leads community outreach through her lab’s initiatives. These include mobility assessments and fall-prevention screenings for older adults, as well as educational programs for students interested in science and engineering.

Dr. Lodha has authored over 50 scholarly publications, including 40 peer-reviewed journal articles, and her work has been cited more than 3,400 times. She has a strong track record in securing external research funding as a principal investigator, having obtained competitive awards from agencies like the National Institute on Aging, the American Heart Association, and the Alzheimer’s Association.

The global rise of dementia significantly affects populations in low- and middle-income countries. In communities with limited access to formal education and healthcare, cognitive impairments often go undiagnosed. Most current assessments cater to English-speaking and literate individuals and are not effective for people in other contexts. Dr. Lodha’s Fulbright-Nehru project is developing a performance-based tool designed to work across language and education levels within the Indian population. The project’s primary aim is to improve early detection of cognitive decline.

Neelima Chauhan

Dr. Neelima Chauhan obtained her bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees in life sciences with physiology and biochemistry majors, and a bachelor’s degree in education and psychology from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India. After migrating to the U.S., she received her postdoctoral training in neurotoxicology at Oregon Health Science University and in molecular neurobiology and neurodegeneration at Loyola University Chicago.

After successful completion of postdoctoral trainings, she obtained an independent joint position as assistant professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) and as research biologist with Veterans Affairs (VA). She then became an associate professor in the Department of Pediatrics at UIC where she also served as a faculty for the graduate program in neuroscience. Besides, she worked as the neuroscience program director at Jesse Brown VA Medical Center.

Dr. Chauhan has directed research projects funded by VA and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in translational neuroscience, with a major focus on Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injury. She has presented over 100 abstracts and published over 50 peer-reviewed articles, over six reviews, and more than five book chapters. She has also served on the editorial boards of many neuro-biomedical Journals.

Besides, Dr. Chauhan has served on various institutional administrative committees including the Institutional Biosafety Committee and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee. She has also served as a reviewer on RRD6 VA MERIT REVIEW Study Section and on NIH Grant Study Sections. She is a member of many professional societies such as the Society for Neuroscience, the American Society for Neurochemistry, and the International Society for Alzheimer’s & Dementia.

Dr. Chauhan’s Fulbright-Nehru project is evaluating the therapeutic potential of Indian classical music – by virtue of its unique melodic/rhythmic structure – in treating age-associated neuropsychiatric disorders.