Host City India: Seattle

Deepika Siva Naga Vemuri

Ms. Deepika Siva Naga Vemuri is a PhD candidate from the Department of Artificial Intelligence at IIT Hyderabad. Her doctoral research focuses on concept-based learning, a paradigm that guides model learning through structured, high-level, interpretable concepts. She is curious about the origins and mechanisms of intelligence, inspired both by neuroscience and science fiction.

Deepika holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from BVRIT Hyderabad College of Engineering for Women, Hyderabad, Telangana, which is where she first got exposed to AI as a Women Techmakers Engineering Fellow, supported by Google. Intrigued by the field, she pursued a master’s degree in artificial intelligence from the University of Hyderabad, Telangana, where she conducted research on distributed machine learning. As a PhD student at IITH, she has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship and has published her work in top AI conferences like ICML, AAAI and WACV.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Deepika is extending concept-based learning to embodied agents, exploring threads like concept-conditioned decision-making and policy-learning. Beyond research, she is always eager to explore new things and has many other interests including music, art, literature and writing.

Amina Reem Vazhuthina Patta

Ms. Amina Reem Vazhuthina Patta is a PhD candidate in the Department of Political Science, University of Kerala. Her doctoral research focuses on the evolving contours of India-Taiwan relations in the context of the new geopolitics of the Indo-Pacific, employing insights from Regional Security Complex Theory. She was a Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA), Taiwan Fellow in 2025 at National Chengchi University.

Amina holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Mar Ivanios College, Thiruvananthapuram. Her keen interest in geopolitics and global politics motivated her to pursue a master’s degree in international relations and politics from Central University of Kerala, where she graduated as university topper. She has qualified for the UGC-NET and JRF in Political Science, the BHEL-FAEA Scholarship, and is as a student volunteer for the G20 University Connect program.

Amina’s research has been published in international Scopus-indexed journals such as Journal of Asian Security and International Affairs and China Report, as well as in peer-reviewed journals such as East Asian Journal of Multidisciplinary Research. She has co-edited a book on India’s foreign policy, contributed chapters to academic books related to her field of study, and presented her research at national and international conferences. She has also written analytical articles for newspapers including Taipei Times.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Amina is examining the transition from the US-China-Taiwan triangle to a U.S.-China-India-Taiwan quadrilateral construct in the Indo-Pacific regional security complex. In her free time, Amina enjoys reading fiction and listening to music.

Haritha Bollinedi

Dr. Haritha Bollinedi earned her master’s degree from the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru, and completed her PhD at the Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. She currently serves as a Senior Scientist in the Division of Genetics at ICAR-IARI.

Dr. Bollinedi has made significant strides in rice grain quality and biofortification, focusing on enhancing the nutritional profile of rice, particularly of beta-carotene, zinc, protein, and phytic acid levels. Her research contributions include molecular characterization of transgenic Golden Rice lines, mapping of genes and QTLs associated with grain mineral nutrients and anti-nutritional factors, and the identification of a novel non-functional allele of the LOX3 gene to reduce bran rancidity. Additionally, she has characterized a large set of rice germplasm accessions for various grain quality traits and identified unique genetic stocks for high endosperm Zn, low phytic acid, low glycemic index, high bran stability, and so on. Furthermore, she has contributed to the development of fifteen rice varieties.

Dr. Haritha’s achievements have been recognized through prestigious awards such as the INSA and NASI Young Scientist Awards and the NAAS Associateship. She also plays an active role as the Convenor of the Young Scientist Forum, NAAS-YUVA, under the aegis of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences. To date, she has published over 60 research articles in esteemed peer-reviewed journals.

During her Fulbright-Nehru Academic and Professional Excellence fellowship, Dr. Haritha is working on deciphering the barriers of endosperm nutrient translocation in rice grain using single-cell genomics techniques.

Meghna Rohit Amin

Ms. Meghna Rohit Amin is a doctoral candidate at the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad. Her doctoral research examines the intergenerational occupational shift among the head-loading Mogaveera women who constitute the matrilineal fishing community of coastal Karnataka in India. Primarily based on fieldwork and ethnographic narratives, the study locates the constant deliberation of the Mogaveera women with fishing which is their caste occupation.

Ms. Amin’s dissertation for her master’s degree in Sociology from the Manipal Centre for Philosophy and Humanities was also on the Mogaveera women. The research study is titled “Putting Food on the Table: A Period Study on the Head Loading Mogaveera Women.” After her graduation, she joined an advocacy group where she worked as a digital campaigner and ran campaigns for the rights of marginalized communities, combating air pollution, and raising awareness about climate change. She also taught English to high school children in Udaipur, managed a restaurant in Manipal, and served as a barista at a cafe in Bengaluru.

She has been selected for the award of ICSSR full-term centrally administered Doctoral Fellowship for 2021-22. As a Fulbright-Nehru recipient, Ms. Amin is keen to collaboratively interpret ethnographic narratives and accounts at the intersectionality of caste, class, and gender in relation to occupational mobility within the discipline of native anthropology.

Anupam Banerjee

Prof. Anupam Banerjee is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Earth Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur since November 2021. Prior to this, Anupam was a postdoctoral researcher at Niigata University, Japan. Anupam pursued his PhD under the supervision of Prof. Ramananda Chakrabarti at the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru, and was conferred the degree in 2018. He received an MSc in Geology from the Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur in 2011 and a BSc in Geology from Presidency College Kolkata, University of Calcutta, in 2009.

Prof. Banerjee’s research interest lies in the applications of radiogenic, and non-traditional stable isotopes of magmatic rocks to understanding both Earth’s surface and deep interior processes. He has published several research articles in peer-reviewed international journals. Prof. Banerjee is a recipient of the Institute Medal from the Indian Institute of Science Bangalore for the best PhD thesis. He is also a recipient of several grants for attending international conferences which include the SERB Travel support, Student Travel Grant from the American Geophysical Union, GARP Travel Grants from IISc .

Prof. Banerjee’s research during the Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship is aimed at elucidating Earth’s deep carbon cycle using novel Mg and Zn stable isotopic compositions of carbon-rich magmatic rocks, called carbonatites. Important corollary questions that will be addressed in this project are: (i) How did Earth’s interior maintain the inventory of carbon with time? (ii) When did Earth’s carbon inventory establish and how did it change over geological time?

Anu Unny

Dr. Anu Unny is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Political Science, University of Kerala. She is also the Hon. Director of UGC-Nehru Studies Centre, University of Kerala. Before joining the University of Kerala, she worked as an Assistant Professor at the University of Delhi. She has served as a Member of the Board of Studies in Kerala and Kannur Universities.

Dr. Unny completed her M.A., M.Phil., and Ph.D. from the School of International Studies (SIS), Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), Delhi. Along with her teaching responsibilities, she acts as a research guide for the Ph.D. Programme in Political Science and International Relations at the University of Kerala. She is a recipient of the International Studies Association (ISA) grant to visit the US in 2017. She has many research papers to her credit in national and international journals. She has visited many countries, including the US, to present her research outcomes in conferences. She is an active participant in media discussions on international issues and a resource person for UGC Orientation and Refresher Programmes.

During her Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship, Dr. Unny will teach a course on the ‘Politics of Climate Change’ for students at the University of Washington. She will also engage in research at the University of Washington to understand the nuances of US domestic politics on climate change and to explore the challenges and possibilities in strengthening India-US climate cooperation. Apart from climate politics, Dr. Unny’s research interests lie in gender, human rights and Indian politics.

Sumangala Damodaran

Sumangala Damodaran is a professor of development studies, economics, and popular music studies, with an academic career spanning more than three decades. She has taught for a long time in Lady Shri Ram College, University of Delhi, and Ambedkar University Delhi. She is now at the Institute of Human Development, New Delhi. She is also a visiting professor at Ashoka University, Haryana.

Prof. Damodaran’s areas of work include industrial organization, labour and the informal sector, global value chains, and gender. She has also researched extensively on the relationship between society and music and produced several music albums. As an academician and performing musician, she has been the recipient of many prestigious grants from India and abroad. She has collaborated with scholars and performers from different countries on academic research and poetry-music performances. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.

In her six months as Fulbright Scholar-in-Residence at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Prof. Damodaran will be engaged in teaching two undergraduate courses in the Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies Department, working with colleagues in developing course modules, giving lecture-demonstrations around her work in music, and engaging with community organizations such as Ragamala, a music organization in Seattle, for conducting poetry, music and storytelling sessions.

Prashant Mahajan

Prashant Mahajan is a Ph.D. candidate at the Aligarh Muslim University (AMU), Uttar Pradesh. He recently joined the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) as a Scientist-C. He has previously been a recipient of the prestigious Prime Minister’s Research Fellowship (PMRF). He completed his BSc in zoology in 2016 from Sri Venkateswara College, University of Delhi, and MSc in wildlife sciences from Aligarh Muslim University (AMU). His doctoral work focusses on understanding the ecology of mesocarnivores in the Gir Protected Area, Gujarat.

Over the years Prashant’s focus has been on studying the ecology of large mammals in India, with a particular emphasis on wolf, tiger, leopard, elephant, and rhesus macaque. He was a part of the All-India Tiger Estimation Project (AITE) at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII). He has presented his work in various national and international conferences and has also communicated his research findings through peer-reviewed and popular articles.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA, Prashant is trying to integrate insights from the U.S. ecosystem to add to the understanding of the mesocarnivores in India. He is specifically investigating the strength of interactions between large carnivores and mesocarnivores and how this governs the behavioural responses of the latter to the perceived predation risk. By undertaking this research, he aims to expand the understanding of carnivore ecology in India, particularly in relation to their behavioural aspects.