Indian Fellows 2026-2027 Archives

Vishal Madanlal Angnani

Mr. Vishal Madanlal Angnani is a PhD candidate at the Regional Centre for Biotechnology (RCB), where his research focuses on understanding the role of mucus-binding bacteria in regulating goblet cells to maintain intestinal homeostasis during inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). He completed his MSc in Microbiology from The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, where he developed a strong interest in host-microbe interactions.

As a microbiologist, Vishal is particularly interested in how commensal microbes colonize the gut and interact with each other and with host tissues to influence health and disease. During his doctoral research, he has employed culturomics-based approaches to isolate and characterize several mucus-associated bacterial species. He integrates in vivo mouse models, in vitro cell culture systems, and intestinal organoid models to investigate the molecular and cellular mechanisms through which these bacteria and their metabolites modulate host responses, particularly in the context of mucosal immunity and epithelial function.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Vishal will utilize the gnotobiotic mouse, a gold-standard model, to elucidate the sole contributions of specific bacterial isolates and their metabolites in regulating mucus-secreting goblet cells during IBD. This work aims to provide core mechanistic insights into how microbial interactions shape mucus integrity and gut homeostasis, with potential implications for the development of microbiome-based therapeutic strategies. Beyond research, Vishal enjoys teaching, travelling, cooking, and dancing.

Tushar Rishi

Mr. Tushar Rishi is a PhD candidate at the Centre for English Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. As a Senior Research Fellow, his doctoral project focuses on questions of form, style, and critique in J. M. Coetzee’s fiction. He has a master’s in English from the same center and a bachelor’s in English from Hindu College, University of Delhi.

Tushar’s interests include contemporary literature, global modernisms, postcolonial culture, and creative writing. His postgraduate work on cultural theory has been published in an anthology by Würzburg University Press, and he has presented his research on contemporary literature at Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, supported by an ICSSR grant. He has also participated in two cultural studies seminars organized by Julius Maximilian University of Würzburg, Germany under the DAAD IVAC initiative. His novel, The Patient Patient (Westland Books), was shortlisted for Best Debut English Novel at PILF 2017. It was translated into Hindi a year later. His short fiction has been shortlisted for the 2023 Toto Awards for Creative Writing in English and longlisted for the 2022 Commonwealth Short Story Prize.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Tushar is keen to expand his ongoing research on Coetzee’s literary work and deepen his understanding of theory, modernisms, and post critique. In his free time, he enjoys movies, cricket, and chess.

Sumana Podder

Ms. Sumana Podder is a PhD candidate at the Materials Chemistry and Interfacial Engineering division of CSIR-Institute of Minerals and Materials Technology. She completed her undergraduate studies in chemistry from the University of Calcutta and earned her master’s degree in chemistry from the University of Hyderabad, where she was awarded the gold medal for academic excellence. Currently, she is a Senior Research Fellow working in the areas of materials chemistry, catalysis, and advancing functional materials for energy and environmental applications.

Sumana’s research has been published in high-impact journals such as Small (Wiley). She has authored and co-authored several articles/reviews in reputed international journals. She has also presented her work at various international conferences, contributing to advancements in functional materials and catalytic systems.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Sumana will focus on the design and development of smart metal-organic framework (MOF) materials that exhibit dynamic, stimuli-responsive behavior while retaining their crystalline integrity. Her work aims to understand reversible structural transformations in flexible MOFs through rational design and advanced in-situ characterization techniques, with applications in hydrocarbon separation, carbon dioxide capture and next-generation functional materials. In her leisure time, Sumana enjoys engaging with art, music, and thriller cinema/series, exploring research across diverse fields, and cooking.

Sujit Sakharam Damase

Mr. Sujit Sakharam Damase is a PhD candidate in the Department of Mathematics at Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, Karnataka. He completed his undergraduate and postgraduate studies in mathematics from Fergusson College, Pune, and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Madras, respectively. As a doctoral student, Sujit delves into the intersection of Fourier analysis, sphere packing, representation theory, operator theory, and total positivity.

Sujit’s research in mathematics has been published in well-known peer-reviewed journals such as Linear Algebra and its Applications and the Canadian Mathematical Bulletin. He has also presented his research at various international conferences and workshops across Taiwan, Canada, and Scotland. He received a travel grant from the International Centre for Mathematical Sciences to present his work in Edinburgh as the only graduate student speaker and the International Linear Algebra Society (ILAS) Student Grant. He is a Simons visitor at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, a UNESCO research center in Trieste, Italy.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Sujit will be working at the interface of discrete geometry and number theory. His research addresses the fundamental problem of sphere packing, focusing on designing good spherical codes and proving bounds on them. The study strives to advance the state of the art in constructing and analyzing packings by leveraging linear and semidefinite programming bounds and higher-order applications of harmonic analysis. In his free time, Sujit enjoys exploring the history of mathematics, reading, and taking long walks.

Siddharth Singh

Mr. Siddharth Singh is a PhD candidate at the Mehta Family School of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Indore. His doctoral research examines how the maternal gut microbiome shapes fetal development, with a particular focus on fetal brain gene regulation, microbial metabolites, and the early biological origins of neurodevelopmental outcomes. His broader research interest is to connect evolutionary perspectives on the human brain-microbiome relationship with experimentally grounded maternal-fetal biology.

Siddharth holds a master’s in biotechnology from IIT Indore and a bachelor’s in Biotechnology from Barkatullah Vishwavidyalaya, Bhopal. He is a CSIR-UGC NET Junior Research Fellow. He has received recognition including first prize at the Madhya Pradesh PhD Colloquium and the Best Research Paper Award from the Department of Biosciences and Biomedical Engineering at IIT Indore.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Siddharth will investigate maternal microbiome functional signatures by linking transcriptomic and proteomic profiles to fetal development. Through this work, he aims to build an Indo-U.S. research bridge in maternal-fetal systems biology and contribute to future evidence-based strategies for improving child neurodevelopment.

Shashwat Agrawal

Mr. Shashwat Agrawal is a PhD candidate at Department of Computer Science and Engineering, IIT Delhi. His research focuses on the theoretical implications of quantum computation on cryptography. On one hand, he is motivated to analyze problems relevant to build cryptographic schemes and believed so far to be hard to solve even for quantum algorithms. On the other hand, he is fascinated by the potential of quantum algorithms to perform novel cryptographic tasks, which seem unprecedented to achieve using classical computing.

Shashwat holds a BS-MS in mathematics and scientific computing from IIT Kanpur, where he was awarded Bhagwan Das Sanghi Memorial Gold Medal for best graduating student in Mathematics. He furthered his education with an MS in Computer Science from the University of California, San Diego, during which he explored the mathematical foundations of machine learning and served as a Teaching Assistant for courses in algorithm design and discrete mathematics.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Shashwat aims to analyze the fine-grained complexity of attacking numerous variants of the Learning with Errors problem which, could be useful for practically deploying encryption schemes and more advanced cryptographic primitives. Outside of his research, Shashwat is a practitioner and proponent of Sahaja Yoga meditation. He has also learnt tablā and violin and loves to explore the deep connection of Indian classical music with spirituality.

Sapna Saini

Ms. Sapna Saini is a PhD candidate at the CSIR-Indian Institute of Integrative Medicine, Jammu. Her doctoral research focuses on drug discovery against Mycobacterium tuberculosis, targeting essential enzymes in the electron transport chain. She is engaged in identifying and characterizing novel small-molecule inhibitors with potential activity against drug-resistant tuberculosis. Her work contributes to understanding the mechanism of action of compounds targeting mycobacterial respiration.

Sapna holds a bachelor’s degree in life sciences with distinction from Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, and a master’s degree in zoology with a specialization in physiology from Punjabi University, Patiala. She qualified for the National Eligibility Test in life sciences conducted by CSIR (CSIR-NET/JRF) and the Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering in life sciences (GATE-XL) through self-study.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Sapna is planning to undertake advanced training in ABSL-3 laboratory techniques and in vivo infection models. The acquired expertise will support her long-term goal of contributing to tuberculosis drug discovery and strengthening research capacity about infectious diseases in India.

Sania Sultana

Ms. Sania Sultana is a PhD candidate at National Brain Research Centre, Haryana. Her doctoral research focuses on understanding the mechanisms driving locomotion deficits in genetic models of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) across different stages of development. Using molecular, electrophysiological, and behavioral approaches, she studies how altered neuronal translation disrupts cortico-striatal circuitry and contributes to motor dysfunction in ASD. Her work also explores sex-specific differences in ASD models, an area that remains underexplored in neuroscience research.

Sania completed her bachelor’s and master’s in life sciences from Presidency University, Kolkata. During her master’s research, she investigated how exposure to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields from mobile phones affect neural development and behavior. The observed hyperactivity and cognitive impairments in mice deepened her interest in developmental brain disorders and motivated her to pursue research in ASD.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Sania will study how long non-coding RNAs regulate inhibitory synapses in the striatum of ASD models. Her proposed work aims to uncover convergent mechanisms underlying circuit dysfunction across genetically distinct autism models and contribute to improved strategies for early diagnosis and intervention. Beyond her academic work, Sania enjoys exploring regional ecology, cuisine, and cultural traditions.

S. Muthukrishnan

Mr. S. Muthukrishnan is a PhD candidate in the Department of Chemical Engineering at IIT Kanpur, where his doctoral studies are supported by a fellowship from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Government of India. Since beginning his research in 2022, his work has focused on leveraging metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) to design sustainable and efficient solutions for real-world engineering challenges. His research also extends to biomedical applications. His findings have been presented at national and international conferences, as well as published in high-impact peer-reviewed international journals.

Muthukrishnan completed his BS in chemical engineering with a minor in chemistry at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal. While interning at IISc Bangalore, he developed particle-tracking code to extract trajectories from live video feeds, allowing him to study their kinetics under UV light. This experience inspired his current focus on coding and simulations.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow, Muthukrishnan is investigating chemical modifications to CALF-20, a major MOF for CO2 capture. His research aims to enhance its CO2 capture capacity in the presence of moisture, a critical challenge for CO2 capture in thermal power plants. He is advancing his expertise in developing precise machine learning-based interatomic potentials (MLIP) to simulate and design optimized CALF-20 variants. He will evaluate these designs through molecular simulations, using the developed MLIPs, to determine their industrial applicability.