Meet Our India Fulbrighters Archive - Page 10 of 53

Khadija Aslam

Khadija Aslam is a Ph.D. candidate at the Department of Economics, Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi. She has completed her Masters in Economics from Jawaharlal Nehru University and her B.Sc. in Economics from Presidency university. She has previously received the Ford Foundation fellowship for academic excellence in her master’s programme and has qualified the UGC-NET exam for assistant professorship in India. She has also been a recipient of the JRF and the SRF fellowship.

Khadija’s interest lies at the intersection of behavioural economics and development economics. How difference in religious beliefs and cultural practices transcends into varying social choices and economic outcomes prompted her research on the influence of religion on borrowing behaviour. In her earlier work, she has explored the differential impact socio-religious groups have on child health outcomes. Through her research, Khadija aims to understand how the tenets of Islam can influence a Muslim’s preference and the institutions that may then emerge as an outcome of this interaction. She believes that while religious or cultural norms may be perceived as hard to rationalize or too outdated to internalize, what economists often oversee is that these set of traditions when followed by a sizeable group of people and over a long period, in itself may trigger alternative structures conducive to existing institutions thereby generating a sub-economy.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellow at Barnard College, Columbia University, Khadija examines the impact of residential segregation on intergenerational mobility in educational outcomes. Drawing on historical data on urban planning within cities, her research investigates how patterns of segregation and class dynamics shape access to opportunities and produce long-lasting effects across generations.

Besides Economics, Khadija enjoys good conversations, good food and sitcoms.

Jaya Mathur

Ms. Jaya Mathur is a PhD Candidate at the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. She holds an MA in sociology from Jawaharlal Nehru University and a BA in philosophy from Hindu College, University of Delhi. Her research interests include ethnographic and historical studies of evidentiality and truth-making practices in medicine, cultures of expertise, practices of the body and quantification, patient-centeredness, global pharmaceutical trajectories, medical technologies, and contested disease categories.

She has worked as a researcher with public health and health policy projects examining urban women’s experiences with assisted reproduction, social inequality and access to medicinal substances among Adivasi communities in central India, and the role of unqualified medical practitioners in rural healthcare. As an associate researcher at the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, Delhi, Jaya studied how technologies and practices of digital health re-configured forms of medical and psychological expertise.

For her PhD, Jaya explores how non-cancer chronic pain is constituted as a diagnostic and therapeutic category in biomedicine amidst conditions of epistemic and ontological uncertainty. To this end, she documents the translational, ethical and relational thinking as well as labor undertaken by medical experts in collaboration with their patients.

During the Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research Fellowship, Jaya is affiliated to the Department of Sociology at Boston University, working with Prof. Jane Pryma. She is expanding her research on the varying strains of expertise mobilized around chronic pain, and the medicalization of pain in India and the U.S.

Chinmaya Panda

Mr. Chinmaya Panda is a PhD candidate and a Prime Minister’s Research Fellow at the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Guwahati, Assam. His doctoral research focuses on using surfactants, surfactant-derived small peptides, and plant extracts as bioexcipients to reduce insulin aggregation. He utilizes various biophysical and biochemical techniques, alongside in silico simulations and in vitro cell culture assays, to assess the bioexcipient-mediated insulin aggregation inhibition.

Chinmaya holds a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering from the National Institute of Technology Patna and a master’s degree in biological engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, Gujarat. During his master’s, he was awarded a DAAD fellowship to investigate the impact of Alzheimer’s tau-PHF6 peptide aggregates on inflammasome and autophagy assembly at RWTH Aachen, Germany.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow at Iowa State University, Chinmaya is exploring the use of natural lipopeptide-derived peptide moieties to reduce the physicochemical parameters-induced aggregation propensity of insulin. His research employs solid-phase peptide synthesis together with other characterization techniques, emphasizing the development of novel bioderived excipients to enhance the stability and effectiveness of insulin formulation, with the goal of benefiting the pharmaceutical industry and the millions of diabetes patients worldwide. Chinmay enjoys trekking and cycling along trails that delve into the dialectology, heritage, culture, and local cuisine of different regions.

Arup Biswas

Mr. Arup Biswas is a PhD candidate in Theoretical Physics at The Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, Tamil Nadu. His broad research interest lies in the study of non-equilibrium statistical physics and stochastic processes. Here, his primary focus is to quantify and understand a class of complex physical processes such as animal navigation, random search processes, and transport properties and find a universal picture to describe them through a single thread.

Arup holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in physics from Jadavpur University, Kolkata, West Bengal. There he was a recipient of the INSPIRE scholarship. Thereafter, he qualified in several national-level examinations such as NET JRF, GATE and JEST to avail a fellowship in PhD.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow at Harvard University, Arup is working on experimental studies of dung beetles through programmable robots. Dung beetles are fascinating creatures that can use references as far off as the Milky Way galaxy to navigate towards home. His research in the US consists of understanding their motion through theoretical modelling, tabletop experiments and leveraging them for further real-life applications. Apart from academics Arup loves sketching, using cool digital tools and is interested in world politics, stock markets and cricket.

Arpan Pal

Mr. Arpan Pal is a PhD candidate at the National Centre for Radio Astrophysics – Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (NCRA-TIFR), Pune, Maharashtra. His doctoral research focuses on studying the interaction of merger shocks with the intra-cluster medium in galaxy clusters. He uses a technique called radio interferometry which combines data from different radio antennas to form a large and sensitive radio telescope to study these objects in detail. His research also focuses on optimizing radio interferometry techniques to get a much clearer and sharper picture of the universe.

Arpan holds a bachelor’s degree in physics from Burdwan Raj College, Burdwan and a master’s degree in physics from NCRA-TIFR. He collaborates actively with many national and international research groups and played an important role of projects that use both ground and space-based telescopes ranging from radio to X-rays.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow at the National Radio Astronomical Observatory, Socorro, Arpan is exploring how several biases affect radio polarimetric imaging and, in turn, the conclusions in general. This is possibly the first attempt to characterize the radio polarimetric biases in the wide-band era of radio interferometry. He is part of the Algorithms Research and Development Group at NRAO. Arpan loves fishing, cooking and exploring new fishing spots and recipes.

Ankit Banik

Mr. Ankit Banik is a PhD candidate at the Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Maharashtra. His doctoral research focuses on the development of novel and efficacious chimeric antigen receptor natural killer (CAR-NK) cell therapies, where he aims to harness the power of natural killer cells, a crucial component of the innate immune system, to target and eliminate cancer cells more effectively. His work aims to optimize the engineering of NK cells, enhancing their tumor-targeting capabilities and improving their overall therapeutic potential. His research strives to pave the way for innovative, personalized, and safer cancer treatments by advancing CAR-NK cell therapies.

Ankit completed his BSc in microbiology at University of Kalyani, acquiring a strong foundation in molecular biology, immunology, and cellular biology. Pursuing MSc in biotechnology at Pondicherry University, he honed his expertise in advanced laboratory techniques, genetic engineering, and cellular manipulation. Then as a project intern, he gained valuable research experience at the renowned Bose Institute.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow, Ankit is exploring the potential of CAR-NK cell therapy that is more effective in targeting and treating solid tumors, overcoming the challenges posed by the tumor microenvironment and improving the therapeutic outcomes for patients. Ankit is committed to translating his findings into clinical applications that will benefit patients, and passionate about bridging the gap between laboratory research and real-world cancer therapies.

Ankit loves travelling and enjoys trekking and hiking. He has a strong appreciation of music and dance as well.

Aditi Barman Roy

Ms. Aditi Barman Roy is a PhD candidate and a teaching assistant at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences at IIT Roorkee. She completed her graduation and post-graduate studies in English from the University of Calcutta and Delhi University respectively. In addition, Aditi has completed her MPhil in gender studies from Jadavpur University. Currently, as a Senior Research Fellow in English at IIT Roorkee, Aditi delves into the bioethical complexities of modern biotechnological innovations through the lens of literary fiction.

Aditi’s research on bioethics has been published in well-known journals such as the English Academy Review (Taylor and Francis) and Symposium: A Quarterly Journal in Modern Literatures (Taylor and Francis). She has also contributed chapters to academic books related to her field of study and presented her research at various international conferences. Among her accolades is the prestigious Indian Council of Social Sciences Research grant for presenting her work at Brunel University in London and full funding to pursue her research at the University of Oklahoma for six weeks.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Doctoral Research fellow at Harvard, Aditi is working in the field of science and technology studies (STS) to address the complex bioethical challenges arising from the recent biomedical advancements in the 21st century. Her research is focused on the narratives of speculative fiction that investigate the bioethics of medical practice from the lens of critical posthumanism. In her free time, Aditi enjoys painting, reading, trekking, and exploring new genres of cinema.

Twisha Mehta

Ms. Twisha Mehta is a researcher, designer, and educator. Trained as a designer in visual communication design, her pedagogies and practice lie primarily in democratic rights and social and ecological justice and in centering feminist principles of resource sharing.

She currently works with the Urgent Action Fund for Women’s Human Rights, Asia & Pacific as a strategic communications facilitator, where she leads a political and anthropological inquiry into conceptualizing storytelling techniques to amplify feminist resistance in Asia and the Pacific. Twisha has studied communication design at MIT Institute of Design, Pune and has a post-graduate diploma in human rights law from the National Law School of India University. In earlier projects with the Society for Informal Education and Development Studies, Jatan Sansthan, and South Asian Women’s Foundation India, Twisha explored the role of design in shaping and shifting cultural narratives and recognizing its potential in driving social change.

Twisha’s experiences with feminist activist-led communities proved that as part of movements, communities thrive in spaces of care, convening, and critique. In late 2021, she ventured into teaching critical systems thinking to undergraduate students of design and her endeavor culminated in creating learning communities through co-organized initiatives such as ‘Visual Fossils’ and the ‘Learning Circle: Decolonial and Feminist Knowledge Production’ with the Swiss Anthropological Society’s Interface Commission for Engaged Anthropology.

Through her Fulbright-Nehru Master’s fellowship, Twisha is working on tracing the complexities between designer and anthropological traditions and the ecological crisis through the lens of sociocultural and feminist struggles around rights, care, and vulnerability.

Tanaya Singh

Ms. Tanaya Singh has been a writer, editor, and content strategist for 12 years, and has extensively reported on individuals developing solutions to challenges in their communities. Most recently, she served as Chief Editor at The Better India, Asia’s largest solutions-based publication, where she led a team of journalists covering changemakers, unsung heroes, and development initiatives, with particular emphasis on human rights, social justice, and gender equity. Previously, Tanaya was the Executive Editor at Youth Ki Awaaz, a media platform empowering young citizens to voice their concerns.

Through her work, Tanaya has seen transformative stories reach millions around the world. These reports showcase the good in India shaped by civil society interventions. She has designed editorial strategies in collaboration with organizations such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation, and EkStep Foundation on topics such as sustainability, girls’ education, and women empowerment. She played a key role in shaping content strategies that foster collaboration within India’s early childhood development ecosystem, other than hosting discussions on ‘Bringing Girls Back to Schools after COVID-19’, and ‘Women at Workplaces’.

As a Fulbright-Nehru Master’s fellow, Tanaya is expanding her understanding of the first principles of reporting and communication for social change. She is interested in exploring how solutions journalism can be shaped as an ethically grounded and socially responsible field in India, while reviving its nuances and potential for impact. She aspires to contribute to the training of young journalists in this field, especially in Indian media.