USA Fellows Year: U.S. Fellows 2026-2027

Hayden Bellenoit

Dr. Hayden Bellenoit is a professor of history at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, MD. He is a legal and social historian of modern South Asia. His research focuses on colonial state formation, the histories of scribal communities, and the broader impact of colonial legal systems upon Indian social, religious, and cultural traditions. Dr. Bellenoit received his MA from Wheaton College and his DPhil in modern history from Oxford University. At the Naval Academy, he teaches courses on modern India and Pakistan. He has also been a visiting fellow at Clare Hall, Cambridge University, where he is a life member.

Dr. Bellenoit is the author of two books: Missionary Education and Empire in Late Colonial India, 1860–1920 (2007); and The Formation of the Colonial State in India: Scribes, Paper and Taxes, 1760–1860 (2017). His articles have appeared in top peer-reviewed academic journals such as Modern Asian Studies, Law and History Review, South Asian History and Culture, and Indian Law Review. He is currently completing an article on how Mughal-era legal customs were read into the codification of Hindu property law and inheritance.

For his Fulbright-Nehru project, Dr. Bellenoit is conducting research for his third book, “Judges, Case Law and Jurisprudence: The Legal Construction of Caste in India, c. 1830–1950”. This will be the first book to fully address the question of modern constructions of caste/social hierarchy in India as a result of the broader phenomena of colonial law. It will carefully examine how colonial case law, the training of Indian judges and lawyers, and the resultant jurisprudence, all broadly combined to shape modern understandings about the relationship between caste and law.

Mudasir Andrabi

Dr. Mudasir Andrabi is an associate professor at Capstone College of Nursing, University of Alabama, with expertise in cardiovascular health, stroke prevention, behavioral health interventions, and community-engaged research. Her work focuses on addressing hypertension and cardiovascular disparities among underserved populations through culturally responsive and technology-enabled interventions.

Dr. Andrabi earned her doctorate in health promotion from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. She has extensive experience in teaching, research, mentorship, and academic leadership. Her work integrates public health, nursing, behavioral science, and digital health approaches to improve cardiovascular outcomes and promote health equity. She has led and collaborated on multiple interdisciplinary research projects focused on hypertension management, stroke caregiving, medication adherence, physical activity, and chronic disease prevention.

Her research interests include digital health interventions, game-based behavioral strategies, AI in nursing education, and cardiovascular health promotion. She is currently developing innovative interventions that integrate blood pressure monitoring, physical activity tracking, medication adherence support, and health education for adults at risk of cardiovascular disease. She is also actively engaged in international collaborations on culturally tailored cardiovascular disease prevention strategies.

Dr. Andrabi has authored and co-authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. Her work has been presented at regional, national, and international scientific meetings, and has contributed to advancing nursing science and community-based cardiovascular disease prevention efforts. She also serves in several leadership roles within academic and professional organizations. She is actively involved in developing ethical guidelines for the responsible integration of AI in nursing education and scholarship. Her long-term professional goal is to advance global cardiovascular health equity.

Dr. Andrabi’s Fulbright-Nehru project is co-developing and piloting the South Asian Cardiovascular Risk Education and Digital Coaching (SACRED) program, a culturally tailored intervention designed to reduce cardiovascular disease risk among adults aged 50 and older in Delhi, India. The project is using a mixed-methods approach, and its findings will guide the development of a digital coaching intervention delivered through WhatsApp and ASCVD risk assessment tools. The project also aims to improve heart health behaviors, strengthen global nursing collaborations, and advance culturally responsive cardiovascular disease prevention strategies.

Samuel Aggrey

Prof. Samuel Aggrey is a distinguished research professor in genetics and genomics at the University of Georgia (UGA), USA. He holds the Richard B. Russell Endowed Chair and is also a professor in the Department of Poultry Science at Athens, Georgia.

Prof. Aggrey is a co-editor of Poultry Genetics, Breeding and Biotechnology and the lead editor of Advances in Poultry Genetics and Genomics. He has also authored numerous book chapters and over 200 peer-reviewed publications. He has trained postgraduate students and postdoctoral researchers from around the world and maintains strong collaborative partnerships across Africa, Asia, and Europe.
His notable honors include the Jaap Memorial Lectureship at the Ohio State University; the D.W. Brooks Award for Excellence in Research (UGA); the UGA Student Career Influencer Award; the Broiler Research Award from the Poultry Science Association; the Changxin Chu Fund Award (China Agricultural University Educational Foundation/World’s Poultry Science Association); the Carnegie Fellowship; the World’s Poultry Science Association Siegel Research Award; and the D.W. Brooks awards for excellence in international agriculture and for excellence in diversity (UGA).

Prof. Aggrey serves as the capacity building pillar chair and as a member of the Executive Committee of the African Animal Breeding Network. He is also a member of the High-Level Think Tank on Technological Issues in African Agriculture, and contributes to the African Union’s Working Group on Animal Seed under the African Seed and Biotechnology Partnership Platform.

His current research interests include quantitative genetics and genomics of stressors (climate change and Eimeria spp. infection), as well as modeling and precision animal agriculture.

Prof. Aggrey’s Fulbright-Nehru project is examining the potential of polyamine-enhancing nutritional strategies as alternatives to pharmaceutical interventions in combating Eimeria spp. infection in poultry. It is integrating molecular biology, parasitology, and applied poultry science through multi-omics approaches to advance innovative health management strategies. The project aims to enhance host resilience, provide mechanistic insights into how polyamines improve poultry health, expand frameworks for nutritional immunomodulation, and develop biomarkers.

Punya Mishra

Dr. Punya Mishra is a professor at the Mary Lou Fulton College of Teaching and Learning Innovation (MLFC) at Arizona State University (ASU), with an affiliate appointment in its Design School. He is a senior fellow at the Center for Universal Education at the Brookings Institution and a fellow at the Learning Engineering Institute (LEI) at ASU. Earlier, he had served as the director of Innovative Learning Futures at LEI and as the associate dean of scholarship and innovation at MLFC, where he led multiple initiatives in developing a future-forward, equity-driven, collaborative approach to educational research. He is internationally recognized for his work in educational technology; the role of creativity and aesthetics in learning; and the application of design to educational innovation. He has received over USD 11 million in grants, and has published over 200 articles and edited five books. A recipient of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology’s David H. Jonassen Excellence in Research Award, and with over 81,000 citations of his research, he is ranked among the top 2 percent of scientists worldwide (ranked number 91 in social science) and number 44 (number 4 in psychology) amongst scholars with the biggest influence on educational practice and policy. An AERA fellow and TED-Ed educator, he cohosts the award-winning Silver Lining for Learning and the Learning Futures podcasts. He is an award-winning instructor, and has taught courses at all levels in educational technology, educational psychology, design, and creativity. He is also an engaging public speaker and an accomplished visual artist.

Dr. Mishra’s Fulbright-Nehru project is examining how educators and learners across India’s diverse educational landscape is making sense of generative AI. Combining engaged educational journalism with scholarly rigor, the project is partnering with Azim Premji University and other institutions to document real-time negotiations between AI’s promise and local realities through podcasting, blogging, teaching, and presenting. Dr. Mishra’s research is also tracing contextual innovations that emerge when advanced AI tools meet India’s varied conditions of language, connectivity, and social practice. The project will yield academic articles, practitioner briefs, and a book capturing this unrepeatable moment when communities are actively determining what AI becomes in education.

Rajkumar Sevak

Dr. Rajkumar Sevak is an accomplished academic and clinical researcher with expertise in psychiatric pharmacotherapy and pharmacy education. He is currently serving as an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacy Practice at the University of the Pacific’s Thomas J. Long School of Pharmacy. Dr. Sevak has built a career integrating rigorous research with hands-on clinical and teaching practice. His educational background includes a PhD in pharmacology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, followed by PGY1 residency from Auburn University, and postdoctoral fellowship training from East Tennessee State University. He is a licensed pharmacist in four U.S. states and holds specialized certifications in psychiatric pharmacy, informatics, and biostatistics.

Dr. Sevak’s research portfolio reflects a sustained focus on neuropsychiatric therapeutics and students’ mental health. He has served as principal or coinvestigator on several funded grants, including projects supported by the National Institutes of Health, examining pharmacotherapies for substance-use disorders and intervening to improve mental health outcomes. His scholarly output shows over 30 peer-reviewed journal articles and 70 national conference presentations. He is also an active peer reviewer for leading journals and grant agencies, and has received multiple awards, including the CPNP Foundation Strategic Goals Award and the Sudhir Gupta Young Scientist Award.

As an educator, Dr. Sevak coordinates and teaches core courses in neuropsychiatric therapeutics, biostatistics, and research design at the University of the Pacific. He guides pharmacy students, residents, and fellows in research projects, presentations, and professional development. Outside of academics, he has provided clinical services in outpatient and inpatient psychiatric pharmacy, ambulatory care, and community pharmacy settings. His professional service also extends to committee roles within his institution and professional organizations such as the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists and the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. Through his interdisciplinary work in research, teaching, and practice, Dr. Sevak continues to contribute significantly to the fields of psychiatric pharmacy and pharmacotherapy education.

Dr. Sevak’s Fulbright-Nehru project is working on establishing a Indo-US collaborative system to enhance neuropsychiatric pharmacy education. Toward this, he is delivering a core therapeutics course and codeveloping culturally relevant patient cases with Indian faculty colleagues for a case-based course. The project is also fostering cross-cultural pedagogical exchange and improving mental healthcare by training pharmacy students to provide evidence-based care. Expected outcomes include a sustainable case library, strengthened institutional ties, and a model for global pharmacy education.

Nageswari Shanmugalingam

Prof. Nageswari Shanmugalingam is a distinguished research professor (STEMM) in mathematical sciences at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio. She obtained her PhD in mathematics in 1999 from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Her research forms part of the foundation of the emergent field of analysis in metric measure spaces, and her current research interests include nonlinear potential theory, Dirichlet and Neumann boundary value problems in non-smooth setting, and non-local energies, with applications in geometry and quasi-symmetric mappings in non-smooth spaces, including fractals. She has more than 100 research publications in highly ranked mathematical research journals, and has coauthored a book (Cambridge University Press, 2015) on Newton-Sobolev mappings between metric spaces. She also has an extensive mathematical research network both in the U.S. and abroad. Her current research interests include the exploration of how Gromov hyperbolic geometry impacts the behavior of harmonic functions and how the dissipation of heat behaves.

In addition to conducting research in mathematics, Prof. Shanmugalingam is an educator, teaching courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels at the University of Cincinnati. She has also supervised the PhD research of six students and is currently supervising the dissertation research of three other students. She has also been a mentor to postdoctoral scholars.

The development of analysis in non-smooth spaces was motivated by the need to understand how quasi-symmetric classes of regular metric measure spaces share analytic behaviors. This development highlighted the crucial role played by geometric objects called “uniform domains”. On the other hand, recent developments in geometric group theory and fractal analysis indicate a need for discrete analogs of uniform domains. Prof. Shanmugalingam’s Fulbright-Nehru project is developing such analogs in collaboration with Prof. S. Ponnusamy at IIT Madras. The project is also introducing the field of non-smooth analysis to students by conducting a course on analysis in metric spaces.

Surabhi Sahay

Dr. Surabhi Sahay is a scholar of organizational and health communication whose work centers on participatory processes during periods of change and crisis. Her research explores how individuals and institutions navigate uncertainty; it pays particular attention to the intersections of communication, organization, and healthcare. She has published widely in leading journals such as Management Communication Quarterly, Health Communication, Journal of Contingencies and Crisis Management, and Communication and Democracy.

Dr. Sahay is the author of an upcoming book with Johns Hopkins University Press that examines the transformation of nurses’ work roles and professional identities from the pre- through the post-COVID-19 era. She is also a special issues associate editor for Management Communication Quarterly, contributing to ongoing scholarly conversations about adaptation and recovery in complex systems. An engaged and dedicated educator, Dr. Sahay teaches courses on organizational communication, crisis and change, and research methodologies. She is deeply committed to experiential learning and has led student groups to Japan and Iceland, thereby broadening their global perspectives. In addition to research and teaching, she has held various leadership roles within her university and professional community. Outside of her academic work, Dr. Sahay enjoys traveling with her husband and their two daughters, embracing opportunities for exploration and connection around the world.

For her Fulbright-Nehru project, Dr. Sahay is examining how cesarean section decisions are made in rural, small-town, and semi-urban India, focusing on women, families, and healthcare providers. Using qualitative interviews, it is exploring how communication, trust, cultural norms, and socioeconomic factors shape maternal agency and informed consent. The study is also attempting to highlight both the overuse of cesareans without medical need and the lack of access when they are necessary, thus putting the spotlight on inequalities in maternal healthcare. Drawing on sensemaking, sensegiving, sensebreaking, resilience, and social support theories, it is analyzing decision-making dynamics and power relations. The findings will inform community-based interventions and communication toolkits to promote equitable, patient-centered childbirth practices, and improve maternal health outcomes.

Aruna Kilaru

Dr. Aruna Kilaru is a faculty fellow for interdisciplinary innovation in the biosciences and a distinguished professor of biological sciences at East Tennessee State University (ETSU), USA. She earned her master’s degree in biotechnology from Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, India, and her doctoral degree in biology from the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. She subsequently completed her postdoctoral training in plant lipid signaling at the University of North Texas and in storage lipid metabolism at Michigan State University before joining ETSU in 2011. Dr. Kilaru has served in national science policy and leadership roles as an AAAS science and technology policy fellow at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service and as a program director at the U.S. National Science Foundation.

Dr. Kilaru is an internationally recognized plant biologist whose research focuses on lipid metabolism, stress signaling, and metabolic engineering in plants, with applications in crop improvement and sustainable biomanufacturing. Her work spans diverse systems, including mosses, avocado, oilseed crops, and synthetic biology platforms. She has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles and invited reviews in leading journals like PNAS, Plant Physiology, and the Plant Journal. Her research has been supported by the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and other federal agencies, as well as BioMADE. She currently serves on the editorial board of Plant Physiology and has held several leadership roles in the American Society of Plant Biologists, where she was named a fellow in 2025.

In addition to research, Dr. Kilaru is deeply committed to mentorship, interdisciplinary education, and workforce development in biotechnology and bioengineering. She leads initiatives at ETSU focused on synthetic biology, biomanufacturing, and international collaborations, particularly between the United States and India. Her broader interests include science policy, global scientific engagement, photography, travel, and promoting inclusive pathways into science and innovation.

For her Fulbright-Nehru project, Dr. Kilaru is developing plant cell biomanufacturing platforms for the sustainable production of curcumin and related bioactive compounds using turmeric cell cultures as a model system. Working in collaboration with the National Agri-Food and Biomanufacturing Institute (NABI), India, the project is integrating plant biotechnology, metabolic engineering, and analytical approaches to establish reproducible production systems for high-value phytochemicals. The project also involves training workshops and short courses in plant and microbial biomanufacturing in order to strengthen workforce development and foster long-term research collaborations between U.S. and Indian institutions.

Emilie Raymer

Dr. Emilie Raymer teaches in the Harvard College Writing Program and holds a doctorate in the history of science and technology from Johns Hopkins University. Her teaching and scholarly interests include life and human sciences, environmental history and ecology, the philosophy of science, and the relationships among, art, science, and literature. She is a recipient of the Anya Bernstein Bassett Award for Excellence in Teaching by Non-Ladder Faculty from Harvard University; the Certificate of Teaching Excellence from Harvard’s Office of Undergraduate Education every semester that it was awarded during her tenure; and the Dean’s Commendation for Distinguished Teaching Performance for her work at the Harvard Extension School, where she taught both writing and introduction to graduate studies in biology. She is also a recipient of the Arthur J. Quinn Memorial Fellowship from the Bancroft Library; an Alfred M. Landon Research Grant; and a junior fellowship from the Library of Congress. She has also served as a Eugene Garfield Fellow at the American Philosophical Society; a senior visiting fellow at the Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research; a fellow in values engagement in Harvard’s Edmond & Lily Safra Center for Ethics; and as a visiting scholar in the University of Cambridge’s Department of the History and Philosophy of Science.

Dr. Raymer’s Fulbright-Nehru project is highlighting India’s pivotal contributions to global human ecology by centering on the social scientist Radhakamal Mukerjee and contemporary environmental scholars who moved research away from hierarchical and utilitarian interpretations of the biophysical environment toward an emphasis on entanglement, reciprocity, and regional specificity. The project is conducting archival research to examine how ecological ideas circulated internationally, and how ethical, political, and methodological commitments shaped environmental knowledge.

Catherine Heinlein

Dr. Catherine Heinlein is an associate professor in the College of Nursing and Health Sciences at Azusa Pacific University (APU) in California, where she serves as the lead faculty for the nutrition minor program. A highly specialized clinician and educator, she holds an EdD in organizational leadership from the University of La Verne, an MS in nutrition science from the University of Southern California, and both an MSN and BSN from APU. Her multidisciplinary expertise is further defined by her credentials as a family nurse practitioner, registered dietitian nutritionist, and as a certified diabetes care and education specialist.

Dr. Heinlein’s professional work is deeply rooted in transcultural nursing and global health equity. Since 2008, she has been spearheading clinical immersions in Kolkata, India, maintaining long-term partnerships with the Mission of Mercy Hospital & Research Centre and the Missionaries of Charity. In 2018, as a Fulbright Scholar in India, she conducted research on community-based diabetes prevention and mentored local nursing students. Her current international research work extends to Rwanda, focusing on strengthening rural healthcare delivery through competency-based training for community health nurses.

In addition to her global leadership, Dr. Heinlein is a recognized expert in transcultural pedagogy and holistic wellness. She is a certified yoga teacher and creator of the “Walk & Talk” initiative, a program designed to support the mental health of nursing students through movement and dialogue. Her accolades include the APU Teaching Excellence Award and the APU Community Engagement Faculty Award. Meanwhile, as an active member of the Sigma Theta Tau International, Dr. Heinlein continues to advocate for a more compassionate approach to healthcare, focusing her efforts on training the next generation of healthcare providers to lead with cultural humility and empower patients through sustainable, community-led wellness programs.

Inspired by her 2018 Fulbright stint in Kolkata, Dr. Heinlein’s current Fulbright-Nehru project is investigating how incivility and “oppressed group behavior” act as silent killers of the empathy and compassion defining the nursing profession. This pilot project is exploring how nursing students perceive and encounter such challenges in their field. Her research is tracing the evolution of foundational humanistic values as students transition from the classroom to the high-pressure reality of hospital duty. By documenting this shift, Dr. Heinlein aims to identify ways to protect and sustain the spirit of caring among those entering the healthcare workforce.