My journey as a Research Scientist

I feel fortunate to be a scientific investigator, since I believe that Science has uplifted human beings to their greatest and has worked its marvel toward the longevity of human life. Every phase of research is challenging, and that has drastically transformed my life of what I am today. My desire to become a scientist started during my undergraduate time, while living in a small village in Kerala, India. I completed a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry in the University of Kerala, and then I pursued a post-graduate degree in Advanced Biochemistry at the University of Madras in Chennai, India. I was fascinated to learn instrumentation and analytical techniques in biomedical research and decided to continue for the PhD program. My research interests were signal transduction and cell death pathways in disease models in pulmonary fibrosis. I studied the effects of daidzein, a soy isoflavone, in two experimental settings: in vivo, using bleomycin induced pulmonary fibrosis, and in vitro, using TGFβ-stimulated A549 cells. This research was funded by Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR).

After the completion of my PhD degree, I received the prestigious Dr DS Kothari postdoctoral fellowship for Medical Sciences, funded by the Government of India. For this project, I conducted research at the Jnana Bharathi Campus Bengaluru University, working on selective estrogen receptor modulators in osteoporosis associated with breast cancer. My focus was on the roles of Nrf2 and autophagy mediated by the receptor activator of nuclear factor kappa-Β ligand. While learning research in India, I received the opportunity to move to the US as a postdoctoral researcher in the Centre for Nanobiotechnology Research at Alabama State University. From there, I transitioned to my current position in the State University of New York Downstate Health Sciences University.

My current research is focused on pulmonary fibrosis. My lab is extensively focused on the lipid metabolism of the lung. Throughout my career, extensive work mechanisms of apoptotic cell death triggered my passion towards pulmonary pharmacology, and the lipid aspect of lung research is now adding up to my enthusiasm.

In my free time, I love to read books of both science and fiction. I am a passionate classical dancer and vocalist. Music and dance are the happy things that keep me alive and thriving during the tough patches of life. Certainly, these passions help me to be more productive in my research as well.