About me

About me

I am a scientist during the day and an aspiring fiction writer at night! I have lived, worked and studied in several beautiful countries including India, Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

I did my PhD at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular biology in Cambridge, UK (as a GATES Cambridge scholar). Using biochemistry and structural biology approaches, my colleagues and I visualized the architecture of the eukaryotic mRNA 3′ end processing machinery, providing insights into gene expression regulation.

Image: A cDNA microarray reflecting the gene expression differences between two different tissues (The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Visuals Online)

Currently as a Human Frontier Science Program long-term fellow at Yale University, I am studying the structure and function of long non-coding RNAs involved in chromosome stability maintenance.

Image: Chromosomes visualized by spectral karyotyping (SKY) reveal an enormous degree of chromosomal instability — a hallmark of cancer. The National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) Visuals Online

I am enthusiastic about learning new technologies and currently excited about RNA therapeutics and its potential. Outside of the lab, I enjoy thinking and writing about public policy issues, bird watching, playing cricket, practicing Japanese sword fighting (Kendo) and writing short stories.

Image: In the midst of a kendo session at Shiroyama Kendo Dojo, Nagoya-shi, Japan.