The MedNess Team
Siftjit received her Ph.D. in Microbiology from Panjab University, Chandigarh. During her doctoral research which focused on Spermagglutination by bacteria and exploring its link to infertility, she received various awards/travel grants and published 15 papers. Before relocating to Canada in 2019, she worked as Adjunct Faculty with the Department of Microbiology and the National Center for Human Genome Studies and Research at Panjab University, India.
Her passion for science and writing motivated her to volunteer as Scientific Writer for the Pet Cancer Fund, Toronto, and most recently to be a part of MedNess Team, as the Social Media Manager where she enthusiastically shares weekly updates in the field of Oncology.
Shalini Roy Choudhury, Ph.D., has a scientific background in human molecular genetics and CRISPR-based gene editing for sickle cell disease.
Shalini keeps a deep interest in therapeutic developments for human diseases, and this is where her association with MedNess stems from. Through her column Genes and Therapy, she communicates the advances in the areas of genetics and genomics, and cell and gene therapy. She also serves as MedNess’ managing editor.
Shalini is a trained classical singer, and an absolute lover of nature and performing arts. She makes sure to find time to read, watch movies, paint, bake, cook, and explore places and food.
Anusha has a Ph.D. in cancer biology, with a background in cell metabolism and metabolomics/flux analysis. She did postdoctoral research at the Beaumont Research Institute (Corewell Health) and the University of Michigan, and specializes in in vitro cell culture techniques, bioassays, and mass spectrometry. While being on a career break she has also been keeping up with the scientific community as a freelance scientific consultant.
Currently, Anusha is one of the Managing Editors for the MedNess STEMPeers platform where she has been volunteering for a year now. She is looking forward to transitioning to non-academic roles whilst maintaining her passion to continue working in the field of cancer research.
Outside her professional life, Anusha loves mountains and beaches, likes going on trips exploring places and nature, and won’t complain having summer all year round! She found her passion in travel during her 7 years of hiatus in Europe as a Masters’ and Ph.D. student. A Bharathnatyam dancer by hobby, she also finds happiness in crafting and cooking, and is a local home cook within a platform called ‘Shef’ founded by a former White House Technology Advisor and a food entrepreneur duo.
Himanshi has a PhD in Cancer biology with a specialization in DNA damage response. She did her Postdoctoral research at Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. She is at present a freelance scientific consultant and is actively exploring her calling.
To delve into her interest in science writing and related roles, she is working as a Social Media Manager within MedNess.
Outside her professional life, Himanshi finds joy in photography, reading, music and spending time in nature.
Feel free to reach out to Himanshi for any questions you may have regarding her work or about MedNess platform!
Dr. Vinoth Khandelwal is a distinguished professional in the pharmaceutical industry, recognized for his extensive expertise in strategic insights, competitive analysis, and scientific communications. With a notable career spanning various pivotal roles, Vinoth has established himself as a thought leader driving innovation and excellence in the field.
Vinoth currently holds the position of Global Strategy and Competitive Intelligence (CI) lead at GSK Knowledge Centre, WNS. Prior to this, Vinoth held diverse positions contributing significantly to his expertise. As a Project Manager at SmartAnalyst, he refined his skills in project execution, stakeholder management, and cross-functional collaboration while analysing market dynamics and emerging therapeutic areas. Vinoth’s professional journey also includes impactful stints in drug development research at Venus Remedies Limited, where he gained invaluable experience in preclinical studies and regulatory compliance, directly contributing to the advancement of novel therapies. His postdoctoral research endeavours at esteemed institutions such as University of Eastern Finland and Consorzio Mario Negri Sud, Italy. He was also a Marie Curie Experienced Researcher.
Vinoth’s expertise is underscored by his extensive publication record, encompassing over 20 international research articles (with cumulative impact factor of 127+ and citations totalling 10,000+) delving into critical areas such as cancer and cardiovascular disease. His passion for the convergence of science, innovation, and business is evident in his commitment to generating valuable insights that inform decision-making and drive innovation within the pharmaceutical domain.
Dr. Vinoth Khandelwal’s unwavering commitment to excellence, coupled with his global exposure and multifaceted skill set, positions him as a dynamic leader shaping the future of pharmaceuticals through relentless pursuit of knowledge, innovation, and impactful contributions.
Isha sharma is a PhD in reproductive biology and has extensive postdoctoral training at Feinberg School of Medicine in diabetic nephropathy. Currently, she is a research assistant professor at Northwestern University in the Department of Medicine. Besides, working as a researcher, she loves scientific writing, playing violin, knitting, swimming and reading non-fiction.
Malini, a cell biologist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of South Carolina, Columbia. With expertise in iron biology spanning from fundamental to translational research, she offers a unique and comprehensive perspective to her field. Known for her adeptness in visual communication, Malini loves conveying complex concepts with minimal words and impactful visual aids. Outside of her work, she enjoys landscape photography, history podcasts and indulging in movies.
Jyothi Inampudi has done her PhD in Neuropharmacology and Sleep science. She has 7 years of experience in clinical Research. During her research, she developed interest on sleep research and became passionate about studying human brain and how dreams emerge during sleep. Presently, she is working as Project Manager for STEMPeers Gurukool and exploring different opportunities to restart her career after parental leave. She is looking to transition into pharma industry and to continue her passion in sleep research field.
Besides professional life, her hobbies include reading books (autobiography of great leaders and fiction related), yoga, meditation and travelling (like tasting different cuisines).
Ananya Rakshit is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Colorado Boulder. Her research experience has been very diverse and interdisciplinary. She has explored unanswered questions using tools from the fields of chemical biology, biochemistry, and cell biology. During her PhD training at TIFR Mumbai, she focused on designing and developing drugs to treat metal ion overload diseases such as Wilson disease. Additionally, she worked on developing turn-on-based selective fluorescent probes for detecting manganese overload in Manganism. She gained substantial experience in chemical biology at the University of Southern California by investigating the role of site-specific PTM modifications, specifically GlcNAc, in the aggregation of alpha-synuclein protein responsible for Parkinson’s disease. Currently, at the University of Colorado Boulder, she is studying zinc signaling in the mammalian cell cycle, particularly focusing on how zinc deficiency negatively affects mitosis. I employ a series of biochemical assays as well as RNA-seq analysis in my research. Outside of research, she is an avid hiker who enjoys long walks in the mountains and capturing beautiful landscapes through photography.
Avraneel Paul is a researcher, writer, and storyteller with a passion for making science accessible and entertaining. With a PhD from IISc Bangalore, he has spent years studying antibiotics resistance and redox homeostasis in Mycobacteria. Currently, he’s a postdoc at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, unraveling the mysteries of molecular mechanism behind bacterial lipid translocation. His expertise lies in redox chemistry, antibiotics resistance, CRISPR technology, and protein biochemistry.
When he’s not in the lab, he can be found indulging in cricket, chess, quizzes, or writing fiction and non-fiction. His stint as a Toastmaster sparked a love for public speaking and long-form storytelling. He teaching tenure in community schools had made him passionate to make science accessible and entertaining for everyone. A ‘professional’ foodie turned amateur chef, and when not wielding a pipette or a pen, he can be found wielding a chef’s knife, whipping up a mean curry or two in his kitchen!
Vinny has completed her Ph.D. from CSIR-IGIB, Delhi, India. She has experience of working in different disease areas such as immunology, pulmonary and cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and metabolic disorders. Her research has been focused on determining a potential drug or target for these diseases.
During her research, she ignited an interest in scientific writing. The love for simplifying complex information and the learning associated with writing motivated her to become a medical writer. She has joined MedNess to start her journey and dive into the pool of medical writing. In her free time, she likes to go for long walks, play board games with friends, and write for her blog.
Our former team members
Richa Tewari is a founding member of the ‘Onco-this-Week’ newsletter, where she spearheads news coverage pertaining to drug development in oncology. This initiative stemmed from her need to stay abreast with cancer therapies as a new pharma consultant in 2016. She began publishing pharma events on the ClubSciWri platform in 2018, which was later reorganized as MedNess in 2019.
A PhD in Cancer Biology and oncology consultant by profession, Richa focuses on competitive intelligence, market research, and forecast modeling in her work. She has sound knowledge of 30+ oncology indications (both solid tumors and heme malignancies) in addition to rare diseases. Week after week, she religiously goes through industry events in order to keep up with this fast-paced industry.
In her free time, Richa loves nature photography and cooking different cuisines. She also volunteers for Canadian Cancer Society and is part of her neighborhood groups focusing on environment conservation.
Currently, Rueben is a scientist at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is studying tauopathies where misfolded tau protein forms aggregates in specific brain regions resulting in various neurodegenerative diseases.
Following his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Calcutta, he joined Penn Vet to study retinal diseases. There he was involved in identifying the first canine model for Congenital Stationary Night Blindness and its causal gene.
During his post-doctoral years, Rueben was an active member of the Biomedical Postdoc Council (BPC) at Penn and chaired its social committee. He was volunteering at multiple institutions like the Franklin Institute and the Free Library of Philadelphia to encourage STEM education among kids.
Rueben is also a painter and has exhibited his works at institutions and galleries in Philadelphia. In this free time, he enjoys being in nature and loves going on long-distance bike rides.
Ananda Ghosh
Co-founder, Contributing Author
January 2018 - July 2020
Ananda currently works in biotech investment banking as an equity research associate. In his spare time, he dabbles with learning hindustani classical and piano and with helping PhDs and Postdocs navigate their career paths.
Abhinav Dey
Co-founder, Managing/Consulting Editor, Contributing Author
January 2018 - July 2021
Abhi co-created the Medness Platform for STEMPeers. He graduated from the Molecular Biophysics Unit of IISc (Bangalore, India) in 2011. Currently, he is a business development professional for VC arm of Greenfire Bio, where he serves as an analyst to support in-licensing and out-licensing of technologies in the biotech sector. Previously, he served as Director of Oncology research at MicroCures Inc. and as an Assistant Scientist at Emory University (Atlanta, GA) studying mechanisms of tumor recurrence in kids with brain tumors. He enjoys his downtime with his family and exploring the world through traveling.
Nisha Peter
Managing Editor
May 2018 - August 2020
Nisha currently works for AstraZenaca UK and was the first managing editor of MedNess since it’s transtion from Onco-this-Week. She did her PhD from Univerity of Sussex working on mitosis and loves looking at dividing cells under the microscope. Following that she did a post-doc at Wellcome trust funded Sussex Drug Discovery Centre working on a drug discovery project in collaboration with AstraZeneca.
Esha Sehanobish, PhD received her PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Central Florida, USA, where she characterized microbial enzymes and determined their structure-function relationship.
Her current postdoc & clinical research coordinator position involves work on aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) patients. Esha is extensively involved in projects related to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, hoping to understand reasons for loss of sense of taste & smell and different recovery durations in patients.
Esha is very passionate about communicating the advances in biomedical sciences to people belonging to different areas of life, with a profound need now, more than ever in the wake of pandemic. Her columns, MedNess Plus & COVID-19 Specials aim to do this. Her long-term goal is to be able to continue spreading awareness in the area of medical communications.
When she isn’t doing/reading/writing science, Esha loves to travel and explore places, which she believes is essential for personal growth. She also loves to express herself via the medium of art and paintings, something that she has been passionate about since childhood.
Dr. Rinki Saha pursued her Ph.D. in Neurobiology from the University of Haifa in Israel and tackled the critical question of the neural basis of fear and anxiety-related disorders. At Columbia University, she continued her postdoctoral research on dissecting the neural locus of aggression. She also served as Post-doctoral society president and social media manager. Because of her keen interest in science communication, she contributed as a content writer and managing editor at MedNess.
Currently, she is working as an Associate Medical Director at Medical Knowledge Group and developing strategic promotional scientific content.
In her spare time, Rinki loves to watch documentaries and experiment with new recipes.
Shivasankari goes by Shiva. She has a Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics/Biochemistry and 5 years of Post-doctoral experience in the field of DNA repair & replication and Cancer Biology. She is at present a Freelance Biochemist and actively looking to transition to the industry.
She loves talking about science to a variety of audiences and also has a keen interest in science writing, which is why she joined MedNess!
Other than science, she loves to read random stuff on the internet like the Tribal snake catchers in Florida, Life in Antarctica, various cuisines, diets, and so on.
Darpan is a Consultant at a Life-Science Consulting firm. Before diving into the consulting world, Darpan was a Research Scientist at New York University, a contributing author, and social media manager at MedNess. Darpan did his Ph.D. in Neuroscience, developing and understanding the MOA of brain stimulation and its theraputic aspects.
Shilpa Rawal
Contributing Author
Shilpa is a PhD in Mol Bio & neurogenetics from Uni of Freiburg, Germany. She dissected the molecular mechanisms underlying synapse formation within the olfactory system in fruit fly. Her PhD ingrained in her the instinct to accept failure but not get defeated and find alternate solutions.
In India, she worked as an oncology analyst providing strategic decision support for top global pharma clients. The work also included creating comprehensive knowledge books for nearly 30+ onco indications (both solid tumors & heme malignancies). Over the years, she has accumulated substantial experience in the field of CI gathering and analysis.
Her association with MedNess stems from her interests in the latest events in oncology and her analysis of their impact. With her column she hopes to share her perspective on the latest industry trends with a wider audience.
During her stay in Germany, she fell in love with travelling throughout Europe, meeting new people and exploring their culture, lifestyle & food. She considers the beautiful and sustainable city of Freiburg as her ‘home away from home’. In her free time, she loves to bake.
Arundithi Ananthanarayanan, received her PhD in Bioengineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. During her PhD, she developed new synthesis strategies for graphene quantum dots and demonstrated their application as sensors, bioimaging agents and drug delivery vehicles. Her scientific background spans across various disciplines including biotechnology, nanotechnology, chemistry, and engineering.
Arundithi is passionate about the commercialization of novel technologies. She believes that basic research can lay the foundation to pathbreaking innovations. She is excited to share glimpses of interesting research and advancements in commercialization in the biotech and healthcare space with the MedNess readership.
Arundithi is also trained classical dancer and she loves to spend her free time dancing, reading, and experimenting new recipes.
Mayur contributed to the business section of MedNess- He graduted from the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine (Göttingen, Germany). Currently, he is working as a strategy consultant at Catenion GmbH in Berlin and focuses on the biotech and pharma sector. During his free time, he engages with his peers to support them in their professional journey, and ocassionally walks around with his camera capturing moments.
Tanmoy Samaddar
Contributing Author
- tanmoysamaddar@gmail.com
Tanmoy is a molecular biologist working for Abbott.
Debarati Banik, Ph.D, MHA, CCRP is a healthcare enthusiast with a PhD in onco-immunology from Roswell Park Cancer Institute. In addition to her work in the field of onco-immunotherapy, she pursued a master’s in healthcare administration which kindled her interest in working at the intersection of healthcare & research. She also pursued a diploma in clinical research to gain an understanding of the holistic pathway: from bench to bedside.
Debarati believes that technology holds the key for the future of healthcare: information with innovation. Therefore, she wants to explore and share the marvels that are brought about by information technology in healthcare: be it the use of information sharing or utilization of AI in improving the standard of care. She is excited to share the glimpses of futuristic advancement in healthcare and research with MedNess readership.
She is a music lover, singer, dog-lover and an armchair movie critic with an eclectic taste for film-genres. After completing her graduate-level studies and research in the US, she is a recent immigrant to Canada, looking forward to enjoying and integrating into the cosmopolitan culture of the Great White North.
Sohini received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Kent State University, Ohio where she investigated learning and memory mechanisms associated with Anxiety-related disorders. She is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai where her work focuses on identifying epigenetic changes associated with neuropsychological disorders.
Somdatta is a science communicator. She leads science communication at CSIR-Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad. She is also a core member of Superheroes Against Superbugs, a public engagement and educational initiative on antibiotic resistance in India. She works towards making science accessible to non-experts.
Divyaanka Iyer, Ph.D., is a medical writer based in Singapore, who is growing her freelance business by helping clients communicate pharma products and research through a range of content formats. While oncology commands her enthusiasm, she enjoys communicating in many therapy areas including respiratory, neurobiology, cardiology, and infectious disease.
Divyaanka graduated from the Indian Institute of Science and has worked on therapy-related oncology research ranging from the small molecule inhibition of BCL2-driven cancers to immunotherapy of pancreatic cancers.
She wrote the biopharma business review for MedNess.
Imit Kaur
Cofounder, editor, author
Jan 2017 - June 2017
Imit cofounded MedNess with Abhinav Dey and Ananda Ghosh in January 2017. At the nascent stage, MedNess (MEDicine busiNESS) focused on effect of medical innovations on biotech stocks and share markets. It was a humble attempt to bring scientists at the forefront of equity science.
Imit was looking into transition to an alternate career after investing three years in academia as a post-doctoral research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, NY. She transitioned as a Scientific Advisor at Quinn Emanuel law firm. After rendering her expertise for three year at Quinn, she joined her family business and is actively branching out into healthcare stock investments. She is preparing to join B school to advance her business.
Sri Ranjini Arumugam (Sri) is based out of Leipzig Germany. She works at XeedQ GmbH, a start-up producing quantum processors.Prior to that, she was a staff scientist at the Max Planck Institute for multidisciplinary sciences (former MPIBPC), Goettingen, Germany. She spent her postdoctoral phase in the US. She obtained her doctorate in biophysical chemistry from IISc Bangalore.
She actively participates in delivering talks on her research work and STEM-related topics to students. She is also a career advisor and a mentor to students at various levels of their studies. As a social media manager, she hopes to contribute significantly to the betterment of the newsletter.
Sri likes gardening, travel, photography, books, crafts, and cooking.
Sukanya was a postgraduate in Life Sciences from Presidency University, Kolkata. An avid and enthusiastic learner, she was interested in Molecular Biology and Genetics. She worked as a Project Assistant at the Human Molecular Genetics Lab, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore. She performed genetic analysis for rare and pathogenic variants in epileptic individuals using Sanger Sequencing. In her second project, she generated genetic knockout mouse models for epilepsy.
Sukanya was passionate about science communication and science writing. Her interest to be a part of MedNess stemmed from her enthusiasm for the latest advancements in the field of neurodegenerative disorders, rare genetic disorders, and molecular biology. Her column intended to present the current and trending medical news with the aim to reach a larger audience. Her long-term goal was to make communication around science and technology a priority and create scientific awareness in people.
Outside of her work, she loved to read self-help books and watch movies. She enjoyed travelling, exploring different culture, lifestyle and food. She loved to cook and try out new recipes. She believed in journaling as an essential aspect of personal growth and development.
