« Personen

- Education / Degrees
February 2018      Ph.D (doctor rerum naturalium, Dr. rer. Nat.) In Neurobiology, Otto-von-Guericke- University (OvGU), Germany ( magna cum laude - very good )
March 2013           Master of Engineering (M.Eng.) In Biomedical Engineering, International master program at Martin-Luther-University and Anhalt University of Applied Sciences, Germany ( good, 1.9 )
April 2009              Master of Science (M.Sc.) in Human Genetics, Andhra University, India ( First Class with Distinction, 9.37 CGPA )
July 2007                Bachelor of Science (B.Sc.) in Chemistry, Zoology and Biotechnology, Andhra University, India ( First Class, 80.7% )
 
- Scientific Career
Jan 2020– Present      Postdoctoral Researcher and Project Leader (CBBS-LSA fellow) - Department of Genetics and Molecular Neurobiology, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Magdeburg, Germany
                                      Project: Presynaptic mechanisms of Neuropsychiatric disorders
Jan 2020 - Present     Guest Scientist - Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg, Germany
Jul 2017– Dec 2019    Postdoctoral Researcher - Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg, Germany
                                      P roject: Functions of Bassoon in inhibitory system in control of learning and memory processes
Apr 2016– May 2016  Guest Scientist - Central Institute of Mental Health, Mannheim, Germany
Aug 2012– Jun 2017   Doctoral thesis in Neurobiology - Department of Neurochemistry and Molecular Biology, Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology (LIN), Magdeburg, Germany
                                       P roject: Functions of Bassoon in hippocampus-dependent learning and memory processes
                                       Minor project: Characterization of RASopathy mouse model
Sep 2011– Jul 2012      Master thesis (M.Eng.) In Neurodegeneration - Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg (ZMNH), Hamburg, Germany
                                       P roject: Genetic crosstalk of Ret and Parkin in Maintaining dopaminergic innervation of the striatum
                                       Minor project: Behavioral analysis of Parkinson's mouse model
Jul 2011– Aug 2011      Research unit in Genetics - Neurology department, Martin-Luther University, Halle, Germany
                                       Project: Screening of novel mutations from Pompe disease patient samples
Apr 2008– May 2008  Master thesis (M.Sc.) in Forensic sciences - Andhra Pradesh Forensic Science Laboratory (APFSL), Hyderabad, India
                                      Project: Genotyping of short tandem repeats of genomic DNA isolated from brain tissue
 
- Research Interest
Efficient brain functioning is dependent on tight synaptic connections and their complex protein machinery. Dys-functioning of these synaptic proteins leads to several diseased conditions, synaptopathies. I have been studying the presynaptic protein Bassoon and its role towards learning and memory in relation to different neuronal types. Understanding the mechanisms behind the cognitive, learning and memory alterations in pathological state is particularly important to develop novel therapeutics. I am interested in studying the presynaptic proteins, presynaptic signaling and their contribution towards the disease etiology, progression and cognitive deficits to develop and test novel therapeutic drugs. 
- List of fellowship / research grant / third party funding acquired
Jan 2020– Dec 2021 Principal Investigator (PI) / Project leader, CBBS-LSA fellow research grant project: “Role of Bassoon in interneuron (dys-) function related to neuropsychiatric disorders” (funded by Federal state of Saxony-Anhalt, Germany and the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF); Center for Behavioral Brain Sciences, grant ID: ZS / 2016/04/78113) - € 181,000 
Jul 2020– Jun 2021 Co-PI, 2nd LIN Micro Seed funding (LINSeeds) - 2020 grant project: “Comparative evaluation of the proteomic changes in different mouse strains lacking the pre-synaptic organizer Bassoon” (funded by Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Magdeburg , Germany) - € 5,000 
- Teaching / mentoring
Sep 2020 Supervisor, lab-rotation student, M.Sc Integrative Neuroscience program, Otto-von-Guericke-University, Germany
Aug 2020– Sep 2020 Co-instructor, Practical course on Basics of Biology (instructions on Molecular Biology and Genetics), Bachelors in Biosystems Engineering, Winter semester 2019-2020 - Department of Genetics and Molecular Neurobiology, Institute of Biology, Otto-von- Guericke University, Germany
Feb 2019– Jun 2019     Mentor, Bachelor thesis work (Biochemical techniques and confocal microscopy)  - Leibniz Institute for Neurobiology, Germany
Dec 2016– Jan 2017    Co-supervisor, Individual student project in Neural signaling course, M.Sc                                                     Integrative Neuroscience program, Winter semester 2016-2017 – Otto-von-                                                 Guericke-University, Germany
Nov 2011                      Co-instructor, Practical course – Center for Molecular Neurobiology Hamburg,                                             Germany
 
- Invited talks/seminars
•   Neuroscience lecture series, Center for Neuroscience, Department of Biotechnology, Cochin University of Science and Technology, India, 30-10-2020, Online
 
- Organization of Conferences / Symposia
· Member of the program committee for “XV ^th LIN retreat”, June 03-05, 2019, Luisenthal, Germany
· Member of the local organizing committee for “Workshop on Bassoon & Piccolo - Past and Perspectives”, August 27-28, 2018, Schloss Storkau / Elbe, Germany
 
- Membership of Scientific Organizations
Life member of the Indian Academy of Neurosciences (IAN), since 2018
Member of the European Brain and Behavior Society (EBBS), since 2015

I am interested in understanding the presynaptic protein's contribution towards the brain functions in healthy and diseased states. My current project deals with one of the important presynaptic protein Bassoon and its role in interneuron specific functions and dysfunctions towards learning and memory in mice. I use behavioral, biochemical techniques and microscopy techniques in Bassoon knockout models.

-Quantitative immunohistochemical and western blot analyzes
-Animal (mouse) behavior