Top image: Performing at the RING Garden, NYC. Photo credit: Brandon Alexander. 

Ahmedabad, India 

After my undergraduate studies in pharmacy in India, I worked at a shelter for stray animals called the Animal Help Foundation in Ahmedabad. While taking care of dogs, cats, monkeys, and bats,  I started wondering how dogs (and people) ‘know’ that they are hungry, what makes snakes cold to the touch, how bats communicate, and what is the basis of maternal behavior in dogs and cats.  

Doctoral and Post-Doctoral Work  

Figure from my paper showing decreased neurogenesis as examined by doublecortin (DCX) labeling in the granule cell layer (GCL) in transgenic mice

• After realizing my interest in the brain at the animal shelter, I proceeded to start my graduate work at the University of South Carolina (USC) School of Medicine. Here, I used a technique called electrophysiology to understand how neuronal circuits generate and sustain epileptic seizures. 
• As a postdoctoral fellow at the Nathan Kline Institute in Orangeburg, NY, I studied a process called postnatal neurogenesis, and the effect of postnatal neurogenesis in seizures. 

Clinical Research 

In this study, we showed the primary outcomes associated with pulmonary artery catheter (PAC) use in cardiac surgery

• I was looking for a more direct way to use my training for epilepsy community, which led me to work as a clinical researcher at the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group. Here, I facilitated clinical trials for children and adults with epilepsy. Working at the epilepsy clinic gave me greater insight into the clinical aspect of epilepsy, and the journey that therapies take as they make their way into the clinic from the lab. 
• ​I also have had the opportunity to work with an epileptologist in Ahmedabad, where I developed and conducted a survey for parents of children with epilepsy to gauge awareness regarding their child’s seizures. This experience revealed to me that we need robust educational strategies (e.g. epilepsy pamphlets in Gujarati and other local languages). 

Science Advocacy, Outreach and Education 

I organized Biobase in Harlem. NY. More than 500 adults and children visited the various booths

• I have been involved in neuroscience outreach and advocacy in New York City. I received a fellowship to visit Capitol Hill and lobby for basic neuroscience funding to elected officials. 
• ​I have developed curricula and taught courses in neuroscience and forensic sciences for high school students.
  
• I also teach evolution and neuroscience at the American Museum of Natural History, and I advise scientists to write about epilepsy for patients and caregivers. 

Dance 

With artists of The Salon Series debuting my work Neuronatyam in March 2020 at NYC.

• As a practitioner, performer, and teacher of Bharatanatyam, I have founded SamyuktaNYC: an organization with two goals – to explore science through the lens of dance, and to bring the arts to underserved venues. 
• In the picture on the left, I debuted my choreography called Neuronatyam at The Salon Series in NYC. 

Current roles  

At the Winter Garden Festival in NYC. Picture credit: Purple Ganesh

• As adjunct faculty at The Public Health Foundation of India, I am developing a course on common neurological disorders that will be provided to general practitioners in India. 
• I also work with Schizophrenia Research Foundation (SCARF) and New Jersey Society for Public Health Education (NJ SOPHE) to offer scientific services for public benefit. 
  
• I was selected as the New Leaders Council (NLC) 2020 fellow of the NYC Chapter. NLC is the nation’s largest organization that recruits, trains, and promotes a rising generation  progressive leaders. I serve as co-director of the NYC NLC chapter. 
• I consulted with the The Bronx Community Foundation as their Director of Programs. In this role, I managed projects and priorities for each of the eight priorities of the organization as well as its overall structure. I planned the delivery of the overall program and its activities in accordance with the mission and goals of The Bronx Community Foundation.