Clinician Scientist, MQ: Transforming Mental Health Fellow, Department of Psychiatry LinkedIn | Google Scholar suhasg90@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Co-Investigator Team Bioinformatics, Molecular Genetics Dr Suhas Ganesh Clinician Scientist, MQ: Transforming Mental Health Fellow, Department of Psychiatry Dr Suhas Ganesh worked as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the Central Institute of Psychiatry in Ranchi, India. He also holds an adjunct position as Assistant Professor at Yale University School of Medicine. Dr Ganesh received the young investigators award from the Brain and Behaviour Research Foundation whilst he was at Yale University in the USA, for his research into epigenetic effects of cannabis use and its effects on neurodevelopment. He is a recipient of an MQ Fellows Award , and his focus now is on addressing the gaps in knowledge around genetics, mental illnesses and brain development, particularly in under-represented communities. Jeevan, Y., Mahadevan, J., Viswanath, B., Jain, S., Ganesh, S. , Holla, B., Purushottam, M., & Shankarappa, B. (2024). F35. INVESTIGATING GENETIC RISK FOR PSYCHOSIS IN BIPOLAR DISORDER IN INDIA USING POLYGENIC SCORES. European Neuropsychopharmacology , 87 , 224. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2024.08.446 Mahadevan, J., Holla, B., Ganesh, S. , Shankarappa, B., Paul, P., Sud, R., Jain, S., Purushottam, M., & Viswanath, B. (2024). W32. A GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY OF BIPOLAR DISORDER FROM INDIA. European Neuropsychopharmacology , 87 , 118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2024.08.241 Patra, C., Ganesh, S. , Mahadevan, J., Gujarati, K., Awasthy, D., George, S., Ganapathy, A., Phalke, S., Bettadapura, R., Viswanath, B., Varghese, M., Jain, S., Prasad, P., & Purushottam, M. (2024). W48. PROFILING THE RARE VARIANT GENETIC RISK FOR DEMENTIA WITH WHOLE EXOME SEQUENCING: A STUDY FROM INDIA. European Neuropsychopharmacology , 87 , 126. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2024.08.257 Shankarappa, B., Ganesh, S. , Purushottam, M., & Jain, S. (2024). W94. ALLELE FREQUENCIES AT CRUCIAL LOCI MIGHT UNDERLIE DISPARATE CONSEQUENCES OF ALCOHOL ABUSE ACROSS WORLD POPULATIONS. European Neuropsychopharmacology , 87 , 151. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2024.08.303 Shankarappa, B., Prasad, V. P., Kumar, S., Rao, R. S., Royal, A. B., Swamy, M., Prasad, P., Niranjana Murthy, A. S., Ganesh, S., Viswanath, B., Jain, S., Purushottam, M., & Thyloth, M. (2024). A Novel Homozygous Variant in CPLANE1 Gene in a Patient with Developmental Deficits. Molecular Syndromology , 1–6. https://doi.org/10.1159/000541167

Project Nurse manojl1703@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Manoj L Project Nurse Manoj is a Project Nurse at the centre for brain and mind in GenECT project with a bachelor degree in Nursing. Manoj has experience working in ICU sectors, telecommunication, blood sample collection and field work. He is also experienced in clinical practice of all departments over a period of 1and half year. He is more enthusiastic in exploring himself and hw is well known of all South Indian languages.

Back Back to People Page Back Clinical Team Rakesh N S

We’ve heard that a healthy mind makes for a healthy body - but let’s be honest: we are always trying to keep both well. I like to call us first-timers, because we’re doing this life for the first time. Every experience and encounter is uniquely tailored. Whether we handle it gracefully or hastily depends on how well we’ve trained ourselves for it. Hey! Not saying you should be ready for a bullet at any given moment, but how well we receive and deal with it is what matters. While most of the population agrees that a healthy mind is something we all deserve in order to live this life, some people still wonder whether mental health and wellness are marketed to simply attract consumers. It is seen as a luxury or a premium service. Honestly? I can’t blame them! As much as we have made people aware of mental health, we have not yet made it accessible to them. The recent awareness boom could have also ignited this thought among people. The hope is that it reaches people in power and is made affordable and accessible for larger crowds across the nation. That said - Are you wondering if you should take help? Healing Blooms by Jhilik Paul While there is no straightforward answer, it is encouraged that you take it, but it’s also a personal choice. If you have experienced a negative occurrence at any point in life, been hard on yourself for taking a leap, or even because something did not work out the way you wanted it, and that has left you feeling persistently sad, angry, disturbed, anxious, or irritated, it might be your sign to speak up. Ever since we were kids, we have been discouraged from thinking about negative outcomes, let alone negative experiences. So, when life presents us with a bitter event, we tend to stumble. It doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to feel your feelings, but a healthy balance is what we are trying to achieve here. Why is it important to seek help? When you don’t learn to cope with your emotions, you may easily fall into habits harmful to both yourself and the people around you. If left unaddressed, emotional distress may also contribute to long-term health challenges. Mental health conditions can arise from a combination of life experiences, biological factors, and genetic influences. You might start seeing signs in your body as well, because a healthy mind is truly important for a healthy body. This is why it is important to build healthy coping mechanisms and seek support. When should you consider taking help? For many mental health conditions, symptoms first emerge during adolescence and early adulthood. If you catch yourself struggling to perform well or falling behind more than usual, therapy can help you manage yourself better. There is nothing wrong with choosing to go to therapy. It’s like working out in a gym, but for your mental well-being! As Mental Health Awareness month wraps up, I want to remind you to be aware of your mental health and pay attention to your state of mind. Indeed, we all deserve a healthy inner well-being to face the world outside. Also - remember to be kind to your fellow first-timers!

Genetic stutters echo through the brain, but their impact is far from uniform. A surprising resilience in the cerebellum is rewriting our understanding of SCA12's complex pathology. (L-R) Dr Meera Purushottam, Senior Consultant & Shreevidya Parthaje, PhD Scholar, Molecular Genetics Lab, Department of Psychiatry, National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru (NIMHANS) A recent study published in The Cerebellum  by Dr Meera Purushottam’s team at the Molecular Genetics Laboratory, NIMHANS, Bengaluru has unveiled significant regional variations in the molecular pathology of Spinocerebellar ataxia type 12 (SCA12), a debilitating neurological disorder, caused by an expansion of repetitive CAG sequences in the PPP2R2B  gene. Imagine DNA as a long, intricate sentence. In SCA12, a particular word – CAG – is repeated far more often than it should. This "stutter," or expansion, is associated with the disease. But is the length of this stutter consistent throughout the brain? Researchers used DNA obtained from the  post-mortem brain donation of a patient diagnosed with SCA12. The study examined CAG repeat length, gene expression, and DNA methylation patterns across multiple brain regions. What they discovered was a dramatic difference in the stability of these CAG repeats. Some brain cells have longer CAG repeats than others. Surprisingly, the DNA from cerebellum (the brain region primarily responsible for coordination and balance), showed the least degree of CAG expansion and somatic instability. Is this tissue extra resilient? Researchers found that the cerebellum seemed to be employing a sort of molecular defence. They observed decreased PPP2R2B  gene expression and increased DNA methylation within this region. Interestingly, the cerebellum also exhibited high expression of genes involved in DNA maintenance and repair pathways. This implies enhanced mechanisms within the cerebellum, to perhaps prevent slippage and restrict CAG expansion errors. The study also examined the expression of genes involved in cell cycle regulation and found altered expression patterns. These disruptions may contribute to the hallmark neuronal loss and cell death seen in neurodegenerative diseases.  This study highlights a complex interplay between CAG repeat instability, gene expression and cellular processes in SCA12, indicating the importance of studying regional differences in molecular pathology. Future research can focus on drugs that enhance DNA repair or promote repeat stability. While SCA12 remains a challenging condition, these findings offer new hope and a deeper understanding of the brain's hidden battle against this devastating disorder. Access the full publication here: CAG Repeat Instability and Region-Specific Gene Expression Changes in the SCA12 Brain

A cookbook, a photocopy of a recipe from the book and a tad bit of scribbling, highlighting and overwriting on this recipe. Ring a bell? All this could be akin to the workings of the holy grail of life aka DNA (DeoxyriboNucleic Acid). The code for human evolution and physiology, DNA has been ‘encoded’ by eons of evolution, and has to be decoded by each cell in the body. When a chef gets an order, let’s say pasta, he refers to the cookbook (DNA). But, for ease of use, rather than carrying around the whole book around the kitchen all the time, the chef transcribes only the pasta recipe to a piece of paper (RNA - RiboNucleic Acid). But according to the customer’s demand, for someone with a liking to the spicy edge (the environment), the chef adds a little seasoning or some extra sauce to make it spicy. Voila! The spicy pasta (protein), to please the customer, is ready ! A biologist from Indiana University, James Watson, and a physicist, at the Cavendish Lab in Cambridge, Francis Crick were working on the structure of DNA with the aid of research findings of Rosalind Franklin and Maurice Wilkins. On Saturday, February 28, 1953 it is reported that Crick came into the Eagle, a Cambridge pub, and announced to everyone there that they had ‘found the secret of life’. In 1953 they proposed the double helix model of DNA . In April of 1953 the Watson and Crick paper appeared in the journal Nature. April 25th 2003 was declared as DNA Day to celebrate the completion of the human genome project and the 50th anniversary of the description of DNA. People have always known that many illnesses (and traits such as physical appearance and even behaviour)  ‘run in the family’, and psychiatric illnesses are no exception. Our DNA is like a long diary of human history, passed down from one generation to another, containing many fascinating stories of all our ancestors, with each new generation adding its bit. Scientists uncover these stories by making sense of small differences in our DNA. Studying human DNA and genetics help scientists better understand where humans came from as a species, and also understand the genetic basis of diseases, to list a few. While many genetic disorders are not treatable, by the methods available at present, early diagnosis helps improve the quality of life, and even extend it. Genetic studies locating thousands of new genes related to different psychiatric illnesses such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, movement disorders etc. gives scientists new avenues to look for novel medications and other treatments. Dadaji: So what are you doing in the lab, Genie beta? Dr. Genevago: These days I am helping with a research article on genetic variants in mental illness. Dadaji: Oho… can you tell me what that means in English? Dr. Genevago: Haha, sorry Dadaji! So, it’s like this: all cells in our bodies have DNA. Any time that cells divide, all of the DNA needs to be copied, to be divided equally among newly created cells. As it happens, Nature is not a perfectionist when it comes to copying DNA, so changes get made. This is what I meant by ‘variants’. Most of these are harmless and we never even know they are there. But some of them can spell trouble! How exactly some of these variants relate to mental illnesses is what I am studying in the lab. Dadaji: So what have you learnt so far? Dr. Genevago: We are trying to piece together how these changes in the DNA link to one or the other kind of mental illnesses! Dadaji: Sounds challenging! Dr. Genevago: Very! It’s like a million-piece jigsaw! We started with genes where we found variants, the bad ones, in people with mental illness. We found  28 such genes. Of these 7 are entirely new, meaning no one ever knew that these are connected to mental illness! Dadaji: That sounds exciting! So where does that lead you? Dr. Genevago: Well, now we have new leads to follow. We first checked what the proteins (that these 28 genes code for) do and if there are any functions in common among them. Some of these proteins do seem to be working together, in what’s known as a ‘pathway’. Next is to do experiments to see how these variants in DNA might change the functions of the proteins and/or pathways. Dadaji: And how do you go from that to a mental illness? Dr. Genevago: That’s the million dollar question! We use a very popular technology called ‘disease in a dish’, where we take blood cells from patients with different kinds of mental illnesses and turn them into stem cells. These in turn are used in a lab to study how the brain develops and works. We can study many processes and  pathways, or even compare them with cells of others who do not have  illness! That could  tell us about what’s different  in brain cells of patients with psychiatric disease – something that we would never otherwise know. Read More: Exome hits demystified: The next frontier Dadaji: Let me just sanitise my hands beta, wait a minute. Dr. Genevago: What? That’s literally the 100th time you are sanitising your hands today! Dadaji: I was wondering if I have that illness called OCD. You watch that show right, The Big Bang Theory? I remember seeing a character named Sheldon behaving the same way. Even I like colour coding stuff and having a strict bathroom schedule, just like him! And we even know how strict many families are about maintaining cleanliness! Dr. Genevago: You mean Obsessive Compulsive Disorder? Oh, don’t worry Dadaji, I’m pretty sure you don’t have it. Organising your stuff or meticulously planning anything doesn’t necessarily mean you have that OCD; it just means you are an organised person! People with OCD have thoughts that become impossible to control, and they are forced to do things over and over again, like a mechanical clockwork toy. They have no control over this, and that makes them very anxious! But you seem to be quite relaxed about your organising skills! Dadaji: So, is this just stubborn behaviour or ..? Dr. Genevago: No, no! Research actually suggests that OCD sufferers’ brains are wired to behave in a particular fashion. In fact, in our lab we recently found out that cells from patients with OCD show reduced capacity to divide and form new cells! This may be because of some sort of damage to the DNA, or some sort of visible changes in the brain cells affecting their function. Maybe one day this could answer the question of how OCD is caused! Of course, it also opens the door to another mystery. If every cell in the body bears a trace of the mental illness that a person has, how subtle and gossamer-like this would be, so that even a slight change traps the person in a web of illness. Read More: Cell cycle abnormality is a cellular phenotype in OCD Dadaji: You seem to be working a lot these days, beta. Don’t you get stressed? Dr. Genevago: I like the work I do, and I know when I need to take a break so that I can relax! But that reminds me, the impact of stress in children is another topic of research in our lab. Dadaji: Oh, but how can you possibly pinpoint what effect something intangible, like stress, can have on the DNA? Dr. Genevago: DNA doesn’t always work on its own to bring about changes within our body. It is like the notes of music; these two are fixed but every musician plays them a bit differently. And a single false note by anyone in the orchestra spoils the whole symphony! Similarly, each person’s DNA ‘expresses’ itself differently, and as harmoniously as it can,  depending on the environment (physical, social and psychological). The environment thus plays a very important role in controlling the DNA, and helping or harming the workings of our body. Children from different parts of our country face different kinds of stress,  and these could have consequences far  into the future. This is known as epigenetics and this is what we try to understand in our lab! Read More: Influence of early adversity on cortisol reactivity, SLC6A4 methylation and externalizing behavior in children of alcoholics Consortium on Vulnerability to Externalizing Disorders and Addictions (cVEDA): A developmental cohort study protocol Devdas singing off key after returning with a new refill: “Hey, sheeshe se sheesha takraaye, jo bhi ho anjaam.. chalak chalak! Dost: Bhai, take it easy! You have been drinking too much! Devdas: Just let me be. Haven’t you seen what every thwarted hero does? Start the music, we need to dance! That’s all I can do right now.. Dost: Ok, if you insist! Try dancing to this - Music plays…..Devdas tries to stand up but staggers and falls in a heap Devdas: What just happened? My feet are not listening to me anymore! Dost: Right now it’s just your brain; if you go on like this your liver is gone too! Devdas: Yeah, but I will stop one day. It will all go away and pass like a bad dream…. Dost: No my friend, it doesn’t work that way. Not if you keep up the levels of drinking you are at. My friends who have been researching this very thing tell me that their work has shown that drinking too much, for too long,  leaves a lasting bad mark on the DNA, the stuff of life! The blueprint that tells our cells what to do. This same DNA is there in your brain cells and your liver cells. Believe me , things may  never be the same again!. These  marks are not stains that can be washed away. They are here to stay. For a while. So listen up! Read More: Changes in DNA methylation persist over time in males with severe alcohol use disorder—A longitudinal follow-up study Genetics and Epigenetics of Aldehyde Dehydrogenase (ALDH2) in Alcohol Related Liver Disease We hope you have learnt something new and interesting this ‘World DNA Day’ about the workings of the human brain. If you found our work interesting, we welcome you to explore our website or visit our lab to learn more! Creators: Meghana J, Anushka Banerjee, Aarathi Rajesh, Shatabdi Pal, Reeteka Sud, Meera Purushottam, Sanjeev Jain