MRI Technician LinkedIn Francispk1999@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back MRI/EEG Team Francis PK MRI Technician Francis is a MRI technician at Centre for Brain and Mind. With a PG Diploma in MRI Technology , Francis has experience in clinical MRI and other modalities. He enjoys photography and is into music and play's bass guitar/percussion and does vocals for various bands in Bangalore.

MRI Technician ganeshgv7007@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back MRI/EEG Team Ganesh G V MRI Technician Ganesh is a Laboratory Technician in Centre for Brain and Mind Project. With a Masters degree in Virology, Ganesh has working experience in molecular biology research, and clinical laboratory. He enjoys photography, watching movies and Gardening in his spare time

Clinician Scientist (Equivalent to Assistant Professor, Psychiatry) ORCID ID: 0000-0002-3173-4248 swarnabuddha_nayok@yahoo.co.in Back Back to People Page Back Clinical Team Dr Swarna Buddha Nayok Clinician Scientist (Equivalent to Assistant Professor, Psychiatry) Swarna Buddha Nayok has completed DPM & MD in Psychiatry, and done Ph.D. in Clinical Neuroscience (submitted). He works at the Centre for Brain and Mind as a Clinician Scientist. His fields of interest are severe mental illness, media & psychiatry

Lab Technician vaishnavi.ravi19@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Lab Team Niveditha R Lab Technician Niveditha is a lab technician at the Centre for Brain and Mind. With a Degree in Medical laboratory technology. Niveditha has experience working in Microbiology especially in Virology with hands on experience in ELISA, PCR. She enjoys photography, trekking, exploring new places, food and dance.

Project Scientist (Lab) LinkedIn k.kathirvel93@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Lab Team Bioinformatics Dr Kathirvel K Project Scientist (Lab) Kathirvel Kandasamy, is a Project Scientist in Neurobiology Research Centre at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences. He graduated from Bharathidasan University with Master of Technology in Bioinformatics and then earned his Ph.D. in 2023 from SASTRA University, studying microbial keratitis with advanced NGS techniques. His research interest integrates Neurobiology, Human genetics and Bioinformatics to study Neurodevelopmental disorders. GitHub: Haplotype-aware-variant-calling-from-long-read-sequence

Senior Professor Dpt. Of Psychiatry Google Scholar Back Back to People Page Back Co-Investigator Team Molecular Genetics Dr Sanjeev Jain Senior Professor Dpt. Of Psychiatry Sanjeev Jain is a clinician and a teacher, and researches the genetic correlates of psychiatric and neurological disease. He studied medicine at the Delhi University (Maulana Azad Medical College); and did his post-graduate studies at the NIMHANS. He has been a Commonwealth Fellow at Cambridge (UK), and the co-Director of a NIH-Fogarty training and mentorship program. He has provided the lead for, and participated in, several population and cohort studies, and also provides genetic testing for several neuro-degenerative disorders, as well as counseling services for these families. This work includes the genetics of schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, Alzheimer’s disease and Huntington’s disease, as well as addiction and OCD. Over the past few years, discussions and collaboration with other colleagues at NIMHANS, the NCBS and inSTEM, have extended the research from the clinic, to the bench, using both clinical assessments (including MRI, EEG etc.) as well as tools of cellular and molecular biology, including WES, iPSC and neuronal cell lines from individuals diagnosed to have psychiatric illnesses, and their affected and unaffected relatives. He has been a member of the committee for drafting the Mental Health Policy document for India; and is also an Adjunct Faculty at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (TIFR), Bangalore. His other interests include the history of mental health services in India, from the colonial to the contemporary period. This work has helped understand the interface between science and medicine, and social responses to mental illness in India. The work has been supported by various funding agencies in India (DBT, ICMR, DST and the CSIR), as also the Wellcome Trust, NIH (Fogarty) and the MRC-ICMR. Gopikumar, V., Narasimhan, L., Easwaran, D., Srinivas, A., R, K., Moideen, P., Sivayokan, S., Rohatgi, P., Padmakar, A., Rajesh, V., Ravi, M., Krishnadas, P., Margaret, A., Hamlai, M., Sharma, C., Joseph, S., Venkateswaran, C., Ck, K., Sn, S., … Ravikanth, L. (2025). From institutions to homes: Evaluation of a housing with supportive services intervention for people with psychosocial disabilities with histories of homelessness. SSM - Mental Health , 7 , 100424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssmmh.2025.100424 Parthaje, S., Janardhanan, M., Paul, P., Karunakaran, K. B., Deb, A. P., Shankarappa, B., Pal, P. K., Mahadevan, A., Jain, S ., Viswanath, B., & Purushottam, M. (2025). CAG Repeat Instability and Region-Specific Gene Expression Changes in the SCA12 Brain. The Cerebellum , 24 (3), 60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12311-025-01808-z Ratna, N., Venkatesh, S. D., Pasupulati, S., Murari, G., Kamble, N., Viswanath, B., Yadav, R., Varghese, M., Pal, P. K., Jain, S. , & Purushottam, M. (2025). Allelic Diversity, de novo CAG Expansions, and Intergenerational Instability at the HTT Locus in a clinical sample of Huntington’s Disease from India . https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.03.03.21260193 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 Vinod, P., Sen, S., Jayasankar, P., Janardhanan, M., Paul, P., Viswanath, B., Jain, S ., Harbishettar, V., Sivakumar, P. T., & Purushottam, M. (2024). Does Apolipoprotein E polymorphism play a role in familial Alzheimer’s Dementia. Alzheimer’s & Dementia , 20 (S1), e087257. https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.087257

Clinical Post Doctoral Fellow (Equivalent to Senior Resident, Psychiatry) ORCID ID: 0009-0005-1300-2317 chidatma.a@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Clinical Team Dr Chidatma A Clinical Post Doctoral Fellow (Equivalent to Senior Resident, Psychiatry) Dr. Chidatma A is a Clinical Postdoctoral Fellow at the Centre for Brain and Mind with an MD from Karnataka Medical College and Research Institute, ranked 4th at RGUHS. He has a strong background in community mental health, psychiatric training, and research. His work includes international presentations and published research, with a focus on neurobiology, schizophrenia, and psychopathology. Dr. Chidatma is passionate about advancing mental health care through clinical expertise and multidisciplinary collaboration.

Attender nshanshak598@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Support Team Shashank N Attender

Psychiatric Social Worker (Research) LinkedIn ORCID ID: 0000-0001-8708-7505 alagarsami.ar23@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Clinical Team Alagarsami A R Psychiatric Social Worker (Research) Alagarsami A.R is a Psychiatric Social Worker at the Centre for Brain and Mind. With a M.Phil degree in Psychiatric Social Work, Alagarsami have experienced in clinical research and psychotherapy.

Clinical Post Doctoral Fellow (Equivalent to Senior Resident, Psychiatry) ORCID ID: 0000-0001-7907-523X pratibha.vinod9422@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Clinical Team Dr Pratibha Vinod Clinical Post Doctoral Fellow (Equivalent to Senior Resident, Psychiatry) Pratibha has an MD in Psychiatry from NIMHANS. She loves to see patterns in everyday be it people, nature or things, and loves science for this reason. She loves to study people and their idiosyncrasies. In her spare time she sings and reads fiction.

Assistant Professor, DST INSPIRE Faculty Fellow, Department of Psychiatry Google Scholar ashithasnm09@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Co-Investigator Team, Lab Team Dr Ashitha S N M Assistant Professor, DST INSPIRE Faculty Fellow, Department of Psychiatry Dr Ashita S N M is an assistant professor at the INSPIRE facility at National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences at Bangalore, India. Her research focuses on psychiatry genetics, neuroimmunology and neuroimmune dynamics of Autism Spectrum Disorder. She is a recipient of an MQ Fellows Award . Agarwal, A., Praveen, A. P., Singhai, K., Ashitha, S. N. M ., Purushottam, M., Jain, S., & Moirangthem, S. (2024). A rare case of Niemann Pick Disease with a novel variant in the NPC2 gene presenting with neuropsychiatric manifestations in middle age. Asian Journal of Psychiatry , 97 , 104089. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104089 Durbagula, S., Parambath, S. V., Siddappa Niranjana Murthy, A ., Rameshraju K, M., Ghati Kasturirangan, C., Udupi, G. A., Ramachandra, N. B., Huligerepura Sosalegowda, A., Raman, V., Korlimarla, A., & Gowda, N. K. C. (2024). Genetic insights into male autism spectrum disorder in a small cohort of Indian simplex families: Findings from whole exome sequencing. General Psychiatry , 37 (6), e101606. https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2024-101606 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 Snijesh, V. P., Krishnamurthy, S., Bhardwaj, V., Punya, K. M., Niranjana Murthy, A. S. , Almutadares, M., Habhab, W. T., Nasser, K. K., Banaganapalli, B., Shaik, N. A., & Albaqami, W. F. (2024). SHH Signaling as a Key Player in Endometrial Cancer: Unveiling the Correlation with Good Prognosis, Low Proliferation, and Anti-Tumor Immune Milieu. International Journal of Molecular Sciences , 25 (19), 10443. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms251910443 Srividhya, D., Snijesh, V., Ashitha, S. , Korlimarla, A., & Gowda, N. K. (2024). T53. TEMPORAL DYNAMICS AND MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF AUTISM RISK GENES IDENTIFIED IN THE INDIAN POPULATION: PRENATAL AND POSTNATAL INSIGHTS. European Neuropsychopharmacology , 87 , 184. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.euroneuro.2024.08.363

Professor and Head, Department of Mental Health Education meenaksiyer@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Co-Investigator Team Dr K S Meena Professor and Head, Department of Mental Health Education