Professor, Department of Psychiatry LinkedIn | Google Scholar jagatth@yahoo.com , jaga@nimhans.ac.in Back Back to People Page Back Co-Investigator Team Schizophrenia Dr Jagadisha Thirthalli Professor, Department of Psychiatry Dr. Jagadisha Thirthalli is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry at NIMHANS (Faculty since 2002). He has 20 years of research and practical experience in ECT and other brain stimulation techniques. He’s had several awards including Marfatia Award of the Indian Psychiatric Society and CV Raman Award from Government of Karnataka and has publications in Brain Stimulation, Schizophrenia Research, Journal of ECT, Journal of Affective Disorders amongst others.

Genetics and Stem Cell Group Endophenotype Group Clinical Group Psychiatric disorders commonly emerge in young adulthood and significantly impact career choices and lifespan. Early onset of symptoms, usually before age 24, underscores the need for comprehensive support and intervention. The absence of a clear link between genes and observable traits makes treatment plans more complex. The neuropsychiatric disorders we study often have origins in early development, necessitating a shift towards understanding developmental trajectories. Dr Y C Janardhan Reddy Lead Investigator, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Cohort Dr. Vivek Benegal Lead Investigator, Addiction Cohort Dr Biju Viswanath Lead Investigator, Bipolar Disorder Cohort Dr. PT Sivakumar Co-Investigator, Dementia Cohort Dr. Vijay Kumar K.G. Co-Investigator, Schizophrenia Cohort Dr Jayant Mahadevan Co-Investigator, Addiction Cohort Dr. Preethi V. Reddy Co-Investigator, Bipolar Disorder Cohort Dr. Lekhansh Shukla Co-Investigator, Addiction Cohort Dr. Srinivas Balachander Co-Investigator, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Cohort Dr Suhas Satish Co-Investigator, Schizophrenia Cohort Dr. Vijaykumar S Harbishettar Co-Investigator, Dementia Cohort Affiliated Labs & Centres Department of Psychiatry, NIMHANS Schizophrenia & Metabolic Clinic Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder Clinic Centre for Addiction Medicine (CAM) Geriatric Clinic Featured Publications Nayok, S.B. et al. (2025) “Gaze fixation stability is a transdiagnostic marker of major psychiatric disorders: A high-density family-based study.” medRxiv, p. 2025.06.23.25330103. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.06.23.25330103 . Durbagula, S. et al. (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), p. e101606. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1136/gpsych-2024-101606 . Muthukumaran, M. et al. (2024) “Shared deficits of education, marital and occupational functioning in unaffected siblings of multiple affected families with major psychiatric illness,” Asian Journal of Psychiatry, 101, p. 104216. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2024.104216 . Lakkireddy SP, Balachander S, Dayalamurthy P, et al. Neurocognition and its association with adverse childhood experiences and familial risk of mental illness. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2022;119:110620. doi:10.1016/j.pnpbp.2022.110620 Vinod, P. et al. (2024) “Does Apolipoprotein E polymorphism play a role in familial Alzheimer’s Dementia,” Alzheimer’s & Dementia, 20(S1), p. e087257. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/alz.087257 .

Project Scientist (Lab) LinkedIn imtiaz.stem@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Lab Team Stem Cell Research Dr Imtiaz Zafar Project Scientist (Lab) Imtiaz is a Project Scientist at the Centre for Brain and Mind with a doctoral degree in Neuroscience and Pluripotent Stem Cells from NCBS-TIFR, Bangalore and postdoctoral training from Regenerative Medicine Institute, Cedars Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles, USA. At CBM, he is investigating the effect of Clozapine treatment on NSC and IPSC/ NSC derived cortical neurons. In his spare time he likes watching movies and sports and listening to music.

Adminstrative Officer Instagram ao.cbmnimhans@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Admin Team Shatabdi Pal Adminstrative Officer Shatabdi is an Administrative Officer at the Centre for Brain and Mind. With a master's degree in commerce, specializing in accounts, she has over 8 years of dedicated experience in the fields of administration and accounts. Her primary responsibility involves providing vital administrative support to the scientific team, ensuring the seamless operation of the centre's activities. Outside the realm of numbers and paperwork, Shatabdi indulges her creative side as an illustrator during her spare time.

Psychiatric Social Worker shamashareen06nov@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Clinical Team Shama Shareen R Psychiatric Social Worker Ms.Shama Shareen R is a Psychiatric Social Worker at the Centre for Brain and Mind who had completed her M.Phil in Psychiatric Social Work from NIMHANS, Bangalore. Her Areas of Interest are Promotive and Preventive Interventions in Mental Health, Severe Mental Illness and Homeless Persons with Mental Illness.Performance Arts, Cooking, Organising are her other interests.

Project Associate manasadeepika97@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Lab Team Manasadeepika Project Associate I am a project associate at CBM NIMHANS, and am passionate about neuroscience research. I'm currently trying to understand how bionergetics contributes to the machanism of action of lithium in bipolar disorder. Beyond the lab, I find joy in capturing moments through portraits and paintings, letting creativity flow onto canvas. Dancing is my escape, where movement becomes an expression of inner rhythms.

Senior Scientific Officer, Department of Psychiatry ResearchGate meera.purushottam@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Investigator Team Molecular Genetics Dr Meera Purushottam Senior Scientific Officer, Department of Psychiatry Dr Meera is Senior Scientific Officer in the Molecular genetics Laboratory where she leads projects on molecular genetics of neuropsychiatric illness. She has a special interest in the role of epigenetics in mental health particularly alcohol addiction. She has also initiated genetic testing of patient samples for several neurological disorders such as spinocerebellar ataxia, Huntington’s disease, spinal muscular atrophy and Duchenne muscular dystrophy . 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 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 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

Scientific Development & Communication Officer Instagram | Twitter | LinkedIn ORCID ID: 0000-0001-5616-8003 banerjeee.anushka@gmail.com cbm.nimhans@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Communication Team Anushka Banerjee Scientific Development & Communication Officer Anushka leads science communication efforts at the Centre for Brain and Mind. With a Masters degree in Molecular Medicine, Anushka has experience in research, science communication and public outreach. She enjoys photography, watching Hindi films and exploring restaurants in her spare time.

Professor, Department of Psychiatry Google Scholar Back Back to People Page Back Co-Investigator Team Dr Muralidharan Kesavan Professor, Department of Psychiatry

Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatric Social Work anishvcherian@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Co-Investigator Team Dr Anish V. Cherian Additional Professor, Department of Psychiatric Social Work

Professor, Department of Psychiatry Google Scholar a.shyamsundar@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Co-Investigator Team Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Dr Shyam Sundar Professor, Department of Psychiatry Dr. Shyam Sundar A is an Associate Professor in psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neuro Sciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore, India. He completed his MBBS from Coimbatore Medical College, Tamil Nadu in 2002 and his postgraduate training in psychiatry at All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in 2006. He worked in AIIMS, New Delhi and Christian Medical College, Vellore before joining NIMHANS as a faculty in the department of psychiatry in 2011. He has been part of the obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) clinic since then. His areas of interest include obsessive-compulsive disorder, bipolar disorder, repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). He was involved in a research project on the use of rTMS for OCD. He has published in many national and international scientific journals and authored various book chapters on psychiatry. He recently completed a fellowship in bipolar disorders from the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada.

Clinical Psychologist (Research) L inkedIn | Google Scholar iamchandrakanta@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Clinical Team Chandrakanta S Hiremath Clinical Psychologist (Research) Chandrakanta is a Clinical Psychologist (Research) at the Centre for Brain and Mind. She has more than five years of research experience. She has publications in renowned journals such as Nature and Journal of Translational Medicine. She watches theatre plays and does painting.