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Research Technician shilpaofficial.mondal@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Lab Team Shilpa Mondal Research Technician CBM

Senior Scientific Officer, Department of Psychiatry meera.purushottam@gmail.com ResearchGate | Back Back to People Page Back Investigator Team Molecular Genetics Dr Meera Purushottam Senior Scientific Officer, Department of Psychiatry CBM, MGL Dr Meera Purushottam is senior geneticist at the Molecular Genetics Laboratory at NIMHANS where the focus has been the genetic basis and correlates of psychiatric and neurological diseases. The laboratory is the testing ground for many clinicians who base their post graduate and doctoral thesis dissertations on wet lab experiments carried out under her supervision. Her work has focused on trying to understand the influence of gene variants on disease presentation and response to drugs. Cells derived from patients have been used to unravel disease mechanisms better, while whole exome studies have helped to identify rare risk variants in severe mental illness in patients. She is in charge of genetic testing for early onset neuromuscular and late onset movement disorders. She is interested in understanding the biological implications of genetic variants at the level of the patient, the tissue and the cell. The effect of the environment on the DNA methylome is an area of specific interest. 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

Office Administrator aocbm.nimhans@gmail.com LinkedIn Back Back to People Page Back Admin Team Mesha P S Office Administrator CBM Mesha is an Office Administrator at the Centre for Brain and Mind with a Bachelor Degree with 2.5 years of experience managing administrative tasks. She is skilled in managing multiple projects simultaneously, ensuring timely completion of tasks and maintaining accurate records.

Laboratory Manager vignesh.cbm26@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Lab Team Vignesh P Laboratory Manager CBM Vignesh is a Laboratory Manager at the Centre for Brain and Mind, NIMHANS. With a masters degree in Medical Biochemistry and over five years of experience in healthcare operations and laboratory management, Vignesh has worked extensively in coordinating clinical and research laboratory services. His interests lie in strengthening quality systems and supporting interdisciplinary research. Outside of work, Vignesh enjoys reading fiction, playing football, poetry and sketching

Research Technician soumyaharapanahlli26@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Lab Team Soumya Sathish Harapanahalli Research Technician CBM

Professor, Department of Psychiatry LinkedIn | Google Scholar Back Back to People Page Back Investigator Team Addiction Dr Vivek Benegal Professor, Department of Psychiatry Dr Vivek Benegal works in addiction medicine and the genetics of psychiatric disorders. He is interested in developmental behaviour, especially drug abuse and high risk behaviour in street and working children. He is also interested in child development issues and the use of developmentally appropriate aids for children's education and recreation. He conducts drug abuse awareness programmes and life skills training for children in schools and colleges. He has developed a drug awareness module in comic book form. He is involved in the epidemiological assessment of and intervention in drug use and high risk sexual behaviour among street and working children. He has a diploma in communications in film and theatre, and has experience in theatre and documentary cinema. He has made three films, and educational slide shows, and he is interested in theatre and cinema for children. Publications Basu, A., Jayashankar, P., Guin, A., Sarkar, S., Saha, P. K., Misra, R., Sinha, D., Neogi, R., Saha, S., Benegal, V ., Rao, G. N., Varghese, M., & Gururaj, G. (2024). Magnitude, Extent, and Burden of Substance-use Disorders in West Bengal: Findings from the National Mental Health Survey (NMHS), 2016. Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine , 46 (6), 558–563. https://doi.org/10.1177/02537176241265079 Goyal, S., Sudhir, P. M., Mehta, U. M., Prathyusha, P. V., Kumar, K., & Benegal, V. (2025). Adult ADHD presentations in an Indian tertiary care setting: Gender perspectives. Asian Journal of Psychiatry , 106 , 104419. Jaisoorya, T. S., Rao, G. N., Reed, G. M., Binu, V. S., Thennarasu, K., Stein, D. J., Maré, K. T., Lochner, C., García-Pacheco, J. A., & Benegal, V. (2025). Examining the Psychometric Properties of the Flexible Interview for ICD-11 (FLII-11) among Adults in India. Journal of Psychiatric Research . https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022395625001785 Kundu, P., Dey, S., Krishnan, A., Ghosh, S., Rao, G. N., Benegal, V. , Varghese, M., & Gururaj, G. (2025). Association between exposure to fine particulate matter from different emission sources and mental health outcomes in India . Copernicus Meetings. https://meetingorganizer.copernicus.org/EGU25/EGU25-687.html Shivaprakash, P., Shukla, L., Joshi, S., Mahadevan, J., Kandasamy, A., Chand, P. K., Benegal, V. , & Murthy, P. (2025). Tapentadol as a drug of abuse–A preliminary report. Indian Journal of Psychiatry , 67 (2), 256–259.

Senior Professor & Department of Psychiatry Google Scholar Back Back to People Page Back Co-Investigator Team Dr Prabha S Chandra Senior Professor & Department of Psychiatry Dr. Prabha S. Chandra, is a Professor and Head of Psychiatry at NIMHANS, Bangalore, India. She studied at the Lady Hardinge Medical College, New Delhi and NIMHANS. She has served as a Temporary Advisor to the WHO and UNAIDS and is the Secretary of the International Association of Women’s Mental Health, a nominated member of the World Psychiatric Association and an executive member of the Marce International society. She has been an NHS International Fellow and Consultant in Manchester, UK and a visiting professor at the University of Liverpool. Her main areas of interest are Women's Mental Health, Perinatal Psychiatry, teaching methods, ethics and palliative care. She has nearly 180 publications and has edited several books. She has three active research grants and has won several recognitions and awards. She has started the first dedicated psychiatry service including a Mother Baby unit in South Asia for mothers with severe mental illness.

Attender ranjithamaniranjithamani812@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Support Team Ranjitha M Attender CBM

Professor, Department of Psychiatry Google Scholar Back Back to People Page Back Investigator Team Schizophrenia Dr Venkatasubramanian G Professor, Department of Psychiatry Dr. Venkatasubramanian Ganesan (Venkat) is a Professor of Psychiatry & Consultant Psychiatrist at Schizophrenia Clinic & The Metabolic Clinic in Psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health & Neurosciences (NIMHANS), Bangalore. He co-ordinates the InSTAR Program for Schizophrenia (www.instar-program.org ) as well as the WISER Neuromodulation Program (www.wiser-program.org ) at NIMHANS. His areas of research interest include: Clinical Neurobiology & Metabolic Abnormalities in Schizophrenia, Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (tDCS) in Psychiatry, and Brain Imaging in Psychiatry. He heads the Translational Psychiatry Laboratory at the Neurobiology Research Centre, NIMHANS Atmaram, S. K., Pathak, H., Manohar, H., Sreeraj, V. S., Venkatasubramanian, G. , & Kommu, J. V. S. (2025). Localizing dorsolateral prefrontal cortex for noninvasive brain stimulation in adolescents: A comparison between BeamF3 and 10–20 EEG systems: A cross-sectional study. Indian Journal of Psychiatry , 67 (3), 346–349. https://doi.org/10.4103/indianjpsychiatry.indianjpsychiatry_972_24 Elachola, M. A., Pathak, H., Bagali, K., Suhas, S., Sreeraj, V. S., & Venkatasubramanian, G. (2025). Exploring the factors and outcomes of clozapine discontinuation in India: A retrospective analysis. Asian Journal of Psychiatry , 106 , 104424. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2025.104424 Parlikar, R., Boopathy, P., Pathak, H., Damodaran, D., Selvaraj, S., Chhabra, H., Nayok, S. B., Thimmashetty, V. H., Bose, A., Agarwal, S. M., Shivakumar, V., Sreeraj, V. S., Narayanaswamy, J. C., & Venkatasubramanian, G. (2025). Boosting and maintaining the response to transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) in schizophrenia with persistent hallucinations: A retrospective exploratory study from a naturalistic clinical cohort. Asian Journal of Psychiatry , 107 , 104457. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajp.2025.104457 Samantaray, S., Goyal, N., Kesavan, M., Venkatasubramanian, G. , Bose, A., Shreekantiah, U., Sreeraj, V. S., Das, M., Raj, J., & Kumar, S. (2025). Impact of EEG Reference Schemes on Event-Related Potential Outcomes: A Corollary Discharge Study Using a Talk/Listen Paradigm. Brain Topography , 38 (2), 30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10548-025-01103-4 Spurthi Thatikonda, N., Narayanaswamy, J. C., Venkatasubramanian, G. , Reddy, Y. C. J., & Sundar Arumugham, S. (2025). Differential Functional Connectivity of Frontolimbic Circuit During Symptom Provocation in Distinct Symptom Profiles of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Connectivité fonctionnelle différentielle du circuit frontolimbique durant la provocation de symptômes dans des profils symptomatiques distincts du trouble obsessionnel-compulsif. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry , 07067437251328368. https://doi.org/10.1177/07067437251328368

Project Associate dineshbabuparamasivam@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Clinical Team Dineshbabu P Project Associate CBM, A-BIG-NET Psychiatric Social Worker at the Centre for Brain and Mind (CBM), with extensive experience in clinical psychosocial assessments and longitudinal mental health research. I work closely with diverse clinical populations across disorders such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, addiction, and OCD, with a focus on understanding psychosocial factors, illness trajectories, and functional outcomes over time. My role integrates clinical practice and research within a multidisciplinary setting, providing a rich and continuous learning experience.

Professor, Department of Biostatistics binukumarb@gmail.com Google Scholar Back Back to People Page Back Co-Investigator Team Dr B Binu Kumar Professor, Department of Biostatistics

MRI Technician sridharank052003@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back MRI/EEG Team Sridharan K MRI Technician I am working as an MRI Technician at the Centre for Brain and Mind. I graduated with a B.Sc. in Radiology and Imaging Technology from Government Chengalpattu Medical College under Dr MGR Medical University, Chennai. Previously, I worked as a quality assessor at 5C Network, Bengaluru.