Project Associate preethi1682000@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Lab Team Preethi KP Project Associate Preethi is a Project Associate( Lab) at the Centre for Brain and Mind. With a Master’s degree in Genetics and Plant Breeding and working in Plant- pathogen interactions lab, Preethi has experience in molecular techniques like Cloning, qRT PCR, PAGE, Western blotting etc:- She love to dance, play badminton and enjoys listening to music!

Technician (EEG, Psychophysics) Back Back to People Page Back MRI/EEG Team Bhargavi MH Technician (EEG, Psychophysics)

Clinical Post Doctoral Fellow (Equivalent to Senior Resident, Psychiatry) arushisingh2707@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Clinical Team Dr Arushi Singh Clinical Post Doctoral Fellow (Equivalent to Senior Resident, Psychiatry)

Human Resource Manager ResearchGate Back Back to People Page Back Admin Team Chitra Kadu Human Resource Manager Chitra is a Human Resources Manager at the Centre for Brain and Mind, NIMHANS. She has an M.Phil. in Psychology, a diploma in Alternative Medicines (Yoga and Naturopathy), and has done an advanced course in Clinical Research. With more than a decade of work experience coordinating end-to-end research project activties in the public & mental health domains, her primary responsibility at CBM is manging HR activities of the projects under the guidance of the scientific team. She is passionate about understanding human behaviour and how one can achieve holistic health and live a quality life. She likes to spend her leisure time doing yoga, meditation, and exploring nature.

Back Back to People Page Back Clinical Team Dr Hari Prasad G V

Professor, Department of Psychiatry Google Scholar | Twitter | PubMed bijuv1@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Investigator Team Bipolar Disorder, Molecular Genetics, Stem Cell Research Dr Biju Viswanath Professor, Department of Psychiatry I am a professor of psychiatry at the National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, Bengaluru (NIMHANS) , where my primary area of research includes understanding the molecular basis of etiology and treatment response in neuropsychiatric disorders. My training as a physician specialising in psychiatry and as a basic researcher in human stem cells enables me with a unique skill set to develop and execute translational psychiatry research. I am currently funded to examine genetic and cellular correlates of lithium response in bipolar disorder. I am also a key investigator at the Rohini Nilekani Centre for Brain and Mind at NIMHANS (previously the Accelerator program for Discovery in Brain disorders using Stem cells (ADBS) program funded by the Department of Biotechnology), which aims to build a biorepository of human induced pluripotent stem cells for serious mental illnesses in India. The proposed study is in line with my interests in the genetic basis of bipolar disorder. I have established a network of investigators in India that has the capability to become an important contributor in the field of psychiatric genetics. I am also a DBT/WT India Alliance Intermediate Fellow in the Clinical and Public Health programme Publications Agrawal, A., Bulik, C. M., Abebe, D. S., Andreassen, O. A., Atkinson, E. G., Choi, K., Corvin, A., Davies, H. L., Davis, L., Docherty, A., Edenberg, H. J., Franke, B., Gelernter, J., Giusti-Rodriguez, P., Hettema, J. M., Hjerling-Leffler, J., Huang, H., Johnson, E. C., Lewis, C., … Sullivan, P. (2025). The Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: Discoveries and Directions . https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/xykj2_v2 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 Ritter, P., Glenn, T., Achtyes, E. D., Alda, M., Agaoglu, E., Altınbaş, K., Andreassen, O. A., Angelopoulos, E., Ardau, R., Aydin, M., Ayhan, Y., Baethge, C., Bauer, R., Baune, B. T., Balaban, C., Becerra-Palars, C., Behere, A. P., Behere, P. B., Belete, H., … Bauer, M. (2024). Association between a large change between the minimum and maximum monthly values of solar insolation and a history of suicide attempts in bipolar I disorder. International Journal of Bipolar Disorders , 12 (1), 43. https://doi.org/10.1186/s40345-024-00364-5 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

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

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.

Technical Assistant LinkedIn 05chandana99@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Chandana K M Technical Assistant

Project Associate nishalijesh@gmail.com Back Back to People Page Back Ms Nisha A S Project Associate Nisha works for the Center for Brain and Mind department as a project associate for the GenECT project. She holds a Masters degree in counseling, family therapy, and social work. She also has prior experience working in public outreach, counseling, and community training. In her free time, she likes to read fiction and non-fiction books, travel, and discover new places.

Back Back to People Page Back MRI/EEG Team Sangeetha Sri

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.