Research Interests:

• Basal ganglia
• Electrophysiology
• Reward and related signaling pathways
• Synaptic plasticity
• Reward pathways
• Neurodevelopmental disorders

My research focuses on how molecular and cellular perturbations shaped by genetic, hormonal, and environmental factors translate into circuit-level dysfunction that increases vulnerability to neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases. I was trained in medicinal chemistry and neuropharmacology, where I developed and functionally validated subtype-selective NMDA receptor ligands using patch-clamp electrophysiology. This work sparked a sustained interest in how molecular and cellular perturbations scale to dysfunction at the circuit level. To expand my expertise in neural circuit mechanisms, I pursued postdoctoral training in ex vivo electrophysiology and synaptic physiology, focusing on sex-dependent changes in neuronal excitability in disease-relevant circuits. My work has defined sex-specific alterations in ion channel function in hypothalamic neurons and synaptic transmission in the dorsal striatum, linking cellular physiology to behaviorally relevant circuit output. I am currently working as an assistant research scientist studying estradiol modulation of striatal circuits and plasticity, with a focus on reward-related behaviors and increased susceptibility to neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Publications: https://loop.frontiersin.org/people/3413444/publications 

Professional Experience: 

Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Honors & Awards

• American Epilepsy Society (AES) Fellow, 2023
• AES Travel Grant 2023
• PhD scholarship by DAAD-STIBET degree completion grants, University of Muenster, Germany
• CiM-International Max Planck Graduate School Scholarship, University of Muenster, Germany
• NIPER Fellowship, Government of India

Society Memberships

• Society for Neuroscience
• American Epilepsy Society 

Joined the College of Engineering: 2024