Seetha Sreekumar

Seetha Sreekumar

Y11-J-68

My name is Seetha Sreekumar and I was born in India. I earned my Bachelor’s and

Master’s degrees in Biotechnology from Amrita University, India. For my Master’s

thesis, I investigated the role of the flagellar regulatory gene FleN in growth, motility

and biofilm formation in Pseudomonas aeruginosa.

After my Master’s, I spent a considerable amount of time working at the Centre for

Brain and Mind, National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India. There, I

used human induced pluripotent stem cells (hiPSCs) to study the biology of

neuropsychiatric disorders. My work involved generating hiPSCs, creating organelle

reporters within them and performing gene editing. I also conducted drug toxicity

studies on hiPSC-derived cortical neurons, cardiomyocytes and hepatocytes. My

research interest focuses on using hiPSCs and brain organoids to explore

neurodevelopment, particularly cell fate decisions during development.

In my free time, I enjoy gardening, watching films and performing Indian classical

dance, Kathak.