Alumni Success Stories

I joined NBRC in 2001 under the supervision of Dr. Shyamala Mani, a young scientist who had re-located from US to work in the areas of neural stem cells and developmental biology.

Being a part of the first batch of PhD students and the first student of my mentor, I literally grew up with NBRC from its foundation days.

Its deeply emotional as to how from a small building at Gurgaon, NBRC expanded into a beautiful campus at Manesar and in short duration became the Centre of Excellence for higher learning under the leadership of the Founding Director-Prof. Vijayalaksmi Ravindranath.

The journey through the early phases was not easy as the research resources were in the process of acquisition but it was the spirit of the students, the staff and maybe the place in itself that took the young institute to be the top coveted institute in India for PhD pursuits.

All of us from NBRC and currently at NBRC still stay connected and united through Ex-NBRCians across the globe platform on Facebook. We share each other's success, research resources and also problems.

Today, I am a Scientist E-1 at the Rajiv Gandhi Centre for Biotechnology, an autonomous institute of the Department of Biotechnology at Trivandrum. I work in the areas of Mechanobiology and Neural Development and I wish my Alma mater the very best for making me who I am today!!!!

I came to know about NBRC from an emeritus professor of Indian Statistical Institute in Kolkata, where I began my research career on brain-image analysis. I never thought that I would switch to experimental neuroscience from pure computations - perhaps destiny dictated my decision. When I joined NBRC as a SRF in 2001 it was functioning from a three-storey building in Gurgaon Sector 15, with only three scientists and a handful of employees and researchers. There we lived like a family and worked like a team. If help sought everyone stood ready without a second thought. I was extremely lucky to get direct mentoring and hands on experience of setting up a human eye-tracking lab, and a non-human primate electrophysiology lab. Every day thence, I prepared myself and learned from my supervisor everything that I needed to know to run a laboratory as an independent investigator.

It was great observing a rapid growth of this institute to an international stature, and having an opportunity to contribute something - no matter how little and insignificant - to that process.

The best part of NBRC is its work-culture. I never experienced any apparent hierarchy there. We had 'twenty four seven' access to labs.

With my experience of working in abroad, I have no hesitation to endorse that the kind of teaching, equipment and other facility NBRC renders to students is only comparable to top research institutes/universities in the world.

I joined NBRC after completing my masters in Medical Biochemistry. For me, NBRC was a great opportunity to get a strong foundation in Neuroscience, at the same time also get a feel of whether this was something that i wanted to pursue further. NBRC provides variety of resources and opportunities for academic growth. This is something you get only in handpicked universities in the country.

I belonged to the second batch of PhD students, and I was lucky to join Prof. Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath's lab, who was also the founding Director of NBRC. She was transformational in my career.

My alma mater gave me the courage and confidence to pursue neuroscience for good and give it my best. If you have an opportunity to join NBRC, I highly recommend it!

National Brain Research Centre (NBRC) is an Institution of National Importance. The NBRC was shaped to invent and nurture creatively, propel and foster exciting areas of research first time in India i.e. Neuroscience for students and for human well being including individual satisfaction, irrespective of present-day constraints. A detailed and well-crafted course work of Masters and PhD Program provides opportunities for graduate students to broaden their perspective beyond their core knowledge and to tackle timely challenges across traditional disciplinary boundaries. NBRC provides the right atmosphere for innovative research for different ranges of disciplines directly linked with Neuroscience with excellent library, online journals accessibility and world-class lab infrastructure facility under clean, safe and green environment. How NBRC changed my life? And let me tell you that when I joined IIT Jodhpur about six years back, I was provided with a vacant room with a table and chair. However, due to my earlier experience at NBRC, I was able to develop my "Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology Unit" of IIT Jodhpur. In truth my PhD experience in NBRC developed an independent Principal Investigator of IIT Jodhpur

The recognition of my NBRC PhD Thesis work as "Best PhD Thesis in Biological Science" by Indian Society of Chemists and Biologists (ISCB) was a very wonderful moment for me. The primary reason this moment makes me happy is because this award was not only given to me for the research performed and published from my PhD thesis but it also always reminds me of the true and sincere guidance of my PhD supervisor, Professor Nihar Ranjan Jana. Whenever I look at this award, I am reminded of my excellent former colleagues and the day on which I first learned to make polyacrylamide gel in the NBRC lab. The President of the NBRC, Professor P.N Tandon, inspired me to realize and believe about how to shape an Institute dedicated to a new science that was new to India, how to attract Scientists and faculties back into India and also how to support students in a newly established Institute. Professor Tandon not only established the NBRC but also germinated an era of Neuroscience in India, which is now proliferating and flourishing in National Importance Institutions like IIT Jodhpur.

I am very much great thankful to NBRC family for the formation of research foundation in my academic life.

Located amidst beautiful Aravalli range, National Brain Research Centre is an academic experience with a world class infrastructure and excellent faculty. I am really lucky and proud to have been a part of this institution not only because I got placed but because of the international standards of research that have learned over there. It has endured me with a lifelong career excellence. NBRC gives a great opportunity for students to broaden their knowledge beyond their field of studies with a multicultural environment and also to present their work at national and international platforms. It has efficient administrative, academic and purchase departments. The years spent here were splendid and has helped me to grow better professionally and personally.

Currently, I am working as Post Doctoral fellow in Functional Analytics at Biologics Unit of Dr. Reddy's Laboratories, Hyderabad.

I would like to extend my gratitude and appreciation for everyone at NBRC and wish all the best for the future.

I was a Masters in Neuroscience student in NBRC from 2005 to 2007 and I did my M.Sc. research thesis under the guidance of Dr. Anirban Basu. NBRC provided the foundation of Neuroscience and years later I am now teaching Neuroscience as core courses for PhD students at University of California, Irvine (UCI), USA.

My alma matter was also the first place that I gained hands-on research experience and essentially launched my research career. My research experience helped my navigate through my PhD at University Laval, Quebec, Canada and my postdoctoral research at University of California, Los Angeles.

I am currently using integrative genomics and systems biology approaches coupled with big data analysis to understand and find new drugs for Alzheimer's disease. But it was my training coupled with research experience at NBRC that shaped my research interest throughout my career, which started with understanding neuroinflammation in Japanese Encephalitis Virus (Dr. Anirban Basu, NBRC), unraveling new mouse models amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Canada) and using big data approaches to study neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diseases (USA).

I would highly recommend the future students to join NBRC as it has the time-proven record of producing future neuroscientists.

While completing my BSc in Pune, I was unsure about what to do next. It was 2004 and NBRC was starting their MSc Neuroscience program. I accidentally learned about this from a newspaper, and Neuroscience being a fascinating field .. I immediately applied. Now when I look back, I sincerely thank my luck, for coming across that newspaper with the ad! Because my time at NBRC has been nothing less than amazing! ..It shaped my career professionally and has been a most memorable time personally

When I joined NBRC, the campus and the surrounding areas were ... lets say barren and infested with snakes and scorpions! It was literally in the middle of nowhere with not even a shop within a mile. In fact, such was the area that I decided to leave the program and go back to Pune to pursue MSc. It was at this juncture, when I came across a young scientist .. who had just come back from US to join the institute. Dr. Anirban Basu, sat with me and managed to bring some sense in my head and reverse my decision. I am still thankful to Dr. Basu for speaking with me that day! In the next 2 years at NBRC, I joined Dr. Basu's lab as a MSc student .. developed some of the strongest friendships, which I still carry, and saw the campus transform! In fact, I remember going to Delhi with my batchmates Vishal and Ayan and some other folks, to buy the FIRST set of sports equipment and starting the sports room/ gym!

Professionally, NBRC really launched my career. It was deeply emotional to leave this amazing place in 2006, when I came to the US for my PhD. Today, I manage R&D and Brand Communications for a mid-size pharma company called Alkermes. Its been almost 13 years since I left NBRC, but those memories are still deeply etched in my mind. Besides the professional training, NBRC gifted me some of the strongest personal relationships and friendships... including the friendship I share with my mentor Dr. Basu.

As a proud Alumni of the FIRST MSc Neuroscience batch... I wish my alma mater all the very best!

I was a PhD scholar with Dr. Ellora Sen at NBRC from 2005-2010 and currently working as Assistant Professor, at BITS Pilani, Hyderabad. NBRC without doubt is the best place to do neurobiology research in India, providing a world class combination of excellent faculty members and cutting edge infrastructure.

In addition to working on your individual research projects, the course work, journal clubs and numerous research talks from visiting scientist during the PhD program, provides an intellectually stimulating exposure to diverse areas of neurobiology such as molecular, systems and computational neuroscience. I am grateful to the training I received during my PhD at NBRC and for continuous support I receive from the faculty members till date, which helped me to achieve my goal of becoming a faculty in India

My journey in NBRC started as a Project Assistant in Dr. Pankaj Seth's lab and culminated with a PhD in Cancer Biology under the guidance of Dr. Ellora Sen, spanning more than half a decade. Dr. Sen ensured that my PhD wouldn't only be a step towards developing my career, but a motivation.

I have since then moved on to a career in cancer drug development and have been very fortunate to receive my mentor's unwavering support in whatever I decided to pursue. I am glad to have found my career direction under her and have her by my side throughout my journey so far.

NBRC reminds me of a pollution-free campus, a habitat for thriving population of several bird species, collaborative work environment, high-class infrastructure, networking opportunities with well-established, world-class scholars hearing their ideas, ground-breaking research and theories, my very encouraging thesis committee and a highly inspiring mentorship.

The NBRC community has been a wonderful source of constant support and encouragement, for which I would remain eternally grateful. NBRC's network of intelligence, events and academic publishing connects students with knowledge, helping them explore more, learn more and grow more.

After Completing my Masters in Biotechnology from Guru Nanak Dev University, I Joined NBRC to do Ph.D in neuroscience. I joined Dr Anirban Basu's lab because of my interest in inflammatory response of brain to peripheral infections.

Over the course of my stay at NBRC I accumulated both laboratory and interpersonal skills which proved to be stepping stones in my research career. The quality time spent at NBRC will remain etched in my memory forever and will influence my journey ahead as a researcher.

Currently I am working as Analytical Scientist II at APC LTD, Dublin, Ireland. Currently I am leading a neurodegeneration research project at APC.

It is indeed a pleasure writing to this column! After my Master's in Biotechnology at the C.C.S University, Meerut, I was keen on pursuing a research-based career in the field of immunology when I learnt about relevant research opportunities at NBRC. Intrigued by its outstanding research mandate and a successful neuroinflammation program, I enrolled in the Ph.D. program in the year 2007 (after a brief stint at the National Institute of Immunology, New Delhi). Here, I got introduced to the basic concepts of Molecular and Cellular and Systems Neuroscience, which laid a strong foundation for my Neuroimmunology program under the guidance of Dr. Anirban Basu. As a mentor, Dr. Basu nurtured a strong and collaborative research environment and was highly supportive throughout.

For my postdoctoral training, I joined the laboratory of Dr. V. Wee Yong, University of Calgary, Canada in 2013 to study the pathophysiology of multiple sclerosis (MS), where I studied the mechanisms of macrophage transmigration within the brains of MS patients. I recently joined the Memorial University of Newfoundland (MUN), St. John's, Canada, as an Asst. Professor in Immunology. Here, my research program focuses on the immunometabolic pathways that render immune cells pathogenic during the course of MS. I am looking forward to leading a successful immunology program at MUN.

The name NBRC itself gives me goosebumps, brings back memories of picturesque lush green football field and the big brain-shaped building. Away from the pollution of the National Capital Region, NBRC is a perfect "gurukul" for the modern day researchers in India with state-of-art laboratory facilities. I started my PhD program in 2010. NBRC has a curriculum aligning to international standards with lab rotations where you can select the best matched lab as per your aspirations. I joined Dr. Anirban Basu's lab in 2011 to work with Neuro-viruses.

I received my PhD degree in May, 2016. Virology fascinated me and I took up postdoc under mentorship of Dr. Nihal Altan-Bonnet at National Institutes of Health, Bethesda. My training in Dr. Basu's lab helped me to adapt to the US scientific culture of 24 X 7 high-throughput science. After a productive tenure of postdoc, I started to look for jobs back in India to serve my country. I received tremendous support from Dr. Basu and Dr. Arpan Banerjee, NBRC, during the job search. Finally I joined CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Biology, Kolkata in April, 2022 as a Senior Scientist. My lab focuses on viral trafficking mechanisms and targeted drug development in RNA viruses.

I wish all the luck for my alma mater and am confident that the NBRC website will be populated by more success stories in the years to come!

I have always been fascinated by the brain and the inner workings of neurons. While interviewing for my PhD, what attracted me to NBRC was the breadth and depth of neuroscience research in one institute. I was a PhD student in NBRC from 2005 - 2010, and those were the formative years that shaped my career as a neuroscientist. We gained a holistic understanding of the brain - from molecular to systems and cognitive, which is essential to answer fundamental questions in neuroscience and unravel disease mechanisms.

I did my PhD with Dr. Anirban Basu to understand the cellular basis of long-term pathogenesis in Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection. I am thankful to him for his mentorship over the years and giving me the freedom to explore different aspects of cellular and molecular neuroscience utilizing a multi-pronged approach and creating a fun lab atmosphere. The highly collaborative community and the world-class infrastructure at NBRC fostered an environment of pushing scientific boundaries and helping young scientists succeed.

I started my lab in Emory University School of Medicine, USA, with a focus on understanding the spatial and temporal control of gene expression in neurons during memory formation and storage, and the dysregulation in intellectual disabilities. Our work is at the interface of neuroscience and RNA biology, utilizing high-resolution imaging of single mRNAs and proteins. The interdisciplinary approach towards neuroscience was inculcated in me at NBRC and has significantly influenced my past and current research programs and has allowed me to evolve as a scientist.

Personally, the years spent at NBRC are some of the most memorable times of my life! We had a tremendous sense of belonging and camaraderie amongst all the students, doing science together and also enjoying time outside the labs. NBRC will always hold a special place in my heart! Wishing my alma mater the very best with an ever-growing community of wonderful neuroscientists!