Ayurveda Biology and Holistic Nutrition
Dr. Megha
Associate Professor
Research Interests
Traditional foods, Public health nutrition, Early life malnutrition, Drosophila gut biology
Current Programs
Fundamental research: Developing a Fly model for early life malnutrition. Using this to understand how early live nutritional deprivation presents as phenotypes in adulthood. Focus on gut biology such as peptides, digestive enzymes, and behaviours relating to food intake.
Translational research: Study the ability of dietary interventions to mitigate adult phenotypes resulting from early life malnutrition. Focus on traditional foods and herbs mentioned in Ayurveda. Documentation of traditional foods and their nutritional importance to local diets. Utilise fly model system to test functional foods; a low-cost and quick animal model for testing foods and ingredients.
Teaching: Biochemistry, Animal Physiology, Ayurveda Dietetics, Nutrition Science and Science Communication.
Outreach: Working with communities to improve public health nutrition using their traditional food knowledge. Adolescent nutrition program for schools.
Policy: Policy issues on capacity building in science education, integrative healthcare and AYUSH-related topics.
Education
2001 MSc Biotechnology, IIT-Bombay
2006 PhD Biochemistry and Structural Biology, Stony Brook University, New York
2021 ePGD in Public Health Nutrition, PHFI, New Delhi
Work experience
2008 Senior Fellow, University of Washington, Seattle
2012 Grants and Programme Manager, The Wellcome Trust/ DBT India Alliance, Hyderabad
2019 India Alliance Early Career Fellow, NCBS-TIFR, Bangalore
2020 Program Co-ordinator, Ayurveda Dietetics
2021 Program Co-ordinator, MSc Life Sciences (Ayurveda Biology)
We welcome undergraduate and postgraduate students (from BAMS and Biological sciences background) to intern with us for research experience or dissertation projects.
A minimum 3 month duration is essential.
Please email Megha with your CV and 200 word paragraph on why you want to work with us. Any generic email will not receive a response.
We are open for accepting PhD studentships. Please email Megha with your CV and 200 word paragraph on why you want to work with us.
Follow @meghaphd