CHINTA

Gaiti Hassan

Distinguished CHINTA Fellow

Prof. Hasan completed a Ph.D in molecular biology from the University of Cambridge, UK. She has worked as a post-doctoral fellow at the Dept of Biological Sciences (then called the Molecular Biology Unit) in TIFR, Mumbai and with Prof. Michael Rosbash, a Nobel Laureate, at Brandeis University, Waltham, USA. Her group studies intracellular calcium signaling in neuronal function, in systems as diverse as Drosophila, mouse and human stem cell derived neurons. In Drosophila their current focus is to use neurodegenerative models to screen for compounds that can slow down neurodegeneration. In human stem cell derived neurons she is focusing on understanding how intracellular calcium signaling can be modulated to prevent neurodegenerative syndromes in particular movement-related disorders such as Spino cerebellar Ataxias and Parkinson’ Disease. Prof. Hasan is a past Vice-President and a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy (New Delhi). She is also a fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences (Bangalore), the Karnataka Science and Technology Academy (Bangalore) and the World Academy of Sciences (Trieste, Italy). She is a recipient of the Chaire Gutenberg by the Strasbourg Communities, France and the Sir. M. Viseswaraya senior scientist lifetime achievement award given by the Karnataka Science and Technology Academy.