Profile

I did my Ph.D. in the lab of Randolf Menzel of Freie Universität Berlin, Germany in 2012. I used olfaction as a model and the brain of the honeybee (Apis mellifera) as my system to understand the contributions of genes and the distributed neural circuits of the brain to the processes of odor learning, and formation and consolidation of odor memory. I am currently working as a Senior Assistant Professor at Thapar University, Patiala, India. The principal research interests of my lab at Thapar School of Liberal Arts & Sciences, TIET, India, are:

• • to study the toxicity mechanisms of different types of pesticides belonging to various chemical groups (impairments in sensory learning processes and cellular metabolism), analyzing brain and behavior at multiple levels – genetic, molecular, behavioral, and cognitive.

• • to probe the detoxification capacities of phytochemicals to achieve the goal of alleviating the harmful effects of pesticides in A. mellifera with the rationale that the lives of honeybees depend solely on phytochemicals. The broad goal is to develop phyto-formulations that can improve the overall fitness of the bees substantially so that they can cope with the burden of chemical toxicities as well as viral infections.