Dr. Nootan Bhakal

Designation: President

Email: nootanbhakal@gmail.com

Dr. Suparna Kamath

Designation: Vice President

Email: suparna.kamath@gmail.com

Educational Qualifications:
B.Sc. (Physics Hons.), University of Calcutta

M.Sc. (Biophysics, Molecular biology & Genetics), University of Calcutta

Post M.Sc. Associateship in Life Sciences at Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics

Ph. D. (Biochemistry), University of Mumbai

Suparna was at Tata Memorial Hospital as a post-doctoral Research fellow on an ICMR project. Thereafter she taught undergraduate and post graduate students at Department of Biotechnology, SIES College of Arts, Science & Commerce, Sion (W).

Suparna was the Joint Secretary for three  consecutive terms, (2019-21, 2021-23 and 2023-25). She was the Convenor of the Science Awareness Committee (2021-2023) and its Secretary during 2023-25.  She has been actively associated with Science Nurture teaching, IWSA-BRNS lecture series, IWSA internships and several other programmes (offline and online) of the Science Awareness Committee.

Ms. Priya Jacob

Designation: Secretary

Email: priya2jacob@gmail.com

Educational Qualifications:

M.Sc. in Food Science & Nutrition,

MS University, Vadodara

Priya started her career in 1992 as a Research Assistant at SNDT Women’s University, Santa Cruz, Mumbai, on the research project “Food Security/Strategy” sponsored by Indian Council of Agricultural Research.

She later joined as a dietitian in MGM Hospital, Vashi, Navi Mumbai. For the past 20 years she worked in US Healthcare medical documentation and most recently as website content writer. Her interests include art, craft and design and healthy meal planning. She was Convenor of Health Care Committee (2021-2023) and its  Secretary during 2023-25. She is a member of the Newsletter and Publications committees (2023-25) and is presently a member of the Newsletter Committee for the term (2025-27).

Dr Seema Das

Designation: Jt. Secretary

Email: d.seema61@gmail.com

Educational Qualifications:

B.Sc (Hons) Zoology- University of Delhi

M.Sc Zoology- University of Delhi

M.Phil Zoology- University of Delhi

Ph.D- University of Delhi

Dr Seema Das has over 35 years of experience in teaching, research and academic administration. A former Head of Department and Associate Professor in the Dept of Life Science and Biochemistry, St. Xavier’s College, Mumbai, she has made significant contributions to higher education through curriculum development, student mentorship and faculty development, in addition to teaching UG & PG classes.  She has guided M.Sc research students at Xavier’s and other affiliated institutions under the University of Mumbai. She has publications in national and international journals. She has been the principal investigator on research projects funded by the UGC and University of Mumbai, working with a range of model organisms.

She has been the recipient of the NET Junior & Senior Research Fellowships and the Research Associateship of the CSIR, the D. D. Kosambi Award (2019) and the D. D. Kosambi Teacher-Mentor Award (2020).  Her engagement with the broader scientific and social community includes a volunteer stint in the ‘Volunteer Fundraising’ and ‘Fund Raising and Marketing’ teams at Cancer Research UK (CRUK), London, from July 2016 to August, 2017.

She joined IWSA in June, 2023 and since then has played an active role in IWSA’s Science awareness programs. She has also worked in several committees like the Science Awareness, ECCE and Scholarship committees. She is also a trekker and has scaled the Annapurna Base Camp, the Mount Everest Base camp and completed the Manasalu Circuit in Nepal.

Dr. Seema Purohit

Designation: Jt. Secretary

Email:supurohit@gmail.com

Education Qualifications:

Ph. D. (Mathematics), University of Mumbai

PGDBA (Information Technology and Financial Management),MIT, Pune

MBA (Information Technology Management),Jaipur National University

Dr. Seema Purohit was Convenor, Computer Education Committee of IWSA during (2023-25).

Presently she is working as Global Professor of Practice for Golden Gate University, California. She is a Chief Coordinating Officer, Mumbai Region, Indian Academy of Industrial and Applicable Mathematics(IAIAM), EC Member, Bharat Research in AI and NextGen(BRAIN), Task Force Member, S4DS, India.

Dr. Seema is an ardent researcher working on applications of computational (mathematical and statistical) models to other fields, she has to her credit more than 90 research papers published in peer reviewed and referred journals. She has presented several papers and worked as key – note addressee, convener, reviewer, programme committee member, and advisory committee member for National & International Conferences, symposiums, workshops, fdps and conferences. As a researcher and a recognized Ph.D. guide, she has guided 32 M.Phil. Students and 12 Ph. D. students successfully and worked extensively on the research dissertations in the subject of Computational Intelligence and applications of mathematics to Computer Science. She has also guided over 200 projects at postgraduate programmes.

She has contributed in designing curriculum for various Autonomous Colleges and Universities as per NEP 2020. She has worked extensively on multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches to be brought in Commerce, Science and Engineering Disciplines. She has been associated with providing either Applicable or Computational Intelligent solutions to problems of multiple disciplines including disaster management, traffic congestion and evasion problems, medicinal prescription systems, learning disabilities, learning management systems, cyber physical systems, next generation networks.  Dr. Seema has five Patents to her credit.

Dr Seema is a recipient of an “Outstanding Teacher” award conferred by Higher Education Forum, a public Trust, and an IT firm Nucsoft.  She is also a climate reality project leader and is actively involved in bringing green campus initiatives at educational institutions.

Ms. Manashi Chakraborthy

Designation: Treasurer

Email: manashi.chakraborty28@gmail.com

Educational Qualifications:

B.Sc. (Physics): University of Calcutta

M.Sc. (Maths): University of Calcutta

Manashi has been associated with IWSA for the last nine years. She has been involved in teaching maths (offline and online) to the Sc. Nurture students since 2016. She was the treasurer of Science Awareness, Health Care & Golden Jubilee Committees (2021-2023), currently serving as the treasurer of IWSA and Sc. Awareness Committee (2023-2025).

Her special interest is in Homeopathy and is a member of MAVELIL HOMOEO MISSION (Trivandrum).

Ms. Sukhvinder Sandhu

Designation: Member

Email: vinisandhu@gmail.com

Educational Qualifications:

B.Sc.  Agra University

Diploma in Textile Designing

Post graduate Diploma in Computer Management

She worked as a computer teacher for 22 years. Her work experience includes active participation in all the school events, competitions and functions for students and workshops for staff. She has handled designing brochures, reverse projections for school functions, organised picnics and educational trips to many parts of India. Her special interests are social activities and organising events.

She is an active member of IWSA and currently serving as the Convener of Computer Education Centre (2021 – 2023). She is active member of Science Awareness Committee and Hostel & Day Care Committee as well.

Ms. Vijayalakshmi Tilak

Designation: Member

Ms. Vijayalakshmi Tilak

Email: varalakshmi55@yahoo.com

Educational Qualifications:
B.Sc. (Chemistry, Botany & Zoology)

M.A.: Russian

Vijayalakshmi joined BARC in 1982 as a specialist in Russian. She retired from BARC in 2015.

Vijayalakshmi is the Co-ordinator of Green Initiatives (2021-2023, 2023-2025). She has been very passionately involved with several green initiatives at IWSA such as waste to manure project, kitchen water recycling and solar power generation. She was IWSA secretary (2019-2021) and has been part of Science Awareness, Library, Building, Hostel and Day Care committees.

 

Dr. Paramjit Anthappan

Designation: Member

Email:  paramjitanthappan@gmail.com

Educational Qualifications:
BSc (Microbiology [Major] and Chemistry [Subsidary]), University of Mumbai

M.Sc. (Microbiology), University of Mumbai

Ph. D. (Microbiology), University of Mumbai

Paramjit has an academic cum research career spanning almost four decades at Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan’s College, Andheri, Mumbai. She retired as College Vice Principal, Head and Associate Professor of the Department of Microbiology, in April 2017. After graduation, she started her career as demonstrator of conducting B.Sc. Microbiology practicals in college. After M.Sc. she served as assistant scientist for mycobacterial research, at Foundation for Medical Research for a short tenure. She rejoined as full-time lecturer in Microbiology Department in 1980, obtained recognition for M.Sc. teaching [by papers] in 1987, M.Sc. and Ph.D. research guidance in 1998 and 2007 respectively, and took up department headship in 2002. She also had the opportunity to serve as Joint coordinator of Bhavan’s Research Centre for Microbiology in 2005 and I/C Principal of College in 2015. Her research expertise areas include Bioconversions of agro wastes, probiotic applications, Textile bioprocessing, Actinoflora of soybeans, Sustainable Treatment of Wastewaters and solid waste management using effective microorganisms, beneficial plant microbe interactions, microbial siderophores, mushroom production and antimicrobial components of mangroves.

Paramjit  is currently a free-lance educational consultant, besides being on the Board of Trustees of Dr Dhala’s Felicitation Fund (DFF) for promotion of research culture in biosciences amongst post graduate students. She continues to be involved in coordinating the Silver Alumni Reunion Meets and the associated legacy projects of Microbiology students at Bhavan’s College.

Around 50 students have successfully completed their research dissertations and theses at M.Sc. M. Phil and PhD levels under her guidance, and she has to her credit about 23 publications in scientific journals. Dr. Anthappan is also a certified Neuro Linguistic Programming [NLP] counsellor, practitioner and coach trainer.

Paramjit was Convener of Library Committee and Member of Internship Core Committee (2021 – 2023). She was the Secretary of the Computer Education Centre 2021-2023 and the Secretary, Executive Committee (2023-25).

 

Dr. Dhanya Suresh

Designation: Member

Email:dhanya.mangala@gmail.com

Educational Qualifications:

B.Sc Chemistry: Calicut Univesity, Kerala

M.Sc Chemistry:  IIT Madras

Ph D Chemistry: Mumbai University

Dhanya retired from Radiation and Photochemistry Division, BARC as a senior scientist with 33 years of research experience. She worked in the fields of kinetics, molecular reaction dynamics and atmospheric chemistry- characterizing transient intermediates, determining the rate coefficients of very fast reactions and estimating tropospheric lifetimes of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). She worked for one year in the University of Heidelberg, Germany on the fundamental aspects of reactive collisions. She has published several papers in peer reviewed international journals and also in many national and international symposia. As a faculty of Homi Bhabha National Institute (HBNI), Dhanya had been teaching different coursework and guiding students. She was also actively involved in the organization of international conferences and workshops. She served as the EC member and Treasurer of Indian Society for Radiation and Photochemical Sciences (ISRAPS) for many terms.

Dhanya is a member of the core team of Vinimay Trust, an NGO working for the underprivileged children and youth of child welfare institutions (CWIs). She has been a member of the News Letter Committee of IWSA for more than 15 years and was part of the Science Awareness Committee for last 2 years.

 

Dr. Yojana Singh

Designation: Member

Email: dryojanasingh@gmail.com

BSc

MSc Organic Chemistry,  University

PhD Nuclear Medicine  Bombay University

Yojana joined BARC in 1987 and then transferred to Board of Radiation & Isotope Technology, BRIT, DAE. She has worked in the BRIT Immunoassay laboratory and developed kits for diagnosis of human hormones. Later she worked in the Radiopharmaceuticals (RPhs) laboratory, where she did research on developing important RPhs for diagnosis & therapy of cancer.  BRIT is a commercial unit of DAE, which is involved in production & of supply of  RPhs to Nuclear Medicine centers in India. Finally she was senior Manager, Marketing & Publicity, RPhs, BRIT.

Yojana has been one of the members of the outreach program, for spreading awareness about Radioactivity & peaceful uses of Radiation for societal benefits & about Nuclear Medicine. She is a member of many prestigious organizations – Indian Women Scientist Association, IWSA, NAARRI, IANCAS, IMS, Society of Nuclear Medicine, SNM, ACBI etc. She was Secretary of BRIT Staff & sports club for 15 years. Yojana is very interested in travelling, seeing new places, nature, trekking, meeting people, learning new things etc. She believes in live & let live policy.

She is recipient of four Homi Bhabha group achievement awards, which is given for excellence in Science, Engineering & Technology. Yojana retired from BRIT in June 2023 and has been actively participating in activities of IWSA.

Dr. Shyamala Bharadwaj

Designation: Immediate Past President

Email: shyamala.bharadwaj@gmail.com

Educational Qualifications:
B.Sc. (Chemistry), University of Mumbai

M.Sc. (Chemistry), University of Mumbai

Ph. D. (Chemistry), University of Mumbai

Shyamala retired as Head, Fuel Cell Materials and Catalysis Section, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC), Mumbai in December 2015 after 38 years of research at BARC. Her expertise is in the field of chemical thermodynamics, catalysis, fuel cells and hydrogen energy. As professor of HBNI and Mumbai University, she had guided several M.Sc. and Ph.D. students. She is often invited to review Ph.D. theses from various universities, IITs etc and to review projects from DST and BRNS. She regularly reviews manuscripts for several international journals and is the regional editor of Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry. She has won several awards, such as NETZSCH-ITAS Award in the field of Thermal analysis and DAE Group Achievement Awards. As Hon. Secretary of Indian Thermal Analysis Society, she was involved in organizing several National Symposia and Workshops on Thermal Analysis in various parts of India. She has also organized several National Symposia and Workshops in Materials Chemistry and Chemical Thermodynamics. Shyamala has several publications in refereed international journals. She has co-edited a book on “Thoria based nuclear fuels” (published by Springer, 2013) and written several chapters in various books.

Shyamala is one of the 75 women featured in the book, “She Is” – 75 Women in Chemistry. This book is published by Beyond Black in collaboration with the office of the Principal Scientific Advisor to Government of India and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) in the year 2024.

She has been associated with IWSA since 2015. She was Secretary, IWSA for the period 2017-19, Member Executive Committee, 2019-21, Vice President, 2021-23, President, 2023-25 and Editor of IWSA Newsletter since December 2015 till 2023.  She is presently a member of the IWSA Board of Trusees.