Professor & Senior Scientist, JNU
Shailja obtained her PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Delhi. During her post-doctoral tenure at the International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in Delhi, she was awarded multiple international accolades, including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Travel Award for attending malaria conferences. Thereafter, Shailja joined the Department of Life Sciences at Shiv Nadar Institution of Eminence (SNIoE) as an Associate Professor, where she received prestigious awards such as the Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award (IYBA) from the Dept. of Biotechnology (DBT), Govt. of India, and the Shiv Nadar University Award and Indus Foundation Award for Research Excellence.
In 2016, Shailja joined the Special Centre for Molecular Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi, and successfully progressed towards attaining the position of a full professor. In recognition of her translational research in Malaria and Kala-azar, Shailja has been honored with various prestigious awards, including the Women Bioscientist Award from DBT and the Biotechnology Industry Research Assistance Council-Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award (BIRAC-GYTIA) from the Honorable President of India. Shailja currently serves as an expert member in several regulatory bodies within the university and the Govt. of India.
With 25 years of research experience, her expertise lies in molecular parasitology, focusing on understanding host-pathogen interactions in diseases like malaria and Kala-azar. Scientific contributions from Shailja’s lab have been published in esteemed peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Communications, EBioMedicine, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), Advanced Healthcare Materials, and Cell Death Discovery, among others.
