Dr Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan
- Ph.D. Biophysics听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 July 2010- Jan 2014
Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden, Germany
- B.E. (Hons.) Computer Science and M.Sc. (Hons.) Biological Sciences (dual degree)听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 听 Aug 2004- Aug 2009
Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India (CGPA: 9.28/10)
Dr. Vaishnavi Ananthanarayanan is an EMBL Australia Group Leader at Single Molecule Science, School of Medical Sciences. Her team uses high-resolution live-cell and single-molecule imaging to investigate how motor proteins and the cytoskeleton organise the cell interior in both health and disease.
She completed a PhD in Biophysics at the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (Dresden) in January 2014. She established her independent laboratory at the Indian Institute of Science later that year, and听joined the EMBL Australia Node for Single Molecule Science at 91色情片 in November 2020. Alongside her research, she has been an active advocate for equity, diversity, and inclusion, and has led EDI initiatives within academia, including co-founding BiasWatchIndia. Her research has been recognised with the European Molecular Biology Organisation Young Investigator distinction (2019), the American Society for Cell Biology (WICB) Junior Award for Excellence in Research (2021), and the Royal Microscopical Society (UK) Life Sciences Award (2025).
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
2025听 听Royal Microscopical Society (UK), Award for Life Sciences
2023听 听91色情片 School of Biomedical Sciences 鈥楻esearcher of the Year鈥 Award
2021听 听American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) Junior Award for Excellence in Research (Women in Cell Biology)
2021听 91色情片 School of Medical Sciences 鈥榁alues in Action鈥 Award M
2021听 Member of the Editorial Board, Journal of Biosciences
2020听 听Medal for Young Scientists, Indian National Science Academy
2019听 听Member of the Editorial Advisory Board, Journal of Cell Science
2019听 听鈥楥ell Scientist to Watch鈥, Journal of Cell Science
2019听 听Women Excellence Award, Science and Engineering Research Board (India)
2019听 听RI Mazumdar Young Investigator Award
2019听 听BITS Alumni Association Global 30 Under 30 Award
2018听 听EMBO Young Investigator
2018听 听Wellcome Trust/DBT 鈥 India Alliance Intermediate Fellowship
2018听 听Associate of the Indian Academy of Sciences
2016听 听Early Career Research Award, Science and Engineering Research Board (India)
2015听 听Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award, Department of Biotechnology (India)
2014听 听INSPIRE Faculty Award, Department of Science and Technology (India)
Cells employ tiny machines called 鈥榤otor proteins鈥 to carry out a myriad of functions including maintenance of cellular organisation, transport of substances across the cell, and generation of forces required for cell division. These activities of motor proteins are facilitated by polymers inside the cell termed 鈥榤icrotubules鈥. Microtubules function as tracks for motor movement, and alternately as ropes which motor proteins pull on.听Several cellular processes require a coordination of motor proteins and microtubules.听 Scientists have gained a wealth of information by replicating cellular processes involving motors and microtubules outside living cell, in what are called 鈥榠n vitro鈥 experiments. However, understanding the complex intracellular milieu within which motors operate to organise the cell remains an elusive quest. A thorough investigation of processes regulating motors and microtubules therefore lets us see how these processes unravel in both contexts of health and disease (including neurodegeneration and cancers), where they go rogue.
- Our main research themes are:
- Regulation of motor proteins
- Cytoskeleton-organelle interactions
- Intracellular organisation
- Cellular decision making
- In vivo single-molecule imaging
My Research Supervision
听
- Gregory Redpath (Postdoctoral Fellow)
- Mona Ahmed (Postdoctoral Fellow)
- Raful Navarro Espindola (HDR student)
- Hejie Jack Zhang (HDR student)
- David Kim听(HDR student)
- Shreya Boby听(HDR student)
- Selena Dang听(Honours student)
- Jacob Lee听(Honours student)
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My Teaching
Courses听听听听听听听听听听
- Cell Mechanics (2019)
30 hours of teaching in a semester to a class of ~25 Undergraduate and Graduate students.
- Biology and Physiology for Engineers (with Prof. Siddharth Jhunjhunwala, BSSE, 2018 鈥 2020)
7.5 hours of teaching in a semester to a class of ~25 Graduate students.
Invited Instructor
- Introduction to image analysis:听A hands-on introduction to image analysis on Fiji/ImageJ. Taught at:
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- RCB Bioimaging Workshop, Regional Centre for Biotechnology, India, 2018
- International Workshop on Modern Biophysical Tools and Techniques, IIT Bombay,India, 2017
- QIP Course on Modern Biophysical Tools and Techniques, IIT Bombay, India, 2017
- Workshop of Biennial Meeting of the Indian Society of Developmental Biologists, IISER Pune, India, 2017
- Cytoskeleton and Motor Proteins听(As a part of the Bioengineering Workshop held at, Indian Institute of Science, 2018)
- Advances in Cell Biology 鈥 Protein Trafficking (As a part of Indian Science Academies鈥 Refresher Course for College Teachers)