Maneesha S. Inamdar

Maneesha S. Inamdar is an Indian developmental biologist specialising in stem cell research. She is a Professor and Chair at the Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit of the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR). She is an elected fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences and the Indian National Science Academy and a J C Bose National Fellow.
Biography.
Maneesha Inamdar, received a doctorate in molecular biology at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) and completed post-doctoral work in cardiovascular biology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Subsequently, she joined Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), where she holds the position of a professor of the Molecular Biology and Genetics Unit of the institution
At JNCASR, she has established her laboratory for stem cell research and hosts several research scholars, postdoctoral fellows, trainees and collaborators. She also served as an adjunct faculty at the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine (inStem).
Research.
Inamdar's group works on the basic biology of stem cells .
The group led by her has developed normal stem cell lines from defective embryos and these have been deposited at the UK Stem Cell Bank. Their efforts have been included in the "International Stem Cell Forum" (ISCI2) initiatives and they represent the sole contribution of India in these initiatives. Inamdar is also working on the development of regenerative therapeutic methods by collecting patient-derived induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS) for which they have generated mouse and human induced iPS cells. Her studies have been documented by way of a number of articles and resource materials.
Professional activities.
Inamdar has carried out projects for the Department of Biotechnology, the Department of Science and Technology, the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research and other international agencies including the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI), Indo-US Science and Technology Forum (IUSSTF), The Wellcome Trust, UK, the DBT-Indo-Danish programme and the Indo-French Centre for the Promotion of Advanced Research (IFCPAR/CEFIPRA).
She is a member or life member of the Indian Society of Cell Biology, the Society for Developmental Biology, USA, the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR), the North American Vascular Biology Organization (NAVBO) and the Indian Society of Developmental Biologists.
She represents India in the International Stem Cell Initiative (ISCI) and the International Stem Cell Banking Initiative (ISCBI) where she is also a member of the steering group. She also serves as an expert and advisor in various capacities in several national and international committees including hESC Registry Europe, International Stem Cell Registry, Europe. She is Chairperson or a member of several national and institutional advisory and review committees for ethics and stem cell research.
Inamdar is a member of the Global Forum on Bioethics in Research (GFBR) planning committee (2019) and the World Health Organization (WHO) expert advisory committee to examine the scientific, ethical, social and legal challenges associated with Human Genome editing.
Honors.
Inamdar was selected as a Young Associate of the Indian Academy of Sciences in 1999. The Department of Biotechnology (DBT) of the Government of India awarded her the National Bioscience Award for Career Development, . She was awarded the National Women Bioscientist Award, in 2011. The Indian Academy of Sciences honoured her with elected fellowship in 2017. She was also elected Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 2018. She was awarded the Dr Kalpana Chawla Award for 2017 and the Prof. C.N.R. Rao Oration Award and the J C Bose National Fellowship in 2019.