Dr.Indulekha Pillai, PhD

Dr. Indulekha Pillai is an Assistant Professor at the School of Biotechnology, Amrita University, India. To establish her research endeavors in India, Dr.Pillai has been awarded the prestigious Ramalingaswami Fellowship from Govt. of India.

Dr.Pillai finished her post-doctoral research at the University of California, Los Angeles (2010-2016), and later in Cedars Sinai hospital, Los Angeles, USA. She demonstrated for the first time that adult cardiac fibroblasts cells exhibit stem cell-like plasticity and adopt an osteo-progenitor-like fate during cardiac calcification (I C Pillai et al. Cell Stem Cell 2016, Nature 2014; 585-590). The work has been the cover story of the same issue with an excellent commentary by Dr. Kathryn N Ivey, Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease and University of California San Francisco, California, USA. Moreover, the research received extensive media attention and is highlighted by Science Magazine as well. Dr. Pillai earned her Ph.D. from Rajiv Gandhi Center for Biotechnology, India (2004-2010). Her doctoral dissertation addressed how the notch signaling regulates neuronal subtype specification during stem cell differentiation (Indulekha et al. Cell Mol Life Sci, 2014). Besides, she elucidated the quiescence, activation, and differentiation of adult neural progenitors during neurogenesis associated with temporal lobe epileptic injury (Indulekha et al. Biophys Res Commun 2010). Throughout her academic career, Dr. Pillai received many recognitions. She is also a member of the American Heart Association (AHA) and the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSCR).

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Currently, in her lab at Amrita University, Dr.Pillai is exploring the molecular mechanisms modulating regeneration, fibrosis, and calcification in the heart, using stem cells, bio-engineering principles, and high-content imaging techniques with an ultimate goal to augment the regeneration of the heart.