Her Story
About Nirmala
I spent my bachelor's and master's in India, with my bachelor's in Life Sciences and my master's in biotechnology. After working as a research assistant and teaching, I pursued a joint PhD program with my Indian University and National University of Singapore, focusing on neuroscience and neuroinflammation in traumatic brain injury. I then shifted to systems biology and comparative genomics, working in an environment with computer engineers, mathematicians, and statisticians, which taught me how to collaborate across disciplines. During my postdoctoral fellowship at the Genome Institute of Singapore, I studied enhancers and so-called 'junk DNA' that actually plays specific roles in brain development, discovering what makes primate and human brains unique. This work brought together my two skill sets in what's now called neurogenomics. I studied how antidepressants like Prozac affect the brain at the genetic level, publishing two papers in molecular psychiatry. I then moved to the Broad Institute with MIT and Harvard in Boston, where I led a team generating data for the Brain Initiative Cell Atlas to understand inter-individual brain variation across 200 people. Now at Nathan Klein Institute and NYU Langone, I bring all these accumulated genomic skills to support clinical trials, using single-cell and spatial genomics technology to help develop better drugs with fewer side effects for mental health conditions.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Nirmala
01What advice would you give to young women entering your industry?
Passion and motivation - if you're passionate about this, pursue it. That passion somehow fuels you with the impetus to get across or get through all the hurdles that life throws at you. There will be hurdles, there will be challenges, but I think passion is the fuel that's going to pull you through. Networking is also crucial. As women, I think we need to understand that the way we get our way, the way we sit down at the table and let people take us seriously is not just only by showing up and by being good at what you do, but also by networking. Make women and men your allies, not just women - make all human beings your allies. There are bad apples and good apples everywhere, so just focus on the good people around you.
02What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I grew up feeling that my life doesn't mean anything if I don't help somebody and someone around me doesn't benefit, even from a simple gesture. People around me should know that if I'm in any capacity to help them, I should help them. Growing up in India, I always had people around who needed help, and I was better off than some people in some way or the other. I've seen firsthand how the minute you empower someone with the right education or put them on the right path, their life gets turned around - not just their life, but their whole family gets turned around. All your scientific skills don't mean anything if you don't pass it on, which is why I'm passionate about mentoring. I've been a beneficiary of so many people, so many of my mentors giving me their time and their energy, and right now, I think it's my time as well to give back. Maintaining work-life balance is also non-negotiable for me - I've seen people who are very passionate about work, but their family life suffers, and that has never been my mode of operation.
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