HYDERABAD: A PhD student at Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) here has been awarded the prestigious Schmidt Science Fellowship. Shilpa P Pothapragada is one of 32 fellows from the 2023 cohort and also happens to be the first one from an Indian institution to bag the scholarship.
The Schmidt Science Fellowship provides exceptional early-career scientists with the opportunity to conduct ground-breaking research across disciplines and make significant contributions to society. Along with a $10,0000 stipend for a year, the fellowship provides a unique opportunity for the awardees to work with acclaimed scientists across the world.
In her PhD, Shilpa studied the underlying mechanisms that determined how normal epithelial cells recognise and eliminate potentially cancerous cells from the tissue. She established the role of physical factors like cellular forces and tissue stiffness in this fundamental process of epithelial defence against cancer.
As a Schmidt Science Fellow, Pothapragada will be shifting her focus to women’s health. She plans on using bioengineering tools to develop better model systems to study female reproductive health. Her vision is to contribute towards the advent of physiologically relevant research models that capture the complexity of the female reproductive system and work towards making a significant impact on women’s health outcomes.