Background

My fascination with research began early on, driven by the idea that everything in the world can be understood through signals and numbers. During my undergraduate years, I worked on projects ranging from emotion detection in speech to an internship at IISc focused on improving imaging resolution using Fourier ptychography. However, it was a course on Medical Image Analysis with Machine Learning that truly captivated my interest. This led me to a year-long internship at iGH of Machine Learning and Optimization Lab at EPFL, headed by Dr. Mary-Anne Hartley and Prof. Martin Jaggi, where I worked on lung sound analysis for respiratory ailments, particularly COVID-19. It felt like a full-circle moment having grown up around hospitals, my first “toy” was probably a stethoscope, and my bachelor’s thesis ended up being about developing an AI-powered stethoscope.

The experience of working on such crucial projects during the pandemic, alongside medical professionals, software engineers, and hardware experts, ignited a passion for biomedical engineering that brought me to Johns Hopkins for grad school. At JHU, I earned my MSE in Electrical Engineering on the way to pursuing a Ph.D. under the guidance of Prof. Archana Venkataraman. My coursework included deep learning projects like deepfake art generation, MRI super-resolution with sparse deep learning, and EEG-based imagined thought detection. My primary research, however, focuses on interpretable and trustworthy deep learning for diagnosing and predicting neurodegenerative diseases such as epilepsy and autism. I leverage Bayesian inference, optimization tools, deep learning, and high-dimensional signal processing in my work. Please refer to my CV and research section for more information.

Outside the lab, I express myself through art and stay actively involved in the community. I enjoy meeting new people and volunteering at events. I previously served on the Women in Machine Learning board and was the Social Evening Chair in 2022. During my undergrad years, I led one of the largest IEEE student branches in India as its Chairperson. I’m also a trained Bharatanatyam dancer and a certified artist. You’ll often find me wandering the city with my sketchbook, capturing scenes with my pen. I love hiking, recently exploring the White Mountains in New Hampshire. Some pictures below of my creative endevours while more can be found on my Instagram