Meera Anand

Computational Biology · IISc Bengaluru

Dr. Meera Anand

I build computational models of how proteins fold under cellular stress, and study what goes wrong when they don't. My lab combines wet-lab experiments with machine learning to find patterns human eyes miss.

About

I lead the Protein Dynamics Lab, where we work at the intersection of structural biology and machine learning. Our group is especially interested in misfolding events linked to neurodegenerative disease, and we've spent the last several years building open-source tools that let other labs run the same simulations without needing a supercomputer.

Outside the lab, I mentor early-career researchers from smaller institutions who don't have easy access to computational resources, and I write occasionally about making science more reproducible.

Education

Education Background

  • 2014

    Ph.D. in Computational Biology

    Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru — Dissertation on stochastic models of protein aggregation.

  • 2009

    M.Sc. in Biotechnology

    University of Hyderabad — Graduated with distinction, specialization in structural biology.

  • 2007

    B.Sc. in Life Sciences

    Delhi University — Minor coursework in applied mathematics.

Career

Work History

  • 2019 — Present

    Associate Professor, IISc Bengaluru

    Principal investigator, Protein Dynamics Lab. Supervising a team of 8 graduate and postdoctoral researchers.

  • 2016 — 2019

    Postdoctoral Fellow, ETH Zürich

    Developed machine-learning pipelines for predicting misfolding hotspots in membrane proteins.

  • 2014 — 2016

    Research Associate, NCBS Bengaluru

    Worked on early-stage simulation tools for cellular stress response pathways.