Shantala completed her PhD in neuroscience from Dr Ajai Vyas’s lab at NTU, Singapore studying the fascinating induction of a fatal attraction in rats upon Toxoplasma infection. She moved to Dr Michael Meaney’s lab at McGill, Canada for her postdoctoral studies. Across the continents and research questions, her interest in communicating science and building and supporting a scientific community has stayed strong. In this phase of growth at IndiaBioscience, she is keen to expand their activities bringing greater national and international visibility to the Indian life science community.