A Biological Perspective of Neuropsychiatric Disorders

The Department of Psychology is organising an online Guest lecture titled “The Role of Microglia in neuropsychiatric disorders” on June 01, 2023. The session will be delivered by Dr Neeraja Revi, Postdoctoral Research Associate, Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine Rockford, University of Illinois. Dr Revi will provide insight into the influence of microglia on different psychiatric illnesses.

Join the session to learn more about the biological perspective behind neuropsychiatric disorders. The talk will also be screened in the Tiered Classroom, 5th Floor, Homi J Bhabha Block.

Abstract

The lecture will discuss microglia, its interaction with other types of cells in the CNS and its potential role in mental health disorders like anxiety, depression, and schizophrenia. A focus will be given to gender-based differences in microglia and its influence. Also, animal models of these disorders and discoveries regarding the role of microglia in the recent past will be discussed. Overall, the interaction will be looking into the biological basis of different psychiatric illnesses.

About the Speaker

Dr Neeraja Revi is a postdoctoral research associate at the Blazer nanomedicine lab at the University of Illinois Chicago (UIC). Her primary interest in the lab lies in developing anti-integrin peptide delivery using nanoplatforms as a therapeutic intervention for angiogenesis-related diseases. She is also focused on predicting novel targets of psychedelic compounds and developing targeted drug delivery of such compounds using nanocarriers. She is interested in understanding the microglia polarization properties of these formulations with the view of developing potential therapeutic options for mental health disorders. Prior to joining UIC, Dr Revi completed her PhD from the Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad and BS-MS dual degree from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Pune. For her doctoral studies, Dr Revi studied nanomedical approaches for treating neurodegenerative disorders and developing nanotherapeutic interventions for snake envenomation. She has authored multiple research articles in peer-reviewed journals and has also filed for Indian patents for developing nanoformulations for treating Theileria. She has been the recipient of prestigious fellowships like DST INSPIRE from 2010-2015, DBT BTFS from 2015-2016 and Ministry of Education funding for her PhD studies from 2017-2022.