From biotech breakthroughs to engineering marvels; these Victorian Indian-Australian women are blazing trails
Indian-Australian women are not just breaking barriers — they’re redefining the future of STEM in Victoria and beyond. Meet the women leading Victoria’s diverse STEM revolution.
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Indian-Australian women are proving to be powerhouses in Victoria’s STEM industries, emerging as leaders, innovators, and role models.
As the demand for diversity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics grows, these trailblazers are inspiring the next generation.
Among them are emerging leaders who are making significant strides in their fields and leaving a mark on Victoria’s STEM landscape.
Here’s a list of women to watch who are dominating their fields:
Akanksha Malik
Akanksha Malik is a data scientist and Microsoft AVP AI.
Ms Malik is also an advisory board member at Tech Diversity Lab, founder and director at Women Coders, and founder of Paths Uncovered.
Natasha Krishnadas
Natasha Krishnadas is a neurologist and a postdoctoral researcher.
Her PhD and postdoctoral research has examined the role of amyloid-beta and the development of mixed 3R/4R tauopathies (including Alzheimer’s disease and CTE) using PET imaging, as well as the long-term consequences of traumatic brain injury from a clinical and biomarker perspective.
Sayoni Biswas
Sayoni Biswas is a data science consultant at Avanade.
Ms Biswas is also an AWS certified data analytics practitioner.
Satvika Burugupalli
Dr Satvika Burugupalli is a research officer at Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute.
Her research focuses on identifying novel lipid and genetic signatures of metabolic disease in early childhood.
Ritika Saxena
Ritika Saxena is a PhD candidate at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Her research uses stem cells to understand how blood cells develop in an embryo.
She was born in India and moved to Australia at 18.
Rupal Mudholkar
Rupal Thakkar Mudholkar is a cloud customer success leader at Azure.
She was previously a senior consultant for Tata Consultancy Services and a consultant at United States’ HTC Global Services Inc.
Alysha De Livera
Alysha De Livera is an academic in statistics in the department of mathematics and statistics at La Trobe University
She works closely with scientific investigators from a diverse range of backgrounds on multidisciplinary research projects, contributing her statistical expertise to a wide range of problems in medicine, public health, epidemiology, and biology.
Niveditha Vathsangam
Niveditha Vathsangam is the associate director (immunology) at 360biolabs, a BioAgilytix company.
She previously was the head of upstream process development at Exopharm Ltd and
product development scientist (science lead) at Schott MiniFab.
Twishi Gulati
Twishi Gulati is a research officer at the Victorian Centre for Functional Genomics at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Ms Gulati completed her PhD in oncology research at the University of Melbourne and has extensive experience in molecular and cellular biology and proteomics, resulting in two first-author and nine co-author publications
Madhu Bhaskaran
Dr Madhu Bhaskaran is a multi-award-winning electronics engineer and innovator.
She is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and co-leads the Functional Materials and Microsystems Research Group at RMIT University, which she established in 2010.
She is the deputy director of research for the ARC Research Hub for Connected Sensors for Health, a chief investigator and Node Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Transformative Meta-Optical Systems.
Dr Bhaskaran’s work on electronic skin and wearable sensors has been patented, and her group works collaboratively with multiple industry and design partners to commercialise technology for healthcare and aged care.
Ana Baburamani
Dr Ana Baburamani is a senior researcher at the Department of Defence and a biomedical researcher.
Dr Baburamani did her PhD in Neurobiology and Neuroscience at Monash University.
Pratiksha Holavannur
Pratiksha Holavannur is the project manager at RayGen, where she uses her expertise in solar energy.
She was previously the senior research lead at IIT Madras Research Park.
Maithili Sashindranath
Dr Maithili Sashindranath has more than 15 years of experience in neuroscience research and is an expert in the fields of brain injury and stroke.
Dr Sashindranathna — who was born and raised in India — is a senior research fellow with the vascular biology group at the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases (ACBD), Monash University.
Her postdoctoral research has directly led to four successful NHMRC project grants.
Dipa Rao
Dipa Rao is a senior product manager at Culture Amp.
She was previously the product manager at Australia Post, UniSuper and Origin Energy.
Meera Parish
Dr Meera Parish is a professor and ARC Future Fellow in the school of physics and astronomy at Monash University.
She is a quantum condensed-matter physicist whose research involves the behaviour of ultracold systems, including fermionic condensates, bose–einstein condensates, superconductivity, superfluidity, and magnetotransport.
Nanditha Sirigiri
Nanditha Sirigiri is a network planning engineer (LV) in grid evolution at AusNet Services.
Ms Sirigiri is a research scholar at Deakin University, focusing on advanced materials.
She is also an ambassador at STEM Sisters in Victoria.
Marzi Barghamadi
Marzi Barghamadi is a senior researcher scientist at CSIRO and team leader of battery materials and design.
She is an experienced scientist in the lithium battery field.
Karunya Radhakrishnan
Karunya Radhakrishnan is an associate project manager at Engineers Australia.
She was previously a project and business analyst at EnergyAustralia and the Supreme Court of Victoria.
Ms Radhakrishnan studied Master of Information Systems and Business Analytics at Deakin University.
Vaidehi De
Vaidehi De is a research assistant at RMIT University in the school of electrical and computer engineering.
Dr Sonika Tyagi
Dr Sonika Tyagi is an associate professor of digital health and bioinformatics at the school of computational technologies, RMIT University.
She is also an affiliate machine learning lead scientist at Central Clinical School Monash University Australia.
Dr Tyagi was named as a Brilliant Women in Digital Health of 2023.
Her expertise is in developing new machine learning tools and pipelines, and applying these methods to solve biological and clinical research questions.
Dr Tyagi’s current research focuses on integrative approaches to digital health and genomics.
Sathana Dushyanthen
Dr Sathana Dushyanthen is the digital health workforce development scientist at the University of Melbourne.
She is a medical educator, science communicato, sciencist, researcher and digital education & innovation enthusiast”.
Purva Gulyani
Purva Gulyani has 16 years of experience in the field of clinical nutrition.
She has been the life program facilitator at Diabetes Victoria, bariatric dietitian and program manager at Fortis Healthcare and as a bariatric dietitian at Primus Super Speciality Hospital.
Srujana Sahebjada
Dr Srujana Sahebjada is a leading ophthalmology researcher.
She has been appointed the director of keratoconus international consortium at the Centre for Eye Research Australia.
Dr Sahebjada has also been a senior research fellow at the University of Melbourne.
Mahin Sonia
Mahin Sonia is the head of partner solution architecture at Amazon Web Services (AWS).
She was previously the head of software development at Civica Asia Pacific.
Shanthi Priya Samudrala
Dr Shanthi Priya Samudrala is a senior lecturer of the department of chemical and biological engineering at Monash University.
She finished her PhD at RMIT with her research expertise in Heterogeneous Catalysis, advanced materials, green chemistry and sustainable chemical processes.
She has been awarded prestigious Bennett Research Excellence Award from RMIT University in 2016 for outstanding research contributions.
Sharmila Sur
Dr Sharmila Sur is a research scientist in the hydrological applications team at the Australian Bureau of Meteorology, based in Melbourne.
Previously she was a research fellow at the Centre for Applied Climate Sciences, University of Southern Queensland (UniSQ).
Prior joining UniSQ, Sharmila was a post-doctoral researcher at the school of earth sciences at the University of Melbourne as a part of ARC discovery project.
Bhavika Unnadkat
India-born Bhavika Unnadkat is head of data governance and knowledge management at Energy Australia.
Ms Unnadkat is the chairman of Women’s Association South East Melbourne (WASEMA) and board member of directors at Australia Parents Council.
She was previously the head of data strategy analytics and governance at Momentum Energy.
Gillinder Bedi
Gillinder Bedi is the head of substance use research and a clinical psychologist and academic researcher at Orygen.
She is also a Dame Kate Campbell Principal research fellow, addiction and youth mental health, at the Centre for Youth Mental Health (CYMH), The University of Melbourne and a clinical psychologist at headspace.
Asha Rao
Professor Asha Rao is a mathematician and expert in cybersecurity.
Starting her academic career as an associate lecturer at RMIT in 1992, she is now the associate dean of mathematical sciences within the school of sScience at RMIT University.
Ms Rao was named one of the 2019 Superstars of STEM.
Debolina Majumdar
Dr Debolina Majumdar is a CSIRO postdoctoral research fellow and a mentor at WISR (Women in STEM Research)
She works in the field of molecular biology and genome engineering with an interest in technology commercialisation and science communication.
Arjumand Banu Khan
Arjumand Banu Khan is the founder and director of STEM Catalyst — a grassroots community organisation established by CALD STEM women.
She is also an ACSA Member of Australian Citizen Science Association.
Ms Khan has served as the president of the Multicultural Urdu Speaking Women’s Social Group and actively volunteers for the sustainability task force committee.
Dr Priya Subramanian
Dr Priya Subramanian is the head of research and innovation at DuluxGroup.
Chaitali Dekiwadia
Chaitali Dekiwadia is the life-Sciences and cryo-electron microscopy manager at RMIT microscopy and microanalysis facility.
She is also an electron microscopist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Aparna Jayachandran
Aparna Jayachandran is a cancer researcher with experience in academic and clinical sectors in Australia, Germany, USA & India.
She is the head of breast canaver research program and senior research fellow at Fiona Elsey Cancer Research Institute in Ballarat.
Kulari Lokuge Dona
Dr Kulari Lokuge is the director of knox innovation opportunity and sustainability centre at Swinburne University of Technology.
She was previously the director of eLearning at Monash College and principal learning technology at Swinburne.
Dr Shanti Krishnan
Dr Shanti Krishnan is the co-founder of mDetect a technology company specialising in muon technology platform.
She is a senior lecturer leading cutting-edge research in space and MEDTECH manufacturing at Swinburne University of Technology.
Dr Krishnan is also the deputy director of Factory of the Future.
Mrinal Bhave
Mrinal Bhave is a senior researcher at Swinburne University.
Her research is focused on addressing agricultural and environmental issues applying molecular biology, biochemistry and biotechnology techniques.
Parul Kapur
Parul Kapur is a cross market leader at Jacobs.
Ms Kapur primarily focuses on business development for energy and power markets, particularly data centres, across APAC.
Bringing more than 15 years of experience in cross-market strategy, project management, and client relationship management — Ms Kapur has a proven track record of delivering complex infrastructure projects across sectors such as data centres, power generation, and mining.
Shandiya Balasubramaniam
Shandiya Balasubramaniam is the decision support program lead in the science and decision support team at the Atlas of Living Australia.
Before her role, she was a data analyst at the Environment Protection Authority Victoria and the Ian Potter Biodiversity research fellow at Museums Victoria.
Mrinal Murali
Mrinal Murali is a clinical project manager at Dimerix Limited.
She is an experienced research scientist with several years of experience in clinical research and development, working in both clinical trial settings and academia.
Before joining Dimerix, Ms Murali worked at PPD, Austin Health, Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, Fisher and Paykel Healthcare.
Angeline Achariya
Melbourne’s Dr Angeline Achariya is a top leader in the agrifood sector, having founded Monash Food Innovation, a world-first industry collaborative hub.
Dr Achariya, an Indian-Fijian-Australian national, is the chief executive of Innovation GameChangers, the Asia Pacific Chair of Food Systems Innovation & Resilience and the board director of Australia’s Economic Accelerator.
Dr Archariya is the board director of NACi, AIFST, and the senior adviser at Beanstalk Agtech and Drought Venture Studio solving for future droughts.
Science and Technology Australian named Dr Achariya one of the 2024 Superstar of STEM
Simranpreet Kaur
Dr Simranpreet Kaur is a senior research officer and team leader at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute.
Her research area is genomic medicine.
Tanvi Oza
Tanvi Oza is an international policy manager at Climateworks Centre.
She specialises in climate diplomacy, international policy and strategic planning across the nexus of energy, water, biodiversity and agriculture.
Ms Oza has experience in international development programming, environmental and social science research, political advocacy, leadership, mentoring and education for sustainable development.
Ms Oza has been the technical lead (climate change) at WaterAid Australia, environmental scientist at GHD and global schools ambassador at Sustainable Development Solutions Network.
Neeharika Walthati
Neeharika (Neeha) Walthati is a data and cyber governance, risk and compliance analyst at Vicinity Centres.
She previously worked as an IT service coordinator at Blue Connections.
Sampa Sarkar
Dr Sampa Sarkar is an award-winning scientist (Victoria Fellow 2022-23) at RMIT University who is advancing infectious disease research through lipid-based drug and vaccine delivery systems, including cubosome and lipid nanoparticles.
Her patented ‘Lipid Nanocarrier Vaccine’ technology highlights her commitment to translating innovations into real-world solutions.
Actively collaborating with industry, consumers, and government, Dr Sarkar drives the commercialisation of cutting-edge therapeutics to address global health challenges for priority populations.
Shivani Gopaul
Shivani Gopaul is an acoustic engineer at Aurecon.
She was awarded the highest achieving graduate in the Master of Infrastructure Engineering and Management 2021 at Monash University.
She has also been appointed as the chassis engineer at Monash Human Power.
Niharika Dergrasi
Niharika Dergasi is a senior manager of contemporary operating model at PwC Advisory.
Ms Dergasiwas previously the business agility enablement manager at Accenture.
Hannah Sharma
Hannah Sharma is a researcher at the University of Melbourne’s department of physiotherapy after completing a Masters in Clinical Education.
She has been working as a physiotherapist for more than 14 years with experience across public health, the private sector and NDIS.
Her main areas of interest are orthopaedics, geriatrics, movement disorders and hydrotherapy.
Ms Sharma chairs the APA VIC gerontology committee and is an assessor for the Australian Physiotherapy council.
Rhenu Bhuller
Rhenu Bhuller is the global investment lead at AusBiotech.
She is also an advisory board member (Invest Melbourne) at the City of Melbourne.
Dr Ruchika Ojha
Dr Ruchika Ojha is vice-chancellor’s research fellow at RMIT.
Dr Ojha is a chemistry researcher specialising in inorganic synthesis, electrochemistry, and electroanalytical techniques, along with X-ray crystallography, Synchrotron-based experiments and spectroscopic techniques.
Sujeeva Setunge
Dr Sujeeva Setunge leads the research portfolio of STEM college at RMIT as the associate deputy vice-chancellor (ADVC) for research and innovation.
Prior to this appointment she had been the deputy dean (Research) in engineering (2016-2020), head of civil engineering (2012-2016) and the head of environmental engineering (2009-2011) at RMIT.
Anupriya Baranwa
Ms Anupriya Baranwal has cross-disciplinary expertise in biological sciences (microbiology, biochemistry, and bioinformatics); biotechnology; and engineering (nanotechnology).
Her current research at RMIT University focuses on developing a point-of-care diagnostic kit for early detection of type 1 diabetes.
Before her Melbourne research career, Ms Baranwal was a junior research fellow at the Indian Institute of Technology.
Namrata Srivastava
Namrata Srivastava is a postdoctoral research fellow in the department of data science and artificial intelligence at Monash University.
Dr Nisa Salim
Dr Nisha Salim is a senior lecturer at the School of Engineering at Swinburne University of Technology.
Her research is focused on engineered materials and composites that provide multiple functionalities such as energy storage, structural health monitoring, and EMI shielding and structural performance.
Dr Salim is an editorial board member of Elsevier’s Chemical Engineering and on the National Committee for Materials Science and Engineering (NCMSE) of the Australian Academy of Science.
Kaneez Fizza
Dr Kaneez Fizza is a research fellow at Swinburne University of Technology.
Her research interest is in the areas of internet of things, data analytics, ML and fog computing.
She has previously worked as a visiting research scholar in RTEMSOFT Lab at Ontario Tech University, Canada.
Shefali Joshi
Shefali Joshi is a digital optimisation specialist at BankVic.
She was previously appointed the senior marketing optimisation analyst at Monash University.
Madhu Bhaskaran
Dr Madhu Bhaskaran is a multi-award-winning electronics engineer and innovator.
She is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering and co-leads the Functional Materials and Microsystems Research Group at RMIT University, which she established in 2010.
She is the deputy director of research for the ARC Research Hub for Connected Sensors for Health, a chief investigator and Node Leader for the ARC Centre of Excellence in Transformative Meta-Optical Systems.
Dr Bhaskaran’s work on electronic skin and wearable sensors has been patented, and her group works collaboratively with multiple industry and design partners to commercialise technology for healthcare and aged care.
Aayushi Shah
Aayushi Shah is a project officer for Fire to Flourish and works with the community led disaster relief program.
She holds a Bachelor of Global Studies from Monash University, where she graduated with the Sir John Monash Medal.
Ms Shah has worked with the Equity, Diversity and Inclusion team at Monash where she facilitated programs in gender based violence prevention, anti-racism and relationships in Australia
Rashina Hoda
Rashina Hoda is an associate professor of software engineering in the faculty of information technology at Monash University.
She also serves as the associate dean (equity diversity and inclusion) and deputy director of the HumaniSE Lab.
Ms Hoda is an award-winning researcher and an international expert in human-centred software engineering specialising in agile software development.
Kavya Raj
Dr Kavya Raj is is an experienced neuro-cognitive researcher and an assistant lecturer at Monash University.
She is also a lecturer at Monash’s BehaviourWorks Australia.
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