Sneha holds a Ph.D. from Rutgers Medical School in collaboration with Stanford, where she investigated the role of Vitamin D3 in Multiple Sclerosis, followed by postdoctoral research at Columbia University Medical Center focusing on osteoimmunology and leukemia–bone microenvironment interactions.
Currently she leads multi-institutional breast cancer research programs with expertise in project management, grants strategy, and collaborative partnerships. Skilled in integrating clinical and translational research, developing model concepts, and advancing innovative approaches in breast cancer care. Also drives capacity building in Breast Cancer Clinical Management and Research through courses, workshops, online platforms, symposia, and hands-on training initiatives, fostering professional development for clinicians, scientists, and medical personnel.
As part of her WomenLift Health leadership journey, she proposed the establishment of INPARMA initiative. Through INPARMA, she envisions building a vibrant RMA–PMA community in India, fostering professional identity, connection, and capacity development to strengthen the nation’s research and innovation ecosystem.
- Head of Strategic Partnerships at The George Institute for Global Health, India.
- 15+ years in research management across leading public health organizations.
- Former Grants Adviser at DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance.
- IRMI Fellow & Member | NCURA Region VIII Member
I specialize in building research ecosystems that empower institutions and professionals. My work bridges strategy, management and capacity.
Contributor to the RAAAP global surveys on research management careers.
Published author in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters on research management and administration.
Invited speaker and trainer for RMAs by ARMS (Australia), ARMA (UK), CARA (Canada), NCURA (USA), SRAi, and INORMS.
Featured in Women in STEM: Vanguards of India@75 by the Confederation of Indian Industry
My mission: To professionalize and scale India’s research management workforce.
Healthcare professional with over 15 years of cross-sectoral experience in strengthening health systems, disease surveillance, and large-scale program implementation. Proven ability to drive impact through stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and innovative approaches across public, private, and philanthropic sectors. Passionate about building data-driven, locally relevant solutions that improve health outcomes. Adept at resource mobilisation, consortium-building, and aligning diverse partners around common goals
With over a decade of extensive experience in scientific research, Dr. Alpana Dave brings a unique blend of technical expertise and organizational skills to the biomedical sciences. She holds a PhD in Medicine from Flinders University and transitioned to research administration in 2020. Throughout her career, she has driven innovation in research settings, notably in her current role as a Project Scientist at the BRIC-National Institute of Biomedical Genomics, Kalyani, West Bengal, India where she established the Institute’s Research Office. She leads the Research Office, overseeing pre- and post-award grant management, research output analysis, science communication, institutional reporting, and collaboration development.
She has showcased her work at conferences, highlighting her leadership in advancing research administration. Alpana has a proven track record in project and grant management, facilitating collaborations, and science communication. Skilled in event coordination, and social media strategy, she is committed to enhancing scientific engagement and fostering impactful research initiatives.
She aims to carry forward her commitment to strengthening research management and administration across the country through INPARMA.
Apurva Barve is a PhD qualified biologist with over ten years of experience in science communication, education, administration and outreach. She is passionate about conveying the excitement of science to varied audiences, including teachers, students and the general public. Through her work, she promotes active and inquiry-based learning to develop key science skills, and has a special interest in climate education.
Her main areas of interest and experience include developing educational resources and conducting workshops for teachers on active science pedagogies; managing educational projects and outreach programmes; and establishing successful national/international collaborations.
After her doctoral studies, she briefly taught life science at the undergraduate level and then worked in the corporate sector, writing e-learning courses for pharmaceutical industries. Since 2015, she has been working in the area of scientific outreach and education. For about seven years, she coordinated the educational outreach activities of a premier national organisation, the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune (India). This involved developing teaching resources, conducting hands-on science activities for students, organising inquiry-oriented pedagogy workshops for school and university science teachers, and helping set up a science activity centre on campus. She has worked at the Office for Climate Education, a UNESCO category 2 centre based in Paris. Here, she designed and conducted workshops for teachers from the UK, Europe and Mexico on the scientific and social aspects of climate change and developed content for a MOOC for school teachers on teaching climate change. She was the Centre Head for the Centre for Resources at Maharashtra State Faculty Development Academy (MSFDA), Pune, where she conceptualised and organised training modules for higher education teachers, and conducted workshops on active learning, climate change education and other relevant themes. She currently works at the Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation Ltd. (MKCL), where she develops e-learning content and educational resources on biology.
Dr Gajanan is a graduate and postgraduate in Biotechnology from Swami Ramanand Teerth Marathwada University, Nanded, Maharashtra, and a PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), Pune. Currently, he serves at the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar (IITGN) as a Grants Management Officer in the Research and Development division. Before his current role, he had worked in various laboratories of national laboratories, viz. DRDO, DBT-National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) Pune, BRIC-Centre of DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad. Apart from his research and administrative responsibilities, he has many national-level fellowships to his credit, including CSIR-NET, ICAR-NET, GATE (BT), SET- MH, DRDO, BARC, IISc and so on… he also holds awards, including DBT- Wellcome Trust India Alliance Grants Management Fellowship during 2023-2025(IRMI-RM), CSIR Travel Grant for an international conference. He has published more than 20 manuscripts in international peer-reviewed journals, including Springer Nature, Elsevier, Wiley, and Taylor & Francis, among others. He is also a reviewer for over 10 journals.
Dr. Gajanan has started his Research Management and Administration journey after a decade of core research experience in Biomedical Science with Dr. Ajay Pillai, at the National Centre for Cell Science and within a year, he has received DBT/Wellcome Trust India Alliance -IRMI Fellowship to establish the Research Management Office at Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics, Hyderabad. At CDFD, he supported in various capacities. In his current role at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Gandhinagar, he oversees the entire grants office. He has been working for INPARMA since its planning, with various aspects to build a nationwide network for Research and Project managers and administrators. He is promoting research management in multiple capacities, including seminars, workshops, and webinars.
Expertise: Grants curation and administration, Pre-award, post-award, industrial collaboration, grant proposal development, financial budgeting, liaising with the funding agencies, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), academic counselling and consultation on grant-related matters.
Mohit Kumar is a Research Management and Administration (RMA) professional with more than 13 years of experience in different domains of higher education administration including research management & administration, academic administration, student admissions, examinations, convocation, and research coordination across leading Indian Higher Education Institutions.
At IIIT-Delhi, he plays a key role in strengthening the research ecosystem by managing doctoral research operations and project staff recruitment within the Innovation Research & Development Division. His work involves overseeing the entire Ph.D. lifecycle i.e. from admissions and fellowships to thesis evaluations and supporting faculty and principal investigators in the recruitment and administration of project personnel for funded research initiatives.
Mohit holds a Master of Public Administration (MPA), a Master of Commerce (M.Com), and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education Management & Administration (PGDEMA), among other qualifications. He is currently pursuing a Ph.D. at O.P. Jindal Global University (IoE), focusing on the evolution of research priorities in Indian higher education and the growing role of RMA in building efficient institutional research ecosystems.
As a core committee member of INPARMA, Mohit is committed to advancing RMA as a recognized profession in India and fostering collaborative research support systems nationwide.
Rupa obtained her Ph.D. from Advanced Centre for Treatment Research and Education in Cancer, wherein she worked on molecular mechanisms in oral cancers and completed her post-doctoral training at Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) – Pune, wherein she worked on breast cancer pathogenesis.
She then worked with Pune Knowledge Cluster as Assistant Program Manager before joining Prashanti Cancer Care Mission in 2021. At PCCM, she leads the Breast Cancer Genetics Program with expertise in managing genetic testing services, integrating genetic counseling into clinical practice, and advancing research on hereditary breast cancer. She also actively contributes to the capacity building initiative at PCCM through involvement in online training modules, symposia, and hands-on workshops, supporting the professional development of clinicians, genetic counselors, and allied health personnel.
Through INPARMA, she aims to contribute to building a connected and empowered community of research and program management professionals in India to strengthen the nation’s research and innovation ecosystem.
Healthcare professional with over 15 years of cross-sectoral experience in strengthening health systems, disease surveillance, and large-scale program implementation. Proven ability to drive impact through stakeholder engagement, strategic planning, and innovative approaches across public, private, and philanthropic sectors. Passionate about building data-driven, locally relevant solutions that improve health outcomes. Adept at resource mobilisation, consortium-building, and aligning diverse partners around common goals.