Vidita Vaidya facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vidita Vaidya
Nationality	Indian
Alma mater	St. Xavier's College, Mumbai Yale University
Awards	Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize, 2015 National Bioscience Award for Career Development, 2012 Fellow, Indian National Science Academy Infosys Prize in Life Sciences, 2022
Scientific career
Fields	Neuroscience with a focus on studying the neurocircuitry of emotion
Institutions	Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai
Doctoral advisor	Professor Ronald Duman at Yale University

Vidita Vaidya is a scientist from India who studies the brain and how it works. She is a professor at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Mumbai. Her main research areas are neuroscience (the study of the nervous system) and molecular psychiatry (how brain chemicals affect mental health).

Early Life and Inspiration

Vidita Vaidya grew up in a family of scientists. Her parents, Dr. Rama Vaidya and Dr. Ashok Vaidya, were both doctors and researchers. Her uncle, Dr. Akhil Vaidya, studied parasites that cause malaria. Their work inspired her to become a scientist, especially in neuroscience, which is the study of the brain. When she was a teenager, she also loved reading about famous primatologists like Dian Fossey and Jane Goodall, who studied monkeys and apes.

Education Journey

Vidita went to St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, where she studied Life Sciences and Biochemistry. She then earned her PhD in Neuroscience at Yale University in the United States. Her professor, Ronald Duman, was a great mentor who helped shape her career. After her PhD, she continued her research at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.

What Vidita Vaidya Studies

Vidita Vaidya joined the Department of Biological Sciences at the TIFR in Mumbai when she was 29 years old. She leads a research group that studies how our brains control emotions. She investigates how life experiences and medicines like antidepressants affect these brain circuits.

Her research also looks at how changes in brain circuits can lead to mental health conditions like depression. She explores how experiences early in life can cause lasting changes in behavior. One important area her team focuses on is a brain chemical receptor called serotonin2A. This receptor is involved in how certain substances affect mood and how early difficult experiences can have long-term effects on the brain.

Vidita's lab uses rats and mice to understand how serotonin helps shape brain circuits related to emotion when animals are young. She also studies how fast-acting antidepressant treatments work. Her main goal is to understand why some people are more likely to develop stress-related mental health problems, while others are more resilient.

Awards and Recognitions

Vidita Vaidya has received many important awards for her scientific work.

• In 2012, she received the National Bioscience Award for Career Development.
• In 2015, she was awarded the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize for Science and Technology, which is one of India's highest science awards.
• In 2019, she received the Nature Award for Mentorship in Science for her work guiding other scientists.
• In 2022, she won the Infosys Prize in Life Sciences. This award recognized her important discoveries about how the brain handles mood disorders like anxiety and depression. It also highlighted her work on how serotonin affects behavior changes caused by early life stress and how it helps brain cells get energy.
• She is also a Fellow of several important science academies in India, including the Indian National Science Academy.
• In 2023, she was named one of the Asian Scientist 100 by Asian Scientist magazine.

Featured in Books and Talks

Vidita has been featured in "Lilavathi's Daughters," a book that shares stories about Indian women scientists. She also appeared on "The Life in Science" blog. In 2015, she gave a TEDx talk at St. Xavier's College, Mumbai, where she explained how stress can change our brains. She has also been part of TIFR's "Chai and Why" series, which makes science fun and easy to understand.

Personal Life

Vidita Vaidya is married to Ajit Mahadevan, who supported her research career. They have a daughter named Alina Vaidya Mahadevan. In her free time, Vidita enjoys traveling, reading, and dancing.

See also

In Spanish: Vidita Vaidya para niños

• TIFR