Women in STEM: activities in different nations 

Chair: Prof. Jitendra Khurana, Vice President, International Affairs, Indian National Science Academy.

Key note Address: Prof. Jennifer Thompson: The Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD): Women who are making a difference in STEM

Addresses from SAARC Country representatives:

• Ms. Pramila Acharya Rijjal, Founder President of South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF), Charter President of Zonta Club Kathmandu, Nepal


• Ms. Mariam Shakeela, Executive President, Maldives Women's Chamber of Commerce (MWCC), South Asian Women Development Forum (SAWDF), Maldives


• Dr. Sachie Panawala, Project Scientist, Coordinating Secretariat of Science Technology & Innovation (COSTI), Srilanka


• Dr. Suraksha S. Diwan, Scientist ‘E’, Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India


• Ms. Tania Friederichs, Counsellor, Head of Research & Innovation Sector, Delegation of the European Union to India

Panel Discussion: Building Leadership

Chair: Dr. Simon Kay, Head, International Operations and Partnerships at Welcome Trust, UK.

Special Lecture: Dr. Simon Kay, Head, International Operations and Partnerships at Welcome Trust, UK.

• Dr. Gagandeep Kang, Director Translational Health Science and Technology Institute, Faridabad


• Dr. Sandhya Srikant Visweswariah, Professor, IISc, Bangalore


• Dr. Sourav Pal, Director, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Kolkata


• Dr. Vibha Dhawan, Director, The Energy and Resources Institute, Delhi

My life My Science: Women leaders in STEM

Chair: Dr. Chandrima Shaha, President, INSA

Co-Chair: Dr. Dasaradhi Palakodeti, Associate Investigator, InStem, Bengaluru

Lead Address: Dr. Wendy Harwood, Senior Scientist, John Innes Centre, Norwich - From Farm to Lab and back again

• Dr. Purnima Jalihal, Scientist ‘G’ and Head of Energy and Freshwater Programme, National Institute of Ocean Technology, Chennai


• Dr. Shobhona Sharma, Former Scientist, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), Mumbai


• Prof. Ellora Sen, Scientist VI, National Brain Research Center, New Delhi


• Dr. Sabhyata Bhatia, Scientist VII, National Institute of Plant Genome Research, New Delhi


• Dr. Shobhana Narsimhan, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR), Bangalore

Panel Discussion-Career perspectives: Thinking beyond boundaries

• Dr. Preetha Rajaraman, US Health Attache, India & Regional Representative, South Asia, Embassy of USA, New Delhi


• Dr. Savita Ayyar, Research Management Professional and Founder, Jaquaranda Tree Consulting, Bengaluru


• Dr. Swati Subodh, Co-Founder, 1 Million for 1 Billion and CSO, India Health Fund, New Delhi


• Dr. Smita Jain, Executive Director, India Bioscience, Bengaluru


• Ms. Samina Bano, Ashoka Fellow and Founder & CEO, Right Walk Foundation, Lucknow

Panel Discussion -Transforming India: Women in Entrepreneurship

Chair: Dr. Deepanwita Chattopadhyay, IKP Knowledge Park, Hyderabad

• Ms. Lakshmi Devi, Centre for Entrepreneurship and Career Oriented Program, University of Delhi, Hony, Director, CECOP, University of Delhi


• Dr. Sanghamitra Mobassarah Nusrat Jahan, Director, CyCa Ocosolutions, Odisha


• Dr. K. Rajeshwari, Founder, Bioklone


• Ms. Hema Annamalai, Founder and CEO, Ampere Vehicles Pvt. Ltd.

Panel Discussion-Women in STEM: Influence of a changing world and scientific communications 

Moderator: Ms. Shubhra Priyadarshini, Editor in Chief, Nature India, Nature Research

• Ms. Jahnavi Phalkey, Founding Director, Science Gallery, Bengaluru


• Dr. Karishma Kaushik, Asst. Prof. & Ramalingaswami Re-entry Fellow, Institute of Bioinformatics and Biotechnology, Univ. of Pune


• Mr/Dr. B. Chagun Basha, STI Policy Fellow, DST-Centre for Policy Research, IISc, Bangalore


• Ms. Kalika Bali, Principal Researcher, Microsoft Research

Panel Discussion -The future of women in STEM –Policies for enhancing diversity in STEM fields 

Chair: Dr. Renu Swarup, Secretary, DBT, Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India

Co-Chair: Prof. Rohini Godbole, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

• Mrs. Shirley Jayawardena, President, Women’s Chamber of Commerce and Industries Central Province; Vice-President, SAWDF Chapter,Women's Chamber of Industry & Commerce, Sri Lanka


• Dr. Atya Kapley, Vice President of the Asia Pacific Region of the Organization for Women in Science for the Developing World (OWSD)


• Prof. Rupamanjari Ghosh, Vice Chancellor, Shiv Nadar University, Greater Noida


• Dr. Vinita Sharma, Former Advisor, Department of Science & Technology, Ministry of Science & Technology, Govt. of India


• Ms. Millicent Liani, DELTAS LRP PhD Fellow; Centre for Capacity Research, Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, United Kingdom


• Prof. Melanie Welham, Chief Executive, Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council (BBSRC), United Kingdom