FACULTY OF MEDICAL AND HEALTH SCIENCES

Dr. Anuradha Vaidya began her research career after receiving a Master’s degree in Health Sciences from the University of Pune. She spent some time at National AIDS Research Institute (NARI) where she was received training in animal tissue culture and molecular biology techniques. She then got an opportunity to work in the area of Stem Cell Biology at National Centre for Cell Science (NCCS), Pune. From day one, she was fascinated by the world of stem cells and soon enrolled for a doctoral programme at NCCS. During her doctoral tenure Dr. Vaidya learnt several advanced techniques pertaining to the field of stem cells like the co-culture assays that assess the functionality of stem cells. Soon after receiving a doctoral degree in 2011, Dr. Vaidya got affiliated to the brand “Symbiosis”. Currently, she is heading the Symbiosis School of Biological Sciences in capacity of a Professor and Director. With her background and training in Stem Cell Biology, Dr. Vaidya also pioneered the establishment of the Symbiosis Centre of Stem Cell Research (SCSCR).


Dr. Anuradha Vaidya’s current research is an extension of her doctoral work and focuses on understanding the microenvironment-mediated regulation of hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Additionally, she is also interested in understanding whether the secretome derived from mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) could be used as “cell free biologics” for rejuvenating aging adult stem cells by improving their regenerative potential.

Dr. Vaidya is a member of National and International societies such Indian Society of Cell Biology and International Society for Stem Cell Research. She is also a member of various academic, ethical, and safety committees within and outside of SIU. She has been serving as an Editor and Reviewer for many International peer-reviewed journals. She has also published several research articles in reputed journals such as Stem Cell Reviews and Reports, Regenerative Medicine, Stem Cells, Cryobiology, etc., and is currently involved in guiding and mentoring doctoral and dissertation students.

Prof. Atul A Gokhale is a Chef with 26 years of experience both in India and abroad in the field of teaching, administration, hospitality and service industry Having worked as a top notch Chef in the hotel industry, he specializes in European and Indian cuisine. He graduated from Institute of Hotel Management (IHM) Bhubaneswar and is a MBA. He is also a distinguished hospitality educationist. He is a Certified Hospitality Educator (CHE) and master trainer from the American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute (AHLEI) USA. He has over 16 years’ experience in running Hotel Schools in India and the Gulf countries especially in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia. He was instrumental in designing the National Skills Qualification Framework for the Hotel trade in Bahrain.

He is a Member (MIH) of Institute of Hospitality (IoH, UK) since July 2005 and member faculty of American Hotel and Lodging Educational Institute, Orlando, USA, since 2006.

He is a member of Toastmasters International since 2011 and is a certified Competent Communicator and Competent Leader.

He practices Life Coaching as hobby and conducts free seminars for young professionals and students on developing self-belief in facing the challenges of the world.

As an Entrepreneur he has done project consultancies for hotels and restaurants and owned and operated “Pinch of Salt” a corporate catering & consultancy service firm.

Lt Col (Dr) T VijayaSagar, MBBS, MS (Anatomy) is a well known and acclaimed teacher of Human Anatomy. He graduated from the prestigious Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) Pune and subsequently obtained his post graduate degree in Anatomy from the same institute. Upon graduation from the Armed Forces Medical College, he joined the Indian Army Medical Corps and put in 24 years of exemplary and meritorious service.A multimedia project on Cross sectional Anatomy and correlated clinical imaging with collaboration from the National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, Maryland USA was a notable research project and subsequent publication. Student related appointments included Officer in charge of Music and Dramatics Club, AFMC, Admission Cell in charge, AFMC, Resident Warden AFMC. Administrative appointments included Officer in Charge of Medical Stores, Base Hospital Delhi Cantt. His exemplary service in the Army Medical Corps earned him the Indian Army Commendation twice in 2006 and 2009.

In 2015 he joined the Sri Ramachandra Medical College and Research Institute (SRMC) at Chennai as the Head of Department of Anatomy. Apart from his outstanding teaching achievements at SRMC, he was the Director of E-learning initiatives at SRMC. He was chiefly instrumental in setting up the MOODLE Learning management system at SRMC in the year 2015. He was also responsible for personally training over 600 faculty members in MOODLE site administration and e-content creation. He trained in Soft embalming of Cadavers at the University of Adelaide South Australia. He set up India’s first formalin free Cadaveric Surgical skills lab at SRMC Chennai. This lab has conducted more than 100 workshops in Cadaveric skills since 2017 and has helped in honing and refining the surgical skills of Surgeons and Clinicians. He was also appointed as the National Co-ordinator for National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning and Direct to Home Swayamprabha Project of Ministry of Human Resource Development, Govt of India. As part of the Swayamprabha project, he was responsible for the setting up of the Swayamprabha AV studios at SRMC. More than 100 high quality video lectures in anatomy recorded at this studio are made available to medical students across the country and the world free of charge. In 2016, he was appointed as Section Editor for Clinical learning andElevesiver Basic Sciences Online(Anatomy ) Elsevier Publications, South East Asia Division. He was also chiefly instrumental in setting up two NCC Wings (Army and Navy, 1st TN battalion (med) Army and Navy) at SRMC. He was awarded the Teaching Excellence Award at Sri Ramachandra University Chennai for his outstanding contributions to medical education. Additionally, his tenure at Chennai also saw him in the role of the Chief Warden SRU hostels having more than 6000 residential students for the period 2016 to 2020.

Apart from numerous publications and presentations, He is the principal author of Multimedia based teaching aids. A) Cross sectional anatomy and correlated clincal imaging b) Interactive Human Histology DVD ROM and Text book of Histology, Infomed Publishers New Delhi, now in its 3rd Edition c) Interactive Human Embryology on DVD ROM. He is presently working on a project on Human Neuroanatomy.

A prodigiously talented individual, DrVijayaSagar, apart from his professional activities, is an avid wildlife photographer, a passionateaeromodeller, an ardent golfer and a rock guitarist.

His outstanding academic achievements, administrative capabilities and proficiency in computer based teaching learning have led him on to the prestigious appointment as Dean of Symbiosis Medical College for Women which he presently occupies.