I was born and raised in Madurai, India, where I pursued my undergraduate degree in zoology from The American College. I received my master’s degree in nanoscience at the University of Madras in Chennai, India, where I studied crystal habits and structure of Z-DNA crystals with Gautham Namasivayam. I moved to the US to pursue a PhD in chemistry at New York University, working with Ned Seeman, where my research focused on two- and three-dimensional DNA crystals self-assembled from designed DNA motifs. I later moved to the University at Albany, State University of New York (SUNY) for my postdoc with Ken Halvorsen, where I developed a molecular assay for nucleic acid detection. After that, I spent two years working as a Senior Scientist at Confer Health, Inc., a start-up based in Boston. I started my independent research lab as a Senior Research Scientist at The RNA Institute at SUNY Albany in 2022. I'm currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Nanoscale Science and Engineering at SUNY Albany, continuing to lead my independent lab. My guiding light for longevity in research is my motto that "science is fun". I love DNA, with an inclination towards the physical characteristics of the molecule. I like to write about current research in DNA nanotechnology, and I'm also keen on following the publishing circuit, journal characteristics and the peer-review process. When I'm not doing science, I like to sing, write poetry, and watch movies, even the crappy ones.