Vishnu Vijayan

Research:

Vishnu's research focuses on deciphering complex mechanisms involved in the aggregation of Tau, an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP), into amyloid fibrils which is a pathological signature of several neurodegenerative diseases. He uses spectroscopic techniques to analyze the aggregation of full-length Tau from a structural point of view, with a goal of replicating disease fibril structures in-vitro. The study will be further extended to understand the binding of Positron Emission Tomography (PET) ligands to Tau, which is crucial for in-vivo imaging of the disease fibrils.

Education:

• 2015 - 2020 : BS-MS dual degree, Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER), Thiruvananthapuram
• 2020 - present: Graduate Student Researcher, Chemistry, University of California - Santa Barbara (Advisor: Prof. Songi Han)

Awards:

• 2015 - 2020: Innovation in Science Pursuit for Inspired Research (INSPIRE) scholarship, Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India
• 2018: DAAD - Working Internships in Science and Engineering (WISE) Scholarship
• 2020: Institute gold medal for best all round performance, IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• 2020 : Best undergraduate researcher award, IISER Thiruvananthapuram
• 2020 - 2021: Regents in Chemistry Fellow, University of California - Santa Barbara