Sushmita Jha is a Professor in the Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Jodhpur. During her PhD at the Department of Cell and Molecular Physiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Prof Jha elucidated a novel pathway for inflammation and demyelination in the brain.  She pursued Postdoctoral research at the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Care (USA), characterising cellular and molecular mechanisms of demyelination in Multiple Sclerosis. 

Subsequently, Prof Jha joined IIT Jodhpur in 2012. At IIT Jodhpur, she established the Inflammation Immunity and Tumour Biology Lab. This lab focuses on understanding innate immunity, inflammation, and tumour biology utilising cellular and molecular 3-Dimensional (3D) models such as patient-derived organoids and 3D tunable spheroids to study brain tumours and breast cancer pathophysiology as well as normal physiology. Prof Jha's laboratory has been funded by the Department of Biotechnology, International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), Department of Science and Technology, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITy), SERB, and BRNS (DAE). 

Prof Jha is the recipient of the IITJ Research Excellence Award 2024, IBRO Diversity grant 2023, ISNO President’s Award for Outstanding Work in Neuro-Oncology by the Indian Society for Neuro-Oncology (2022), The Kusum Sharma Award for a Young Woman Scientist awarded by the Indian Academy of Biomedical Sciences (2021), Young scientist Award, (2014-2017) Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), and the Hulka Innovator’s Award (2008) Centre for women’s health research at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, USA.

Prof Jha is the founding Head of the Department of Bioscience and Bioengineering at IITJ and has been heading the joint programs in medical technologies between IITJ and AIIMSJ since 2020, as well as the MedTech Centre at IITJ. 

Email:sushmitajha@iitj.ac.in, Phone: +91-291-280-1204

Website: www.sushmitajhalab.com