Our Team
Working together for a bio-responsible future
Dr. Suryesh Kumar Namdeo
Senior Research Analyst and Project Lead
Dr. Suryesh Kumar Namdeo is responsible for overall leadership and coordination of the project. He contributes to policy research, training, policy engagement and outreach activities in the domains of bio-responsibility and science diplomacy.
Dr. Suryesh Kumar Namdeo is an internationally recognized expert at the intersection of biosecurity, science diplomacy, and global biogovernance. He is a member of the Indian National Young Academy of Science (INYAS) and a former Fellow at the Asia Centre for Health Security (ACHS) in Singapore. Dr. Namdeo serves on the advisory board of the International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS) and contributes to the working groups of the AIxBio Global Forum, convened by the Nuclear Threat Initiative — reflecting his deep engagement with emerging biosecurity risks.
His expertise has been sought by leading global institutions, including the U.S. National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), where he has contributed to multiple expert committees on biosecurity. He previously served as Science and Technology Consultant for the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC) at the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs, where his responsibilities included facilitating science and technology advice to policymakers and international civil servants. He has co-authored the ‘Seoul Youth Declaration for Disarmament and Non-proliferation’ and the ‘Youth Declaration for Biosecurity.’ For his contributions, he was a finalist for the PACEY Award 2026, by the Basel Peace Office.
An IFBA certified Biorisk Management Professional, he has also championed the science policy community as a former Director for Outreach and Engagement at the Journal of Science Policy and Governance (JSPG). He earlier served as programme officer for the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Fellowship Programme of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. He holds a PhD in Molecular Biology from the Max Planck Institute for Biology, Tübingen, Germany.
Akriti Sharma
Research Associate
Akriti is responsible for undertaking research on climate-associated biorisks, anticipatory governance approaches, and security implications of emerging biorisks. She conducts field-based research (FGDs, surveys, interviews) and contributes to academic and policy publications. She is the editor for the Bio-Responsibility Policy Briefs, policy statements, and reports.
Akriti Sharma is a Research Associate at the Centre for Society and Policy, Indian Institute of Science (IISc). She received her PhD titled “Environmental and Climate Change in the Himalaya: A Case for Regional Cooperation” from the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS). She was previously a Visiting Researcher at Eurac Research, Italy and a Visiting Fellow at the Centre for South Asian Studies, Nepal. Her research interests include non-traditional security threats, global climate governance, science-policy interfaces, and anticipatory governance approaches.
Anu Maria Joseph
Research Analyst
Anu is responsible for conducting research on biosecurity issues, with a focus on infectious disease spread in a conflict context. She also supports programme management and operational coordination for the initiative. She is the Convenor of the International Bio-Responsibility Conference 2027.
Anu Maria Joseph is a Research Analyst at the Centre for Society and Policy, Indian Institute of Science (IISc). She has been working on peace and conflict studies, with a focus on Africa and South Asia. She closely follows the conflicts in Sudan, Ethiopia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and the regime changes in South Asia. She has experience across research, editing, project coordination, and programme coordination roles. She worked as a Project Associate at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bangalore, with the Conflict Resolution and Peace Research programme. She has previously been a Research Intern at the Graduate Institute of International Studies, National Chung Hsing University (NCHU), Taiwan.
She has also been a Non-Resident Research Fellow at the Subhas Chandra Bose Chair on International Relations (SCB-IR), Chanakya University, Bangalore.
Tanya Sarawagi
Research Analyst
Tanya is a biosecurity policy researcher at the Centre for Society and Policy, Indian Institute of Science, working on emerging biotechnology governance, synthetic nucleic acid security, AI–biology convergence, and dual-use research. As part of the Bio-Responsibility Initiative, she contributes to policy research, expert consultations, workshops, and science-policy outreach, including the development of visual tools for communicating complex biosecurity issues. She is the Chief Illustrator of the Bio-Responsibility Collective Comic Series.
She holds a Master’s degree in Biotechnology and has experience spanning biosafety policy, regulatory analysis, and life-sciences research. During her dissertation at iBRIC-inStem, Bengaluru, she contributed to an international collaboration examining climate-linked vulnerabilities of high-containment laboratories. Tanya is a Youth for Biosecurity Fellow and a Fellow of the ICGEB Fellowships for Scientists in Biosecurity, undertaken in collaboration with the BWC Implementation Support Unit (BWC ISU) and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) in Trieste, Italy. Her work includes academic and policy contributions on synthetic DNA governance and AI-biosecurity.
V Krithika
Research Intern
Chenni Valavan
Research Intern
Chenni Valavan is an Integrated Master’s student in Development Studies at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, with academic interests in international security, biosecurity, public health preparedness, and biological risk governance. He is currently a Research Intern with the Bio-Responsibility Initiative at the Center for Society and Policy, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, where his work focuses on biological threat governance and policy responses to emerging biological risks. His current research examines the intersections between life sciences research, public health and biological threat assessment in Mizoram, alongside the design of simulation exercises for public health preparedness and biological risk response.
He has prior research experience across geopolitical risk analysis, international conflicts, and public health. His work has included field-based research on health systems and institutional capacity in Mizoram, analysis of regional security and political developments in West Asia & Africa, and research in CBRN risks. He has authored policy reports, analytical briefs, and research papers addressing conflict dynamics, emerging technologies, health-system resilience, and biological security. He has also developed exploratory epidemiological models and maintains a self-hosted research computing environment for data management and computational research.
Hana Lukman
Research Intern
Hana Lukman is a BS-MS graduate in Integrated and Interdisciplinary Biological Sciences from IISER Thiruvananthapuram. Her interests lie at the intersection of bioresponsibility, biosecurity, and public health.
She is currently a Research Intern with the Bio-Responsibility Initiative at the Center for Society and Policy, Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru, where she contributes to research at the intersection of life sciences, biological risk, and policy. Her interests extend to the responsible development and governance of emerging areas such as synthetic biology, while also exploring their implications for public health and society.
Hana brings an interdisciplinary research background spanning molecular biology, ageing research, neuroscience, and synthetic biology. As a member of the iGEM IISER TVM 2023 team, she worked on safety, human practices, and science communication, focusing on responsible conduct in synthetic biology and dual-use research concerns. She later served as an iGEM Ambassador for Asia and Oceania. Alongside her research and policy interests, Hana has been actively involved in science communication and public engagement.
Our Former Members
Aayushi Sharma
Aayushi Sharma was previously a Research Analyst at Bio-Responsibility Initiative. She conducted research on disarmament and non-proliferation in the context of biological weapons, with a focus on national implementation and compliance with the Biological Weapons Convention. She supported programme management and operational coordination for the initiative.