With her kind of mindset,grit,perseverance and dedication we are sure that she will continue to inspire generations of young minds with any kind of challenge in their lives.

We Sarva Ananya and P Nakshatra, Class VIII are indeed very privileged to interact with Dr J. Mahitha, the alma mater of Sherwood Public School.

1) How would you describe your journey from a Sherwoodian to being a scientist ?

It has been incredible. After I finished my 12th at Sherwood Public School in the year 2006, I enrolled for a B.Sc degree (Botany/Zoology/Chemistry) in St. Francis Degree College for Women, Begumpet, Hyderabad. In my second year of undergraduate studies, I started preparing for the Joint Admission Test to M.Sc in IIT (JAM). I enrolled in a coaching centre and juggled my time between my college coursework and preparations for the entrance exam.

My original goal was to attempt the JAM for M.Sc Biotechnology but later I observed I was becoming increasingly fascinated with Chemistry so I changed tracks and decided to pursue a M.Sc in Chemistry. In 2009, I successfully cleared the JAM exam and got admitted into IIT-Madras for my M.Sc in Chemistry. In my second year of M.Sc, I decided to pursue a Ph.D, and attempted several entrance exams for getting admission into the Ph.D program. One of these exams was the NCBS (National Centre for Biological Sciences) entrance exam for the PhD program in TIFR and NCBS. NCBS is an off-campus department of the TIFR, located in Bangalore. 25 students were selected out of 5000 students through a 4-round rigorous screening process.

Around the same time, I attempted the National Eligibility Test (NET) (required for joining a PhD program at any Indian research institute) conducted by the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Govt of India, where I secured an All India Rank of 57, and this began my journey to become a scientist. The rock-solid support from my PhD advisor and my lab colleagues played a significant role in the successful completion of my PhD. My PhD research was interdisciplinary, drawing on concepts rooted in chemistry, biology and computer science, to study protein interactions involved in a biological pathway responsible for the innate immune response to foreign pathogens, and the impact of mutations on these interactions.

After my Ph.D, I moved to the US in November 2018 to work as a postdoctoral scientist at Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire. My work there was my first foray into computational immunology where I applied the training received during my PhD to study a specific type of biological interaction. After working there for two years, I moved to San Diego, California to join my current role.

2) How has Sherwood Public School shaped up your professional aspirations?

The education and experiences from my 11 years spent at Sherwood provided the foundation for building self-confidence and exposed me to the outside world. Being a person having profound hearing loss, relying heavily on lip reading and whose speech clarity was not as good as that of a person with normal hearing, the teachers always made me feel included. I loved participating in every possible activity and the teachers encouraged me to participate in a wide range of extracurricular activities and even in cases where it was challenging (such as elocutions/debates/quizzes).

The social interactions through these activities, something which I, now looking back, realize played a vital role in my all-round development of my personality. Being included and encouraged to take part in all activities led me to believe that anything is possible if I dream of it. ‘Vision’, ‘Challenge’, ‘Commitment’, ‘Success’ – these words painted on the walls in the school’s Assembly Hall – were deeply ingrained in my mind from a young age. After passing out of Sherwood, and into my first year of undergraduate education, I had a vision but many people thought it was absurd, and could not even imagine me achieving it. However, I kept my focus on the goal and dedicated myself to achieving that goal that brought me to where I am now. Sherwood gave me the courage and confidence to have that vision in the first place.

3) Could you share some memorable moments of your school life? -

Excursions

My first excursion was to Pachmarhi when I was in the seventh standard. I had never walked or trekked so much in my life! Once while we were trekking back to the campsite, we stopped by a small café and bought some snacks. I bought chips and was happily munching them while walking back. Since the path on which we were walking was narrow, we were walking in a line in the forest. Suddenly out of nowhere, a group of monkeys made their grand entrance. One monkey jumped on my head and snatched the packet, while another monkey also jumped at the same time and started fighting with the first monkey for the packet of chips. The students in front of me ran ahead and the students behind me ran even further away, as I stood rooted to the spot out of shock. It took a while to get out of that incident.

Sports meet

There is one particular sports event that I have vivid memories of. This was when I was in the sixth (or perhaps seventh – I don’t recollect) and was playing throwball for the first time. Reddy sir had announced that the inter house throwball tournament would be held soon. I was in Dayanand house then. During the trials for selecting players for the team, I performed poorly and could not even throw the ball beyond the net. So, when I did not make it to the team, I felt disappointed. However, we had a Dussehra vacation period coming up. During the vacation, I bought a football and would practice with a friend on the terrace of my apartment every evening. - Annual day preparations, practices, march pasts, PTs

The practices leading to the Annual Day Celebrations were the most eagerly awaited by every student and I was no exception. I tried to participate in as many performances as I could. However, there is one incident that occurred during my last Annual Day celebration when I was in the 12th class. Our class was given the opportunity to perform a play based on Willian Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar. I was given a minor role – one of Brutus’ conspirators who murders Caesar. In the days leading to the annual day, I was unwell and had missed the rehearsals, so my first direct encounter with the people playing the characters in the play, was on the day of the event itself. When my turn came to be on stage with the rest of the actors, I suddenly found it quite funny – seeing these very people in costumes, and tried my best to suppress a laugh. In the scene where all the conspirators stab Caesar, I could no longer suppress my laughter. At the precise moment when we stab him, I let out a small laugh. However, to my horror, when I went backstage, I came to know that the microphone was close to me and had unfortunately captured my laughter and the entire audience had heard it. I was so embarrassed then. This is one memory that I cannot forget easily.

Games period

I particularly enjoyed playing throwball during our games period. There were also the occasional basketball and kho-kho matches that we played.

English classes

Our English classes were conducted by Irvinder madam and Narayan madam. Irvinder ma’am would teach us grammar while Narayan madam would teach us prose, plays and poetry. I really enjoyed those classes. Irvinder madam kept urging me to become a journalist, and thanks to her, I am also a science communicator where I write short posts explaining complex science concepts to the public in a simple and easy-to-understand manner.

4) Why are you passionate towards the subject, Chemistry?

Chemistry is a fascinating subject – the study of atoms and molecules, tiny tiny bits of particles that dictate the rules of life – right from the origin of the universe, creation of a living organism from single cells, to how our body deals with infections. It is everywhere – in the food you eat, the air you breathe in, the water you drink. Once I started observing this, especially the study of molecular interactions in the context of biology such as protein-protein interactions, there was no turning back.

5) You are a successful researcher in immunology. What fascinates you in immunology?

We are surrounded by millions of microorganisms such as bacteria and viruses that are invisible to the naked eye., present in the air, water and food. These microorganisms contain molecules within them. We also contain molecules in our bodies, in cells, tissues and organs. Yet, if a bacteria or virus infects our bodies, the body immediately recognises the bacteria as a ‘foreigner’ and prepares the body to fight it off. Why does it not do the same against the molecules present in our body? How can the body’s immune system distinguish ‘self’ from ‘non-self’? The human body has limited energy resources which need to be allocated for different functions. Despite its limited resources, how does the human body have the capacity to recognise each and every one of these microorganisms that surrounds us? These are some of the questions that keep me hooked in immunology.

6) What does your work involve? What does a day in your life look like?

I develop computational methods to study the immune response to different types of infections including SARS-CoV-2, and vaccination. My work is very interdisciplinary, drawing on concepts rooted in chemistry, biology, and computer science. I sometimes collaborate with other scientists who perform experiments in vitro (in cells cultured on a petridish) or in vivo (in animals such as mice) and use the experimental data to gain insights into what features are important for mounting a successful immune response. Once we feel that our study has reached a certain stage, we write a paper describing the motivation, background, design, results and conclusions of the study and submit it to a scientific journal.

Reviewers are assigned to read the manuscript and provide feedback and suggest additional work for improving the study. Once everything has been approved, the manuscript is accepted and published in the scientific journal.

7) You plan to create an antibody cocktail for low and middle-income countries. What ideas are behind this thought?

My work is actually a small part of a much bigger project whose goal is to create antibody cocktails for Covid19. Vaccination of every person on this earth is crucial in ending this pandemic. However, the global distribution of vaccines is unequal. There are countries which have vaccinated most of their population, while there are other countries which face shortage of vaccines. Unfortunately, most of the countries that face vaccine shortages fall into the low-middle economy tier. Vaccine supply and manufacture varies from country to country and there are delays. People who are waiting to get fully vaccinated are at high risk from severe Covid19 disease. The antibody cocktail that we are planning to create will serve as a prophylactic (to prevent infection and severe disease), rather than as a therapeutic (which is administered after the person is infected). It is a humbling experience to be working in such an important area.

8) Did you have culture shock when you joined the US University? If yes, how did you overcome it?

It took me some time initially to get used to the different cultures in the US. Dartmouth College is located in New Hampshire which is known for its severe and long winters. It is also a rural town, located by the Connecticut river and surrounded by hills. I had arrived there in late November when winter had already set in. It was a big adjustment to the climate there as well. Thankfully, I had a strong support system there in the form of my postdoctoral advisor as well as friends who helped me get integrated into the culture. They helped me settle down, introduced me to more people, assisted with routine tasks such as shopping and transportation ( public transport is not great there, and it is hard to walk for long periods in the snow). Gradually, I started getting used to the people there including my colleagues, and also begun to appreciate the beautiful surroundings.

9) How did you feel when you got the opportunity to present your ideas at international platforms?

It was an exciting time for me. I had barely interacted with people from other countries before then, so I was also a little nervous. But that nervousness soon faded away after a few interactions. The people I interacted with were very understanding and appreciative.

10) Everyone’s journey has ups and downs, could you tell a few you had faced?

It was one of my plans to pursue a medicine degree after my schooling. However, in the days leading to the entrance examinations, I fell very sick and was advised to not stress myself too much. This development had a negative impact on my 12th class final examinations and the results of my entrance exams. I did get a decent rank in the EAMCET medicine exam that would have earned me a BPharm degree. But keeping in mind my health and the demands and rigors of BPharm education, my parents enrolled me for a BSc degree in St. Francis. The environment in St Francis was very different from Sherwood, and I often felt underestimated and unappreciated. People, except for a few friends and teachers, did not have patience to interact with me or try to understand me. I decided to distract myself by setting my mind to accomplish one task – secure a MSc seat in IIT. I did not care what people around me thought. For two years I devoted myself to achieving that goal, and that hard work paid off.

After my MSc, when I started pursuing my PhD, I found it to be very different from pursuing a Masters education. PhD training is research-based with very little coursework/classroom learning. Attending seminars, feedback from these seminars and group discussions is an important part for progressing through a PhD program as it helps develop critical thinking skills needed to pursue a research question and come up with innovative solutions. Giving presentations and talks to advisory committee members, the general public, in-house seminars, as well as at conferences is also a critical component for the successful completion of a PhD. Because of my hearing loss, and lack of accessible facilities, I kept missing out 50% of the group conversations/discussions as it is impossible to keep turning my head from person to person in order to look at their faces. My PhD advisor understood my difficulty and initiated minutes of meetings where after every group discussion, a list of important points discussed in the meeting would be made and circulated to everyone in the lab.

11) What according to you is “success”?

Being happy and satisfied that I give my best in whatever I do. Being able to take risks, attempting new and challenging things instead of regretting later.

12) What advice would you like to give the Sherwoodians who consider you as an inspiration?

Everyone has immense potential; it is up to them to realize it. Keep pushing your boundaries – that is the surest way to realize your potential. Get out of your comfort zone. Once you get out of it and venture into new territory, it is only a matter of time before one becomes familiar with it – this becomes your new comfort zone, and thus is the time to try something new by again getting out of this comfort zone. The only way to get rid of your fears associated with venturing into uncharted territory is to face them. The more you avoid it, the bigger it becomes in your mind. Never give up. ‘No defeat is final until you stop trying’. You only know how strong you are until being strong is your only option.