 "Padmini Pillai is a highly skilled immunoengineer and Nalini Tata is a neurosurgery resident at the New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Centre/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre. Image Courtesy: Padmini Sushila Pillai/LinkedIn/www.neurosurgery.weillcornell.org")
Two Indian Americans, Padmini Pillai from Boston and Nalini Tata from New York, were appointed to the 2024-25 class of White House Fellows on Thursday.
This year, a total of 15 exceptionally talented individuals from across the United States have been named to this prestigious programme.
According to the White House, this year’s Fellows advanced through a highly competitive selection process, and they are a remarkably gifted, passionate and accomplished group.
Fellows typically spend a year working with senior White House staff, cabinet secretaries and other top-ranking administration officials, and leave the administration equipped to serve as better leaders in their communities.
These Fellows bring experience from across the country and from a broad cross-section of professions, including the private sector, state government, academia, non-profits, medicine and the armed forces, it said.
Who is Padmini Pillai?
According to the official White House website, Pillai is a highly skilled immunoengineer bridging the gap between discoveries in immunology and advances in biomaterial design to treat human disease.
Hailing from Newton, Massachusetts, she is currently placed at the Social Security Administration.
She has previously led a team at MIT developing a tumour-selective nanotherapy to eliminate hard-to-treat cancers.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, Pillai was featured in several media outlets, including CNBC, The Atlantic and The New York Times, to discuss vaccination, immunity and the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on vulnerable communities.
In an interview with the United Porphyrias Association, Padmini revealed that her diagnosis in 2013 profoundly changed her perspective on life. She described the experience of nearly dying as a turning point that instilled a deep sense of gratitude for every day.
Pillai received her PhD in immunobiology from Yale University and a BA in biochemistry from Regis College.
Who is Nalini Tata?
Nalini Tata, another Indian-American on the list of newly-appointed White House Fellows, is a neurosurgery resident at the New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Centre/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre.
She helps treat the spectrum of emergency and elective neurosurgical conditions between a level-1 trauma centre and a world-renowned cancer institute.
Tata co-authored a book on the ethics and philosophy of neurosurgical practice, focusing on challenges during and after the COVID-19 pandemic.
Her career in neurosurgery and long-standing interest in public policy are closely bound by a deep-rooted dedication to public service.
She received her BSc in neurobiology from Brown University, MPhil from the University of Cambridge, MD from the Northwestern Feiberg School of Medicine and MPP in Democracy, Politics, and Institutions from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.
She is currently placed in the Office of Cabinet Affairs.
With inputs from agencies