Dr. Nithya Ramakrishnan

Research Focus Keywords:

Computational biology, probabilistic modelling, multiomics, Machine learning in biological systems

Background

Dr. Nithya Ramakrishnan obtained her Bachelor of Engineering. in Electronics and Communication Engineering from Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai. Subsequently, she completed her PhD in Electrical Engineering from IIT Delhi in the inter-disciplinary area of information theory-based analysis of biological data, with a focus on intron-exon segmentation and cancer detection based on epigenetic information. During her post-doctoral terms at IIT
Bombay and Dalhousie University (Canada), she has worked on modelling epigenetic phenomena and chromatin inheritance using information theory, statistical analyses of multi-omics data and bioinformatic pipelines. Prior to her research career, she worked in the software industry (Sun Microsystems/Oracle) as a lead software developer.

She joined IBAB in early 2023.

Education:

• B.E (Electronics and Communication Engineering) – Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai
• PhD – Dept. of Electrical Engineering, IIT Delhi
• Post-doctoral research – Dept of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay
• Post-doctoral research – Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada.

Professional experience:

• Lead software developer – Cognizant Solutions/Sun Microsystems/Oracle
• Institute Post-doctoral Fellow – Dept of Biosciences and Bioengineering, IIT Bombay
• Post-doctoral Fellow – Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada

Research interest profile

We apply Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Information theoretic and Algorithmic techniques to model biological problems and analyze biological datasets

Graph algorithms for  Bioinformatic Analysis.

We used concepts based on Graph theory, Statistics and Information theory for analysis of biological datasets. Using mathematical principles obtained from the above listed areas, we develop efficient techniques for unsupervised bioinformatic approaches such as clustering and feature selection for genomic / epigenetic datasets.

Explainable AI in Gene Expression Prediction

We model the epigenetic factors associated with gene expression regulation such as DNA methylation, histone Post Translational modifications and their relationships using Information theory. We also employ deep learning models based on the above data and data to predict expression of genes. Using measures from Information theory, we interpret the Deep Learning models (towards Explainable AI)

Developing Deep Learning models for Antibiotic Resistance

We develop Deep learning models based on specific motifs to predict antimicrobial resistance in organisms such as E.coli. Additionally, we develop evolutionary models based on Reinforcement Learning to predict the development of resistance based on genetic and epigenetic changes in the organisms.

Modeling epigenetic inheritance and ageing using Information Theory and Deep Learning

During cell division, the histone PTMs (Post Translational Modifications) are dislodged before the replication fork and are reassembled in the daughter chromatins. The reconstruction of histone PTMs in the daughter chromatins with only partial parental nucleosomes involves a complex web of enzyme machinery. We model how these gene regulating histone PTMs are reconstructed in the daughter through parallel concepts from communication theory – decoding signal from a noisy channel. We extend the case to study antagonistic modifications and asymmetric inheritance as seen in specific model systems using deep learning models. The multi generational inheritance of epigenetic modifications is studied in  the replicative ageing aspect of organisms such as yeast. 

Looking for interested students/researchers to work in some of the above areas – If interested, please reach me at nithya[at]ibab.ac.in, with your CV and a brief write-up on your academic interests. Candidates willing to do PhD pls contact me on email. 

Collaborators

1. Prof. Sibi Raj B. Pillai – Professor, Dept of Electrical Engg, IIT Bombay, Mumbai
2. Prof. Tobias Karakach and Prof. Shashi Gujar – Dalhousie University, Canada.
3. Prof. Sanjay Chandrasekharan – Homi Bhabha Center for Science Education, TIFR, Mumbai
4. Dr. Deepak Modi, Scientist F, NIRRH, Mumbai 

Publications

• Prabhu, BN Balakrishna, Sibi Raj Bhaskaran Pillai, and Nithya Ramakrishnan. “Antagonistic histone post-translational modifications improve the fidelity of epigenetic inheritance-a Bayesian perspective.” bioRxiv (2024)
• Aamir Sahil Chandroth, Nithya Ramakrishnan, Sanjay Chandrasekharan, “The self-organisation of selfishness: Reinforcement Learning shows how selfish behavior can emerge from agent-environment interaction dynamics”, arXiv, 2023
• Ramakrishnan N, Sibi Raj B Pillai, Padinhateeri R, “High fidelity epigenetic inheritance: Information theoretic model predicts k-threshold filling of histone modifications post replication, PLoS Comput Biol. 18(2): e1009861, 2022
• N. Ramakrishnan and R. Bose, “Analysis of healthy and tumor DNA methylation distributions in kidney-renal-clear-cell-carcinoma using Kullback–Leibler and Jensen–Shannon distance measures”, IET Systems Biology, vol. 11, no. 3, pp. 99-104, 2017
• Nithya Ramakrishnan and R. Bose, “Analysis of distribution of DNA methylation in kidney-renal-clear-cell-carcinoma specific genes using entropy”, Genomic Data, vol. 10, pp. 110-116, 2016
• N. Ramakrishnan and R. Bose, “Dipole entropy-based techniques for segmentation of introns and exons in DNA”, Appl. Phys. Lett., vol. 101, no. 8, p. 083701, 2012
• N. Subramanian and R. Bose, “Dipole angular entropy techniques for intron- exon segregation in DNA”, Euro Physics Letters, vol. 98, no. 2, p. 28002, 2012

Conference proceedings

• Tobias Karakach, Fabian Bong, Nithya Ramakrishnan, Karla Valenzuela, Peter Wentzell, Jasmine Barra : Augmented kurtosis-based projection pursuit: a novel, advanced machine learning approach for multi-omics data analysis and integration , ISCB-Africa, 2025
• Nithya Ramakrishnan, Mayuri Rege, Dibyendu Das, Sibiraj B. Pillai and Ranjith P., Computational Analysis of Histone Post-translational Modification Pairs, and their Influence on Genes, EMBO Conference on Histone Chaperones, Crete, Greece, Oct 2019
• Nithya Ramakrishnan and R. Bose, “An Algorithm for the Generation of Random Numbers from DNA Methylation Data”, Presented at the Quantitative Principles in Biology Conference at European Molecular Biological Institute (Heidelberg) pp. 181, 2017
• Nithya Ramakrishnan and R. Bose, “Analysis of DNA Methylation in Tumor Suppressor Genes using Information Theory”, Presented at the Cancer Genomics Conference at European Molecular Biological Institute (Heidelberg) pp. 161, 2015

Past Group Members

1. Balakrishnaprabhu B.N – Project Assistant (currently a PhD scholar at University of Bonn)
2. Dhanasekhar Vk (IISER Mohali)
3. Shikha Singh (IIIT Delhi) 
4. Anmol Singh , Kanika Gandhi – IBAB MSc student (2022)
5. Akshatha Shetty MSc Intern (Reva University), Krithika S – BTech Intern (VIT) – 2023 external interns
6. Shankhanabha Ghosh, Kshitiz Saurav, Nikshep Grampurohit, 3 rd year, Integrate BTech – MTech, IIT Madras – Summer interns in 2023.

Current Group Members

1. Aditya Naman Soni (DBT JRF)  – PhD student
2. Vindhya Pillai – PhD student
3. Sharun Rn, Asmita Mukherjee, Nikhil Sharma , Shebin Zacharia – 2023 MSc students 
4. Tanay Sali , Adrika Saha – external interns