1967 | India
Field of study: Natural Sciences
Bachelor of Science in Life Sciences and Biochemistry, Master of Science and PhD in Biology
My role:
Professor and Dean at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research • President of the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience • President-elect of the International Brain Research Organization
Brief description of duties:
Research into the brain, with a particular focus on the genetic mechanisms that govern the development of the structures responsible for sensory perception, language and memory; writing research papers; supervising students and postdoctoral researchers; and engaging in science outreach activities.
Shubha Tole
“What helped me find my feet in a male-dominated profession?
An inner sense of self-worth. That is the one thing that will see you through almost anything you encounter. No matter what you achieve, people will question it in a way they wouldn’t necessarily do with your male colleagues. So recognise your own worth, regardless of whether those around you appreciate it.
At the end of the day, you’ll look back on your life and the only things you’ll regret are the times you didn’t stand up for yourself or for those around you when they were treated unfairly.”
Statement on maternity leave
It is true that our biology distinguishes between men and women, but why should this put one group at a disadvantage? The fact that women can take maternity leave during their working lives is not a disadvantage for women. Rather, it is a failure on the part of supervisors and the organization that they do not know how to actively support and guide women during this time. It is actually quite simple. Allow individuals the flexibility to figure out how they want to balance their personal and professional obligations; offer support to enable this flexibility, such as an assistant to support a female postdoc who is expecting a child; ensure that institutional facilities such as private rooms for nursing and childcare facilities are available.
I had several female postdocs who had children during their tenure, and it made a huge difference that I hired an assistant as soon as they told me they were expecting. I let them know they would receive this support for at least two years; they could come and go as needed, and the assistant could fill in the gaps. This practice worked so well that I proposed it to a national committee, and it was adopted by at least one funding organization, to allow a postdoc to hire an assistant using a grant they receive.
Did you have a clear idea of what your future would look like when you were a child?
The brain has always fascinated me, for as long as I can remember. At first, I thought the only way to pursue my interest in biology was to study medicine. But an exhibition organized by the Department of Life Sciences at St. Xavier’s College opened my eyes to the fact that research is a better way to satisfy my curiosity. I completed my BSc in Life Sciences and Biochemistry and applied to graduate programs in neuroscience in the U.S., since there were no such programs in India at the time.
Pursuing higher education and aiming to become a scientist seemed like a natural career path to me, and it never occurred to me that I might not be able to realize my dream. I was surprised to discover that not all of my female classmates felt the same way. Without realizing it, many young girls keep narrowing their dreams to fit a future they’re “allowed” to have once they’re married—what would be acceptable to their in-laws or husband seems to factor into their equation long before they even know who their in-laws or husband will be. That is unnecessarily limiting.
How did I manage to magically escape this social conditioning? I owe it all to my wonderful parents! To my mother, who raised me to be free and equal to my brother. And to my father, who believed that I could do anything I wanted and who offers me tireless support and appreciation for every little thing I do. I realize that I grew up with the same freedoms and privileges that boys take for granted and that my parents somehow instilled in me.
Which person(s) or experience(s) had the greatest influence on your decision about which career to pursue, and why?
Many young women are still put off by the idea that certain professions are difficult for women. That has always puzzled me, because my mother, in her career as an occupational therapist, took on one challenge after another. She showed me by example that you shouldn’t let your job title limit you. She designed prosthetics for amputees and mastectomy patients, as well as assistive devices and tools for women who had lost an arm to cancer, so they could cook with one hand or braid their hair. There was no problem she couldn’t solve, no patient for whom she couldn’t custom-make a prosthesis. From her, I learned that the possibilities are endless if you don’t limit yourself or your imagination. Her story can be read in the biography ENABLE, which I co-authored, and she was the most inspiring person in my life.
My father always said, “Shubha will achieve anything she sets her mind to.” I always thought that was just something loving fathers say; it wasn’t until later that I realized how deeply I had internalized it and that not all girls were so lucky. It is such a precious gift, and it came so easily to me because that’s simply how my father felt.
Please tell us how your interest in your profession, academic field or trade was sparked.
When I was in 12th grade at St. Xavier’s College in Mumbai, an amazing teacher named Sam Waugh taught us the most complex topic in developmental biology using a simple analogy. He said to imagine Michelangelo sculpting David from a block of marble. It was then that I realized that development essentially means creating form and structure from basic raw materials. The development of the brain was a natural fascinator, it is the organ that allows us to feel, think, understand, and appreciate our place in the universe.
Work in the field of neuroscience is exciting and fascinating every single day! We’re studying this amazing computer inside our heads. Our brains and their circuits are the reason we can do everything we do. Compared to ordinary computers, our brain still faces a major challenge. Every single component has to be produced in the embryo, and then the wires have to grow to connect the right part to the right part, otherwise, the brain won’t work.
I’m working on how this amazing organ develops in the embryo. Imagine you’re drawing up plans for a complex building. Where should the apartments, the facilities, and the stairwells be placed? Now imagine that this has to happen without any external instructions, using only the instructions in the DNA as a “blueprint.” We have discovered a “signal beacon” in the embryo’s brain that sends signals to the surrounding stem cells. The strength of these signals decreases depending on how far the cells are from the beacon. In this way, each stem cell knows what type of neurons it should produce. If this process proceeds normally, we end up with a wonderfully functioning hippocampus – the seat of learning and memory. Without it, we would never be able to store new memories. Our discovery of how the hippocampus develops in the brain is part of the “blueprint” for where each structure must form.
What do you like most about your current job?
The wonderful, creative students and postdocs I work with! They make sure every day is filled with new things exciting discoveries, challenges to overcome, new ideas to discuss, frustrating or confusing results, and completely crazy humor. These things fill our days and our lab WhatsApp chat! My lab turned 25 this year; we had a lovely celebration a few months ago. Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of training a whole host of students and postdocs, including many talented women who have gone on to exciting careers in research.
My first PhD student, Bhaskar Saha (M), who now teaches on the faculty at St. Xavier’s in Mumbai, discovered how the nerves that carry our sense of smell grow exactly where they’re supposed to. Ashwin Shetty (M) and Suranjana Pal (F) discovered a mechanism that acts as a “gatekeeper” when nerves that enable sight, hearing, and touch enter our cerebral cortex. Mahima Bose (F) identified a mechanism that controls a neuron’s “arbor,” that is, the network of branches that receive connections from other neurons.
Lakshmi Subramanian (F), Anindita Sarkar (F), and Mahima Bose (F) discovered entirely new mechanisms by which a stem cell decides whether to produce a neuron or a support cell. Hari Padmabhan (M) and Veena Kinare (F) identified an evolutionarily conserved “molecular machine” that controls the same process in the hippocampus.
Dhananjay Huilgol (M) and Ryan Remedios (M) discovered new pathways of cell migration in the brain. Achira Roy (F), now a lecturer at the Jawaharlal Nehru Center for Advanced Scientific Research in Bangalore, discovered a connection between the development of our eyes and our brain the same gene controls both. Bhavana Muralidharan (F), now a lecturer at InStem Bangalore, and Varun Suresh (M) discovered that a master control gene opens the DNA of its “target” genes, allowing the right types of neurons to form in different parts of the brain. Arpan Parichha (M), a lecturer at ICGEB Delhi, together with Varun Suresh, found an important link between a cancer-causing signaling pathway and one that produces cerebrospinal fluid, the “serum” that nourishes our brain. And the “lighthouse” discovery comes from Vishakha Mangale (F), Nandini Gokulchandran (F), Satyaki Prasad (M), and Lakshmi Subramanian (F).
Many others contributed to these findings – I would like to thank each and every one of them. It has been quite an exciting journey!
These qualities have helped me along the way:
An innate curiosity, independence, energy, passion, focus, discipline, the ability to make decisions and take risks, a willingness to fail and learn from it, and a sense of humour.
If you could give young women some advice, what would it be?
Think very carefully about what you want from life. It will be your life. You can listen to as many people as you like, but ultimately the decision is yours. Choose your life partner carefully – someone who respects you as an equal and does not implicitly place you in a situation where your role is to support their career and look after the family’s well-being. These mental attitudes are deeply ingrained in all of us because we are all ‘programmed’ by the socio-cultural circumstances in which we grew up. And these affect everything.
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