Dr. Lekha Menon Margassery
President, UIAC
A Corkconian since 2008, Dr. Lekha Menon Margassery completed her PhD in Microbiology from UCC in 2013.
She obtained a gold medal on completion of her Master’s degree in Biochemistry from PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore, India. After a short period of work as a Lecturer, she moved to Cork. On her experience here, she likes to say — “I am Indian by heart and Irish by soul”.
She is a board member of Alumni and Development, UCC and also a member of the Indian Community Support group in Cork — an initiative by Honourable Sri Sandeep Kumar, Ambassador of India to Ireland to provide support for the community during Covid-19.
As a trained Bharatanatyam dancer, she aspires to unite people through dance. She is the founder of Aatma — an Indian dance troupe in Cork.
Pooja Jayaprakash
Vice-President, UIAC
Pooja is pursuing her PhD at School of Microbiology, UCC, as a Marie-Curie fellow in a project called “Yeastdoc” and works in collaboration between University in Milan and UCC.
She completed her Master’s in Molecular Cell Biology and Innovation in 2016 and worked for a few years as a researcher in UCC.
She is a travel enthusiast and likes to take up new challenges.
Dr. Anuya Mane
Secretary, UIAC
Dr. Anuya is currently working as a postdoctoral fellow in Teagasc, Moorepark. She is a sustainability and nature activist at heart, and Dairy technologist by profession.
She completed her M.Sc. and PhD from School of Food and Nutritional Sciences, UCC and worked previously as a visiting lecturer at Department of Food Science, Shivaji University, Kolhapur, Maharashtra after completing her M.Sc. in Biochemistry.
She mentors students to pursue their studies abroad and is actively involved in volunteering for student activities in Cork and India.
In her free time, she enjoys travelling places, trying fusion food and dancing.
Rohan Gowda
Finance Officer, UIAC
Rohan is working as a Research Assistant in Aquilla Biosciences Ltd., Galway.
He completed his Master’s degree in Molecular Cell Biology and Bio Innovation from UCC.
Manasi Nadkarni
Website Manager and Content Creator, UIAC
Manasi is working as a research assistant at APC Microbiome Ireland. She has an avid interest in health promotion.
Having pursued her undergraduate degree in Microbiology, and Dance and her postgraduate degree in Virology and Public Health (UCC), she hopes to combine the two and promote sustainable development goals through the medium of dance.
In her free time, she enjoys scrolling through social media and shaking a leg to the latest trend.
Shreyas Kumaraswamy
Social Media Manager, UIAC
Working as an Operations Analyst in a Cork firm called Compliance and Risks.
Completed Masters in Business Information and Analytical Systems in UCC.
I Enjoy travelling, cooking and talking to people into oblivion.
UCC Indian Alumni Community 