Dr Jyotsna Dhawan is an interim CEO of DBT/ Wellcome Trust India Alliance. She is a Cell and Developmental Biologist with over 25 years of experience in research leadership at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, Hyderabad, whereher group has focussed on muscle stem cells. She was involved in the establishment of DBT’s Institute for Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine in Bengaluru in 2009. Her research has focussed on molecular mechanisms by which dormancy or quiescence contributes to adult stem cell function and skeletal muscle repair.

She is also the (2019-2021) President of the Indian Society for Cell Biology and the Indian Society of Developmental Biologists (2017- 2020) and was elected as a Fellow of the Indian National Science Academy in 2019. She has won many honors and awards, as well been an active member of several committees and international panels, including the Human Frontier Science Program.