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Ishani Ganguly

Headshot of Ishani Ganguly
Program Year:
4
University:
Columbia University
Field of Study:
Theoretical Neuroscience
Advisor:
Ashok Litwin-Kumar
Degree(s):
B.S. Engineering and Applied Sciences (Computation and Neural Systems), California Institute of Technology, 2020

Practicum Experience(s)

Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (2023)

Practicum Supervisor(s):
Bert
de Jong
Practicum Title:
Reinforcement Learning for De Novo Molecule Design in Photovoltaic Cell Applications

Summary of Research

I aim to develop generative connectivity models that are constrained using prior knowledge such as spatial features and functional types. Deviations from these random models will reveal structural motifs of interest across multiple connectomes. In the Litwin-Kumar lab, I am developing such pipelines and applying them to multiple partial connectomes of the fly mushroom body (center for olfactory discrimination and learning) to detect structure in neuronal circuits involved in odor representation. When these comparative methods are fully developed, they will enable us to probe
structural differences in individuals across different age groups, sexes, and experiential history, link brain structure to function, and elucidate features contributing to neuropathologies.

Annual Program Review Abstracts

Fellow Poster
: Efficient Connectome Analyses for Identifying Bottleneck Neurons in Behaviorally-Relevant Pathways (
2024
)
Fellow Poster
: Efficient Connectome Analyses for Identifying Bottleneck Neurons in Behaviorally-Relevant Pathways (
2023
)
Fellow Poster
: Efficient Connectome Analyses for Identifying Influential Neurons in Behaviorally Relevant Pathways (
2022
)

Publications

1. Ganguly, I.*, Heckman, E. L.*, Litwin-Kumar, A., Clowney, E. J., & Behnia, R. (2024). Diversity of visual inputs to Kenyon cells of the Drosophila mushroom body. Nature Communications, 15(1), 5698.
2. Ellis, K. E., Bervoets, S., Smihula, H., Ganguly, I., Vigato, E., Auer, T. O., ... & Caron, S. J. C. (2024). Evolution of connectivity architecture in the Drosophila mushroom body. Nature Communications, 15(1), 4872.
3. Ganguly, I., & Litwin-Kumar, A. (2022). Connectomics: Relating synaptic connectivity to physiology. Current Biology, 32(3), R118-R120.
4. Isaacson, M., Ferguson, L., Loesche, F., Ganguly, I., Chen, J., Chiu, A., ... & Reiser, M. (2022). A high-speed, modular display system for diverse neuroscience applications. bioRxiv, 2022-08.
5. Hayashi, T. T., MacKenzie, A. J., Ganguly, I., Ellis, K. E., Smihula, H. M., Jacob, M. S., ... & Caron, S. J. C. (2022). Mushroom body input connections form independently of sensory activity in Drosophila melanogaster. Current Biology, 32(18), 4000-4012.
6. Tanguay Jr, A. R., Stiles, N. R., Ganguly, I., & Shimojo, S. (2020). Mapping audio-visual crossmodal interactions in the visually impaired. Journal of Vision, 20(11), 1768-1768.
7. Tanguay, A. R., Stiles, N. R., Ganguly, I., & Shimojo, S. (2019). Time Dependence of Predictive and Postdictive Auditory-Visual Processing: The Temporally Extended Audiovisual Rabbit Illusion. Journal of Vision, 19(10), 19b-19b.

Awards

- Perpall Speaking Competition Semi-Finalist, California Institute of Technology, 2017
- Class of '36 Named Fellow, California Institute of Technology, 2017
- Outstanding Cambridge Learner Award: Highest Score in India in IGCSE Biology, University of Cambridge International Examinations, UK, 2014