Hi, I’m Smrithi! I’m a neuroscientist and biomedical engineer currently living in Madison, WI. I grew up in Bangalore, India, and moved to the United States for college. My work broadly focuses on developing microscopy techniques to study brain function. I am a research scientist in Elizabeth Wright’s lab, where I focus on advancing correlative light and electron microscopy to study cellular neurodegeneration.

My interest in neuroscience began during my undergraduate studies at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, in Jeffrey Capadona’s lab. There, I researched the brain’s response to implanted electrodes, focusing on improving the longevity of neural implants. I spent my summers and most of my non-class hours in a windowless basement lab, staining mouse brain slices and counting neurons.

I continued my research at Boston University, where I earned my PhD in Biomedical Engineering under David Boas. My dissertation, “Wide-field optical imaging of neurovascular coupling during stroke recovery,” centered on developing a clinically relevant mouse stroke model and a multimodal imaging platform capable of simultaneously capturing neural activity and hemodynamic signals. I used this system to investigate the structural and functional reorganization of neurovascular circuits over time following stroke.

Following my PhD, I joined the Optical Physiology team at the Allen Institute for Neural Dynamics in Seattle. At the Allen Institute, I developed and applied a hyperspectral photometry system to study how neuromodulators such as dopamine, serotonin, and acetylcholine influence decision-making processes in mice.

Outside of research, I write about scientific progress and the process of discovery on my Substack, Engineering Discovery. My essay, “A Brief History of GFP” was published in Asimov Press. I also enjoy woodworking, creating interactive visuals, and analyzing publicly available datasets.