Kaviya Chinnappa | Developmental Neuroscience | Best Researcher Award

Published on by Neuroscientists

Dr. Kaviya Chinnappa | Developmental Neuroscience | Best Researcher Award

Dr. Kaviya Chinnappa | Institute of Fer a Moulin (NeuroSU), Paris | France

Dr. Kaviya Chinnappa is a neuroscientist whose research focuses on the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying cerebral cortex development, cortical progenitor dynamics, and neurodevelopmental disorders. She completed her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the Instituto de Neurociencias (CSIC-UMH) in Alicante, Spain, and currently serves as a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Institut du Fer à Moulin (Inserm), Paris, where she investigates the role of ceramide synthase in neocortex formation and its association with cortical malformations such as heterotopia. Her work integrates advanced genetic, molecular, and imaging approaches to uncover regulatory pathways controlling neuronal proliferation, polarity, and differentiation. Dr. Chinnappa has contributed to several high-impact publications in journals including Nature, Science Advances, Journal of Cell Biology, Cells, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, BioEssays, Cerebellum, and Journal of Neurochemistry. Her studies have provided key insights into the roles of miRNAs, centrosomal proteins, and sphingolipid metabolism in brain development. She has received multiple distinctions, including the Extraordinary PhD Thesis Award and the Valérie Chamaillard Fellowship. With an h-index of 5, 4 i10-index publications, and 164 citations across 156 documents, Dr. Chinnappa continues to advance translational neuroscience through her innovative research on cortical development and neurogenetic disorders.

Profile: Google Scholar

Featured Publications

Camargo Ortega, G., Falk, S., Johansson, P. A., Peyre, E., Broix, L., Sahu, S. K., … (2019). The centrosome protein AKNA regulates neurogenesis via microtubule organization. Nature, 567(7746), 113–117.

Zaidi, D., Chinnappa, K., & Francis, F. (2022). Primary cilia influence progenitor function during cortical development. Cells, 11(18), 2895.

Chinnappa, K., Cárdenas, A., Prieto-Colomina, A., Villalba, A., … (2022). Secondary loss of miR-3607 reduced cortical progenitor amplification during rodent evolution. Science Advances, 8(2), eabj4010.

Prieto-Colomina, A., Fernández, V., Chinnappa, K., & Borrell, V. (2021). MiRNAs in early brain development and pediatric cancer: At the intersection between healthy and diseased embryonic development. BioEssays, 43(7), 2100073.

Chatterjee, A., Chinnappa, K., Ramanan, N., & Mani, S. (2018). Centrosome inheritance does not regulate cell fate in granule neuron progenitors of the developing cerebellum. The Cerebellum, 17(5), 685–691.

Zaidi, D., Chinnappa, K., Yigit, B. N., Viola, V., Cifuentes-Diaz, C., Jabali, A., … (2024). Forebrain Eml1 depletion reveals early centrosomal dysfunction causing subcortical heterotopia. Journal of Cell Biology, 223(12), e202310157.

Chinnappa, K., Márquez-Galera, Á., Prieto-Colomina, A., Nomura, Y., … (2019). MIR3607 regulates cerebral cortex development via activation of Wnt/βCat signaling. bioRxiv, 729939.

Chinnappa, K., Ballorin, F., & Francis, F. (2025). Fundamental Neurochemistry Review: Sphingolipids and ceramides in brain development. Journal of Neurochemistry, 169(10), e70262.