Our Team — Mindful Kala

Shruti is an undergraduate student at Yale. She is a researcher at the Feinberg School of Medicine and Yale School of Medicine, where her research focuses on a psychosocial analysis of interdisciplinary mindfulness practices and the cognitive neuroscience of memories, affect, and stress. Shruti has been learning Bharatanatayam since the age of 5. She is a National YoungArts winner and has consistently placed in international & national competitions.

Suba Ramesh, a student at Yale University majoring in computer science, has a deep understanding and passion for technological advancements in the public health sphere. With previous expertise in creating video games for mobile and computers, she is working on helping develop interactive activities for the web-based pilot model of the Mindful Kala application.

Atisha Patel is a highly experienced HealthTech entrepreneur and biomedical engineer. She is the co-founder of NotiCare, a health-tech startup bridging the communication gap between healthcare providers and the patient’s loved ones via HIPAA compliant notifications of their status. She is also an innovation mentor at the TSAI Center for Innovative Thinking at Yale (Tsai CITY). At Mindful Kala, Atisha gives valuable mentorship advice & high-level operational guidance.

Justin Silver is a highly experienced entrepreneur and holds and MBA with Honors from the Wharton School. He is the founder and COO of Aavrani, an Indian inspired clean beauty company. He is also a venture advisor at TSAI City for their accelerator programs that Mindful Kala has been a part of including the Spring 2021 Accelerator & Summer 2022 Fellowship Cohort.

Dr. Victorson is a licensed clinical psychologist in the state of Illinois. As a Professor of Medical Social Science in the Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University. His research focuses on advancing the evidence base of contemplative awareness practices such as yoga resilience and emotion regulation among cancer patient populations, developing novel digital health solutions to increase self management, and improving the precision and utility of self-reported outcomes. Dr. Victorson is the founder and director of TRUE NORTH TREKS, which is a cancer support nonprofit organization for teens and young adults. At Mindful Kala, Dr. Victorson helps lead and oversees our research processes at both Yale & Northwestern.

Rima Patel, a current medical student, holds a B.S. in Humanities in Science and an M.S. in Health Policy. She was a former medical management consultant and a founder of a health diabetes app called Diabetiz, which is a mobile and web solution for diabetic foot treatment intended to be used in Sri Lanka. At Mindful Kala, Rima offers valuable guidance on the creation of new & innovative outreach programs.

Zeenat Vastrad, the director of Use Experience, In-Store and Digital, at Macy’s, has built world class design teams for Fortune 500 clients across North America, Asia, and Europe. With over a decade of user intent driven designs, she focuses on the end to end user needs. Currently, Zeenat suprivises information architects, interaction designers, visual designers, content writers, usability analysts, web analytics, and design engineers. At Mindful Kala, Zee offers guidance & support on the development of our web-app.

Medha Hari is hailed as one of the most promising Bharatanatyam dancers and is a senior disciples of Guru Smt. Anitha Guha. Medha is also currently pursuing advanced lessons in abhinaya with Bharatanatyam exponent Smt. Bragha Bessell. Medha has been giving solo performances all over India and abroad. She has worked with her guru in creating from the conceptualization to the final presentation of critically acclaimed dance productions. She is also a faculty member in her Guru’s school and assists in training junior and senior students for competitions, performances and arangetrams. At Mindful Kala, Medha oversees and offers guidance on the development of Bharatanatyam-based material for different age groups.

Poojha is a sophomore at UW Madison majoring in biochemistry. She loves reading, cooking, her dog and is excited to work with Mindful Kala to spread cultural empathy and wellness to students!

Srinaath is an incoming senior at Brown, where he studies Sanskrit and Chemical Engineering. He has won prizes and grants for his scholarship on Carnatic (South Indian classical) music and has also published poetry. As a Carnatic violinist he has had the honor of performing at prestigious venues and during the annual Chennai Music Season. He joined Mindful Kala to pursue his passion for preserving and disseminating knowledge of India’s cultural arts.

Nrithi is an undergraduate at Southern Methodist University, majoring in business and public policy. She has been an Indian Classical dancer since the age of five and an avid social entrepreneur, founding her own e-commerce company Mantra and Co. At Mindful Kala, Nrithi works to conduct literature reviews and portfolios of finances.