Interview with Journal of Cell Science Editor Richa Rikhy

Abstract

Richa Rikhy is a Professor and Wellcome Trust DBT India Alliance Senior Fellow in Biology at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) in Pune, India. Following her bachelor's and master's degrees in life sciences and biochemistry, Richa completed her PhD with Prof. K.S. Krishnan at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research in Bombay, India, studying synaptic vesicle trafficking in Drosophila. Next, she moved to the National Institutes of Health in Maryland, USA for a postdoctoral fellowship in Prof. Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz's lab. There, she became fascinated with the relationship between subcellular organelle dynamics, cell differentiation and tissue-scale remodelling during development. In 2010, she started her own lab at IISER Pune where she immediately dived into systematically imaging these processes in early Drosophila embryos with her students. Richa joined Journal of Cell Science as an Editor in March 2024, bringing to the journal her expertise in organelle dynamics, plasma membrane remodeling, cell morphogenesis, differentiation and Drosophila development. We spoke with Richa over Zoom to learn about her career path, how she shares her love of discovery with her students, and how she uses art and illustration to communicate science.