Biography
Aditi Shankardass is an award-winning brain scientist, classically-trained singer, TV presenter and actress. She has been listed as one of the "8 Scientists Who Are Changing The World" alongside Stephen Hawking and Sir Tim Berners Lee. She has also been voted one of the world's "Sexiest Scientists Alive" and one of the "10 Most Beautiful Women Scientists".
Her pioneering clinical work using brain scans to diagnose developmental disorders in children has been covered by the press worldwide, including CNN, ABC News, Times of India, and Financial Express, and was the subject of her widely acclaimed TED talk. The work of her team at Harvard Medical School on the creation of a brain-based diagnostic test for autism has been featured in the Time Magazine special edition "TIME 100 New Scientific Discoveries". Her previous work using brain waves to help identify the underlying neurological cause of dyslexia, was the subject of her award-winning presentation at the United Kingdom Parliament at the Annual Reception for Britain's Top Young Scientists, Engineers and Technologists. Shankardass serves as a board member of the Global Neuroscience Initiative Foundation, an organization devoted to raising global awareness of neurological and psychiatric disorders. She has been a consultant for the BBC Science Line in the UK, providing expertise for radio and TV documentaries.
Shankardass is a singer, trained in North Indian classical vocal music, with numerous concert performances in India, UK and the US, as well as live recordings on BBC Radio and with the renowned Indian musicians Amjad Ali Khan and Anup Jalota. She has been a TV presenter on Zee TV in the UK and appeared as herself in several documentaries. She has acted on stage and TV in India, and made her feature film debut in the US film, Trafficked (2016).
Her father is celebrity lawyer Vijay Shankardass, advisor to His Royal Highness Nizam of Hyderabad, author Salman Rushdie, actor Michael Douglas, Amnesty International, Taj Hotels Resorts and Palaces, Penguin Books and Virgin Group. Her mother is social historian and Penal Reform International chairperson Rani Dhavan Shankardass. She is the granddaughter of His Excellency Shanti Swaroop Dhavan, Governor of West Bengal and Indian High Commissioner (Ambassador) to the United Kingdom. She is the great-granddaughter of Rai Bahadur (Most Honorable Prince) Bali Ram Dhavan of the North West Frontier Province, formerly of India.
Shankardass was born in London, educated between New Delhi and London, and resides between Boston and Los Angeles.
