Dr Arish Mudra Rakshasa-Loots

KJCF Quest Fellow in Brain Health and Multimorbidity

Biography

Background

I am Principal Investigator of the NeuroHIV Lab at Edinburgh, KJCF Quest Fellow in Brain Health & Multimorbidity, and Chair of the British Neuroscience Association's EDI Advisory Board.

My research lab focuses on understanding the role of physiological processes (such as immune or metabolic dysfunction) in the risk for mental health conditions among people with HIV, especially those in eastern and southern Africa.

I was born and raised in Ghaziabad, India, which is where I completed my secondary education. I then completed a BA in Biochemistry, Neuroscience, and Ancient & Classical Studies from Earlham College (2019) in the US, a PhD in Translational Neuroscience from the University of Edinburgh (2024) in the UK, and postdoctoral research (2024-26) in the UKRI Hub for Metabolic Psychiatry at Edinburgh (UK). I also previously held a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship (2019-20), through which I worked with HIV healthcare organisations around the globe. I have lived and worked in numerous countries on six continents, and this global experience shapes my approach to science, writing, and advocacy.

Qualifications

  • PhD in Translational Neuroscience, University of Edinburgh (UK)
  • MLitt in Creative Writing, University of Glasgow (UK)
  • BA in Liberal Arts, Earlham College (USA)

Open to PhD supervision enquiries?

Yes

Current PhD students supervised

Co-supervision

  • Christina Steyn, PhD Translational Neuroscience

Research summary

My overarching research goal is to help improve mental health outcomes among marginalised communities, especially people with HIV. My research involves quantitative research methods including psychiatric assessments, digital phenotyping, biomarker measurement, and epidemiological and statistical techniques. Work in my lab is driven by principles of equity and inclusion and meaningful involvement of people with relevant lived experience. It is particularly important to me that my research includes, and benefits, people in the Global South.

Research areas of interest

  1. Why do people with HIV experience mental health conditions at higher rates than the general population?
  2. How can we better predict, detect, and treat mental health conditions using markers of biological processes such as inflammation or metabolism?
  3. How can we better understand the co-occurrence of mental and physical health conditions using big datasets?
  4. How can we develop tools to measure mental health symptoms that are tailored to the culture and language of the relevant community?

Affiliated research centres

Project activity

Current grants and fellowships

  • 2026-31 – KJCF Quest Fellowship in Brain Health & Multimorbidity
  • 2026-28 – UK MRC/Our Future Health data access pilot scheme – "How do immune and metabolic factors contribute to mental health outcomes?"

Previous grants and fellowships

  • 2024-25 – Big Ideas Accelerator Fund (University of Edinburgh) – "Expanding access to an isiXhosa depression screening tool using app-based audio administration"
  • 2022-23 – Clinical Imaging Sciences Centre (University of Sussex) Neuroimaging Pilot Funding – “Imaging neuroinflammation in persistent depression amongst people with HIV (INSIDE-HIV)”
  • 2022-23 – South African MRC Extramural Unit on Genomics of Brain Disorder – “Blood biomarkers of (neuro)inflammation in adolescents with and without HIV”
  • 2023 – Federation of European Neuroscience Societies (FENS) Travel Grant
  • 2022 – Harold Hyam Wingate Foundation Medical Research Travel Grant
  • 2019-20 – Thomas J. Watson Fellowship – "Communities uniting around HIV/AIDS"
  • 2018 – Psi Chi Undergraduate Research Grant

Organiser

  • Symposium: "Neuroimmune dysfunction and mental health outcomes". Society of Neuroscientists of Africa, Marrakesh, Morocco. 2025
  • Symposium: "HIV mental health: where are we headed?" BNA Festival of Neuroscience, Brighton, UK. 2023.
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