Padmini Pillai and Nalini Tata named White House Fellows

Two Indian Americans, Padmini Pillai an immunoengineer from Newton, Massachusetts, and Nalini Tata, a neurosurgery resident from New York City, are among the 2024-2025 class of White House Fellows.

Founded in 1964, the White House Fellows program offers exceptional young leaders first-hand experience working at the highest levels of the Federal government, according to the President’s Commission on White House Fellows.

Fellows spend a year working with senior White House Staff, Cabinet Secretaries, and other top-ranking Administration officials, and leave the Administration equipped to serve as better leaders in their communities. Fellowships are awarded on a non-partisan basis.

Pillai from Newton, Massachusetts, has been placed at the Social Security Administration. She is an immunoengineer bridging the gap between discoveries in immunology and advances in biomaterial design to treat human disease.

READ: Kamal Menghrajani named White House Fellow (September 21, 2023)

She has led a team at MIT developing a tumor-selective nanotherapy to eliminate hard-to-treat cancers. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Pillai was featured in several media outlets including CNBC, The Atlantic, and The New York Times to discuss vaccination, immunity, and the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on vulnerable communities.

Pillai received her PhD in immunobiology from Yale University and a BA in biochemistry from Regis College.

Tata from New York City, New York, will work at the White House Office of Cabinet Affairs. She is a neurosurgery resident at New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she helps treat the spectrum of emergency and elective neurosurgical conditions between a level I trauma center and a world-renowned cancer institute.

Her published work spans clinical and non-scientific journals with a focus on advancing equity in access to care. Her career in neurosurgery and long-standing interest in public policy are closely bound by a deep-rooted dedication to public service.

She received her BSc in neurobiology from Brown University, MPhil from the University of Cambridge, MD from Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine, and MPP in Democracy, Politics, and Institutions from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

This year’s Fellows advanced through a highly competitive selection process, and they are a remarkably gifted, passionate, and accomplished group, according to the commission.

These Fellows bring experience from across the country and from a broad cross-section of professions, including from the private sector, state government, academia, non-profits, medicine, and the armed forces.

Applications for the 2025-2026 Fellowship year will be accepted starting Nov 1, 2024. The application link and additional information is available at: https://www.whitehouse.gov/get-involved/fellows/.