President’s Commission Announces 2024-2025 White House Fellows, Including Indian Americans Padmini Pillai and Nalini Tata

October 4:
Padmini Pillai and Nalini Tata, both of Indian American descent, are among the new White House Fellows announced by the President's Commission on White House Fellows for the years 2024 and 2025. The chosen fellows will spend a year learning from senior officials, including Cabinet Secretaries, White House staff, and others, in order to improve their leadership abilities and make a positive impact in their communities.

The Social Security Administration has given Padmini Pillai, a resident of Newton, Massachusetts. She uses her expertise in immunology and biomaterial design to treat diseases through her work as an immunoengineer. She oversaw the creation of a tumor-selective nanotherapy for incurable malignancies while she was a faculty member at MIT.

Padmini was a frequent guest on CNBC, The Atlantic, and The New York Times during the COVID-19 epidemic, when she talked about immunity, vaccination, and the effects of the virus on at-risk populations. She attended Regis College for her Bachelor of Arts in biochemistry and Yale University for her Doctor of Philosophy in immunobiology.

New York City native Nalini Tata has been appointed to the position of Office of Cabinet Affairs in the White House. At the New York-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center/Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, she oversees a variety of neurosurgical cases, both elective and emergency.

Neurosurgery and public policy are two areas that Nalini is deeply committed about. She has written for both medical and popular magazines, and her work has focused on making healthcare more accessible to all.

Her educational background includes a BS in neurobiology from Brown University, an MP from Cambridge University, an MD from Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine, and an MPA from Harvard Kennedy School of Government, Politics, and Institutions.
A group of exceptionally gifted, dedicated, and successful individuals were chosen as this year's fellows after an extensive selection procedure. Representatives from the business world, academia, non-profits, the military, and state governments are among their diverse backgrounds and occupations.