Vaidya won the 2022 Infosys Prize in Life Sciences for her seminal contributions to understanding brain mechanisms that underlie mood disorders such as anxiety and depression, including signals engaged by the neurotransmitter serotonin in causing persistent changes in behavior induced by early life stress and the role of serotonin in energy regulation in brain cells. Vaidya is also a fellow of the Indian National Science Academy and Indian Academy of Sciences. She received the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in 2015, and a Nature award for excellence in mentoring in 2019.

(Photo: The Print)