About
Dr. Manjula Devananda is an interdisciplinary AI researcher and academician with expertise in health informatics, machine learning, and explainable AI. She holds a Ph.D. from the University of Otago, New Zealand, where her research focused on predictive workload modelling in primary healthcare.
With a strong background in both academia and industry, she has served as Senior Manager – AI Research at Fusemachines (USA), Health Data Scientist in New Zealand, and Principal/Academic Director at KVM Institutions, India. Her teaching experience spans institutions in India, New Zealand, and Canada.
Dr. Manjula has delivered numerous keynote talks, served on technical committees, and received several prestigious fellowships including the Otago Doctoral Scholarship and Callaghan Innovation Grant. Her research contributions are published in reputed international journals and conferences. She is passionate about AI education, research mentorship, and developing impactful, ethical AI systems across disciplines.
Research Areas
11- An XAI Approach to Veterinary Prescription Analysis
- A Bloom’s Taxonomy Based Question Classification System Using Doc2Vec
- A Reinforcement Learning Approach to Student Self-improvement for Placement Assessment and Learning
- Explainable AI
- Predictive Analytics
- Federated Learning
- Health Informatics
- NLP
- An Adaptable Long-term Condition Workload Prediction Model for Primary Health Care: Funded by University of Otago Doctoral Scholarship;
- Design and Develop predictive machine learning models to help reducing polypharmacy rates in New Zealand: Funded by Callaghan Innovation Early Career Researcher Grant (NZ MBIE)
- Design of an Online Community for Sharing Oral Stories: Funded by CBIE on behalf of DFAIT, Canada
Publications
2- Translated "Python Programming" Book by Dr. Rupesh Nasre into Malayalam and is published by AICTE e-Kumbh portal.
- ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7007-1603
Teaching
5Education
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PhDUniversity of Otago2018
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M E CSEKarunya University, Coimbatore2009
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B Tech CSECUSAT, Kerala2006
Experience
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Senior Manager, AI Research ScientistFusemachines, USA2023 – 2025
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Academic Director & PrincipalKVM Group of Institutions, Kerala2020 – 2023
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Assistant ProfessorMuthoot Institute of Technology and Science, Kerala2020 – 2020
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Health Data ScientistAirmed, Ltd, Dunedin, New Zealand2019 – 2020
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Tutor/Demonstrator/Technical Support SpecialistUniversity of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand2015 – 2018
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Assistant Professor, HOD i/c CSEKVM College of Engineering & IT, Kerala2012 – 2014
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Project EngineerWipro Technologies Pvt. Ltd.2010 – 2012
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LecturerMET’S School of Engineering, Kerala2009 – 2010
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Graduate Research FellowUniversity of Saskatchewan, Canada2009 – 2009
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LecturerAdi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kerala2006 – 2007