Biography

Prof. Shelja Gautam is an Assistant Professor at Jindal Global Law School (JGLS), O.P. Jindal Global University. She holds an LL.B. and a B.Tech. in Biotechnology from Kurukshetra University, as well as an M.Tech. in Biotechnology from Deenbandhu Chhotu Ram University of Science and Technology (DCRUST), Haryana. During her M.Tech. Studies, she served as a Teaching Assistant under the Technical Education Quality Improvement Programme (TEQIP) scholarship awarded by Worldbank for meritorious academic performance in science. At the same time, she gained practical experience in the DNA Division of Forensic Science Laboratory, Madhuban Police Complex, where she worked on kinship analysis using forensic STR-DNA profiling techniques.

In 2017, she was invited as a Visiting Research Scholar to the William S. Richardson School of Law, University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa. There, she studied the Hawaiʻi chapter of the Innocence Project, examining the role of forensic DNA evidence in wrongful conviction cases. Her research focused on understanding the examination of forensic experts in U.S. courtrooms during DNA-based exoneration proceedings.

Prior to joining Jindal Global Law School as an Assistant Professor, she was associated with O.P. Jindal Global University as an Adjunct Professor, where she taught courses on forensic evidence. During this period, she received the Research Excellence Award (2018) for her co-authored article on the constitutional and fundamental rights of persons affected by leprosy. The article anticipated several legal developments that were subsequently reflected in the Supreme Court of India's decision in Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy v. Union of India. She has also worked as a consultant with biotechnology companies and emerging start-ups, advising on matters at the intersection of law and policy governing science & technology.

Her research and teaching lie at the intersection of law and the biosciences, with a particular focus on Forensic Science, Comparative Forensic Evidence Procedure, Biotechnology and Bioimedical Law, Intellectual Property Rights, Bioethics & Biosafety, Physical & Neurological Disability Rights & Representation, and the philosophy of science. She is especially interested in exploring how scientific knowledge is evaluated, interpreted, and applied within legal systems.