SMVDU Katra, September 2019. Ms. Sonali Verma has successfully defended her doctoral thesis, titled ‘Genetic Analysis of Ovarian Cancer Patients in Jammu & Kashmir Population” and became eligible for the award of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Biotechnology by Shri Mata Vaishno Devi University (SMVDU), Katra. She worked under the supervision of Dr. Rakesh Kumar and Prof. Vijeshwar Verma, School of Biotechnology, SMVDU, Katra. During the oral defence, Prof. R.K. Sinha, Vice-chancellor, SMVDU, and Prof. V.K Bhat, Dean, College of Sciences & Registrar, SMVDU were presented, and they congratulated her for the successful Ph.D. Viva Voce defence. The researcher has published many research papers in national & international peer reviewed journals. Also, she received many awards in international & national conferences. Her study serves as the first comprehensive study in ovarian cancer which filled the gap in the literature. The observations of her thesis are a major contribution to the literature from the JK region. She acknowledged the DST, Govt. of India for the grant for which she worked as a Project Assistant.