Dr. Anitha Kurup is a professor and the Head of the Education Program at the National Institute of Advanced Studies (NIAS), Bengaluru, India. She leads the National Gifted and Talented Education Program of the NIAS. The program was initiated by the office of the Principal Scientific Adviser of the Government of India in 2011. She and her team have developed Indian based identification protocols and mentoring mechanisms for the gifted children in India in the age group 3 to18 years for different populations: rural, urban, and aboriginal tribes. She has developed successful multi-stage multi-level mentoring models for the gifted children in India. Prof. Kurup was part of the National team that successfully advocated for the Education for the gifted and talented resulting in it’s inclusion in the National Education Policy 2020 of India. Her research career spanning over two decades is marked by her passion and motivation to undertake research in critical areas, hitherto unexplored within the Indian subcontinent. The hallmark of her research career has been the innovation methodologies adopted for large scale research studies questioning existing theoretical frameworks to find solutions to the real-world problems. Thus, her contribution to research stands the test of time and has made critical contribution to the growth of the educational field in India.