She is Assistant Professor National Centre for Biological Sciences.

Uma obtained her PhD from the University of California, San Diego on population genetics and the effects of mating systems on genetic variation. She conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University on the genetic impacts of climatic change. She stated her position at NCBS in 2005, and has set up a laboratory investigating population genetics and the evolutionary history of mammals. Because of the escalating rates of habitat destruction, she also applies these molecular tools to understand more about endangered species.