Dr. Aleksandra Restifo
Chief Editor (Since 2026)

Aleksandra (Sasha) Restifo is the Bhagwan Mahavir Director of Jain Studies and an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, USA. She holds a PhD from Yale University and specializes in Jain intellectual culture, with a focus on Prakrit and Sanskrit literature. Her book, The Theater of Renunciation: Emotion and the Self in Medieval Jainism (forthcoming with Columbia University Press), has been awarded the Claremont Publication Prize for the Study of Religion by the Institute for Religion, Culture, and Public Life at Columbia University. Through close readings of understudied philosophical texts, dramas, and monastic rulebooks, dating primarily from the eleventh to thirteenth centuries, The Theater of Renunciation explores arguments medieval Jains made about reality through theater.

Dr. Restifo has received fellowships from the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, Arts and Humanities Master’s Scholarship at SOAS, American Institute of Indian Studies, and South Asian Studies Council at Yale. Her research has appeared in edited volumes and peer-reviewed journals, including the Journal of Indian Philosophy and the International Journal of Jaina Studies. She held postdoctoral research positions at the University of Oxford and the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She has served as the chief editor of the Jain Journal since 2026.

Dr. Ellen Gough
Chief Editor (Since 2026)

Ellen Gough is an Associate Professor of Religion at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. She received her B.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, her M.A. in the Study of Religion from SOAS, University of London, and her Ph.D. in Asian Religions from Yale University. Her work focuses on Jain ritual, sacred space, narratives, and material culture. Most of her research combines ethnographic and historical approaches and draws upon sources in Gujarati, Hindi, Sanskrit, and Prakrit.

Dr. Gough’s first book, Making a Mantra: Tantric Ritual and Renunciation on the Jain Path to Liberation (Chicago University Press, 2021), examines the life of a single Jain mantra, from its inception at the outset of the first millennium, to its use in medieval tantric initiations and meditative exercises, to its popularity as a source of healing today.  Research for her current book project, which looks at the history of five different Digambara festivals, was supported by a Fulbright-Nehru Senior Research Fellowship. She has served as the chief editor of the Jain Journal since 2026.

Dr. J R Bhattacharya
Chief Editor (Since 2026)

J. R. Bhattacharya is a scholar of Sanskrit, Prakrit, and Pali, with a research interest in Jainism and Buddhism. He is currently associated with the Department of Sanskrit, Pali, and Prakrit at Visva-Bharati University, Santiniketan (West Bengal). Before that, he taught for almost two and a half decades at Jain Vishva Bharati Institute, in Ladnun, Rajasthan.

Dr. Bhattacharya has published several articles and books in the field of historical linguistics, Jain canons, and Jainism with comparative religion and philosophy. Some of these include the translation of the Daśavaikālikasūtra, the publication of the manuscript of the original Praśnavyākaraṇasūtra. He has taught Prakrit in the summer schools organized by the B. L. Institute of Indology in New Delhi and the Institute of Jainology in London. Prof. Bhattacharya is an associate member of the Centre of Jain Studies, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London, UK, and also a member of the Board of Development of Prakrit Language, Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. He has served as the chief editor of the Jain Journal since 2025.

Dr. Anupam Jash
Coordinating Editor

Anupam Jash is a scholar of Jainism, Prakrit Studies, Indian Philosophy, and Tagore Studies. With twenty-two years of experience in academia, he currently serves as an Associate Professor and the head of the Department of Philosophy at Bankura Christian College, in West Bengal. Dr. Jash earned his Ph.D. From Vidyasagar University, specializing in anekāntavāda. His articles have featured in prestigious national and international journals. He successfully led two research projects funded by the University Grants Commission (UGC) and currently spearheads a major research project on the Jaina Sarak community of eastern India, Funded by the Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR), New Delhi.

Dr. Nirmal Baid
Managing Editor (Since 2025)

Nirmal Baid, PhD, is Founding Director and Co-Chair of the Board of the Jain Education and Research Foundation, which established the first endowed Chair in Jain Studies at Florida International University in 2010 and later at the University of North Texas. Nirmal also serves on the Board of Directors of the Foundation for Excellence, which awards more than 20,000 scholarships annually for higher education to underprivileged students in India. Professionally, Nirmal held executive leadership roles at Visa and JPMorgan Chase. An avid world traveler and photographer, Nirmal recently retired from his professional life. Nirmal has published numerous research papers in the Technology domain as well as in Jain Studies. He earned his PhD in Jainology from Jain Vishva Bharati University, Ladnun, India.

Jain Journal’s advisory board consists of:

Nalini Balbir
Peter Flügel

(number of discussions underway)