She received her Bachelor's degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Visweswaraiah Technological University in 2003. She then moved to the University of Illinois at Chicago where she received her Master of Science and Doctorate degrees in Bioengineering in 2006 and 2010, respectively. Prior to joining UMass Dartmouth, Milana was a National Research Council (NRC) postdoctoral Fellow in the Materials and Manufacturing Directorate at the Air Force Research Laboratory, working on synthesizing novel biomimetic nanomaterials and their characterization. Her research interests include bioinspired nanomaterials, studying the interactions of nanostructures with biological materials, vapor phase deposition of nanomaterials, real-time chemical and biological sensors and nanobioelectronics.