About Me
Outlook
My journey from school to Ph.D. has proved that we need to follow our heart and intuition, because they somehow already know what we truly want to become! While I was at school, I always enjoyed shuffling between the laws of motion to the fundamental theorem of calculus to the foundational unit of life. And wondered if it was ever possible to merge all three. By the end of school, I realized that scientific articles and books always grabbed my attention and a corner of my heart whispered that I would enjoy doing research. Little did I know what was in store for me in the future. Today, I am looking into this enigma called cancer, identifying physical phenomena that govern this ever-evolving and stochastic disease, and utilizing the certainty and deterministic nature of mathematics to formulate models which might nearly capture this baffling network. I was not aware that the fervor for interdisciplinary research was seeded inside me since my childhood, which further evolved during my journey to Ph.D., and I believe it will continue to do so in future. “Of course, it was impossible to connect the dots looking forward when I was at school, but it is very very clear looking backwards, seven years later!” – adapted from the famous saying of Steve Jobs
My interest to do research in cancer biology was ignited by my schoolteacher in Class 11 and it manifested when I joined Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, to pursue bachelor’s degree (B.Tech.) in Biotechnology. Now, as a part of my Ph.D. project, in IISc, I am trying to utilize experimental and mathematical modeling approaches to understand the effect of hyperglycemia (a condition prevalent in diabetes) on the growth, survival, and metabolism of cancer cells. In addition to experimental techniques, I am excited to append a mathematical angle to my project. Math models possess the ability to capture the fundamental properties of a system and nearly predict the behavior of the same. During my Ph.D. I am eagerly looking forward to learning these mathematical principles and implement them to decipher biological entities
List of Major courses
B.Tech. [CGPA: 9.28/10]
- Biotechnology: Biochemistry, Cell biology, Molecular biology, Cancer biology
- Mathematics: Linear algebra, Multivariable calculus and its application, Differential equations, Vector integration, Probability, and statistics
PhD [CGPA: 9.2/10]
- Biology: Protein structure and function, Principles of signal transduction, Molecular oncology, Introduction to biomaterial sciences and engineering
- Mathematical modeling: Digital epidemiology, Numerical methods, Mathematics and statistics for biologists, Mathematical methods for bioengineers, Disease modeling