By training I am a molecular-developmental geneticist who always was contemplating of using this training to solve complex problems related to human diseases. During my Post-doctoral research at Harvard Medical school, I was actually able to put to use my skills of molecular biology, imaging and genetics to unravel a paradigm shifting phenomenon involving the synergy between two genes, as a cause towards metastasis of human breast cancer. After this, I moved back to India as an independent principal investigator, where in last few years I have been engaged in addressing some challenging questions pertaining to maternal and neonatal health. I have had the flavor of working towards establishing and successfully running platforms that directly augment maternal and child health research towards translational outcomes.
When I embarked my journey, our department was seeking help of experts to develop a molecular biology lab in a state-run civil hospital. This gave me the opportunity to understand the grass root challenges of working in a district level setting and maintaining the best practices of the international standards.
This personal transformation from a developmental geneticist to a translational researcher was not a day’s work and took me more than a decade. Besides being a follower of “never say die” motto, I believe that the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step and, I have initiated this first step.
