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Professional Experience

AAVinue,inc, Worcester, MA.                                                                                                                                               12/23-Present
Consultant

  • Screening of non viral delivery molecule for gene therapy

  • Viral pre-clinical gene therapy

Iveric Bio,inc, Cranbury,NJ                                                                                                                                                      07/21-07/23
Senior Research Scientist at Worcester, MA

  • Designed, developed and validated preclinical  assay such as cell-based, imaging and qPCR assay to check the safety and efficacy of small molecule and AAV mediated gene therapy in mouse and rabbit model following FDA and ICH regulatory guide.

  • Orchestrated a pioneering preclinical gene therapy project targeting Stargardt and Leber’s congenital amaurosis diseases, from gene cloning in AAV2 viral genome to in vitro gene expression studies in mammalian cell culture following transfection and western blotting, immunohistochemistry, fluorescence microscopy and qRT-PCR. 

  • Designed and developed assay using primary and immortalized retinal pigmented epithelium cell for immune activation study of complement factor.

  • Designed, planned and executed comprehensive in vivo experiments, for small molecules and AAV based gene therapy adhering to institutional animal care protocols (IACUC) to use the animal disease rodent model, rabbit and wrote standard operating procedures (SOPs) for multiple intricate tasks including drug dilution, intravitreal/subretinal injection, and retinal health assessment using optical coherence tomography (OCT) and efficacy by ERG.

  • Collaborated seamlessly with cross functional teams to support drug development pipeline that include core facility imaging, histology, and CRO for method transfer and PK study and to ensure the successful completion of non-GLP animal studies and expedited project milestones for IND submission.

  • Pioneered research into innovative drug delivery techniques, orchestrating pilot preclinical studies for suprachoroidal delivery and feasibility of a pegylated RNA aptamer, contributing crucial insights for the treatment of immunologic disease dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD)

  • Demonstrated outstanding leadership by supervising and training several undergraduate, masters and PhD level scientists, proficiently guiding them in utilizing various instruments and methodologies for safety and efficacy studies in both small and large animal models.

  • Proficient in analyzing the data, statistical design of experiments (DoE) using Microsoft Word, MS excel, GraphPad prism, obtained from cross functional team and presented them in MS PowerPoint to leadership meeting

UMass Chan Medical School, Worcester, MA                                                                                                         01/2019-07/2021  Instructor | 03/2021-07/2021

Senior Research Scientist | 01/2019-02/2021

  • Designed, developed and screened guide RNA using bioinformatics tools and employed CRISPR/Cas9 mediated deletion of CEP290 to develop knock out pig model

  • Designed and developed cell-based assay such as luminescence assay to check cell viability, caspase activity, fluorescence assay to check ROS activity in mammalian cell and flow cytometry to investigate viability of cell.

  • Revolutionized gene therapy approaches utilizing groundbreaking gene therapy initiatives targeting retinal disorders like Retinitis pigmentosa, Stargardt disease, Leber congenital amaurosis, and Usher syndrome.

  • Orchestrated the design of minigenes, AAV vector cassette cloning, and in vitro cell culture and ex vivo assay for gene expression assessments, culminating in advanced strategies for combating these sight-threatening diseases.

  • Collaborated seamlessly with interdisciplinary teams, including core facility imaging, histology, and PK researchers, to enhance the success of non-GLP animal studies.

  • Leveraged expertise to forge strong internal and external collaborations, streamlining the experimental process and facilitating successful outcomes.

University of Louisville | Louisville, KY                                                                                                                       11/2016-12/2018

Research Associate

  • Designed and developed study of inflammation by AAV8 and antagonized TLR9 mediated inflammation by inserting inhibitory sequence in AAV genome in Pig model system.

  • Demonstrated exceptional leadership skills by supervising and mentoring a diverse team of research associates, medical interns, undergraduates, and graduate students, facilitating the learning and application of advanced molecular biology techniques, enhancing the team's capabilities, and contributing to drug discovery efforts.

Post Doctoral Fellow

Case Western Reserve University | Cleveland, OH                                                                                                  06/2013-11/2016

  • Established preclinical diagnostic sandwich ELISA to quantify the biomarker in retinal degenerated mice model.

  • Developed Python programs to analyze NGS data using Python and R library like NumPy, matplotlib

  • Worked with Python IDEs like jupyter note book and PyCharm to analyze next generation sequencing data

  • Performed data analysis by cleaning, filtering, transforming and reshaping the RNAseq data in Python

  • Design and developed HPLC method to quantify the retinoid in retinal pigmented epithelium

  • Developed biochemical assay to investigate chromophore regeneration by retinol dehydrogenase 10

  • Demonstrated lipid ECO Plasmid DNA Nanoparticle as efficient non-viral gene therapy for Leber’s Congenital Amaurosis

  • Led, trained, and mentored undergraduates and interns.

Department of Ophthalmology | University of California | San Diego, CA                                                    12/2011-05/2013

  • Molecular characterization retinal degenerated mice elucidating the mechanisms behind Late-Onset Retinal Degeneration (L-ORD) associated with a missense mutation in complement c1q tumor necrosis factor (Ctrp5), revealing that the pathology of L-ORD was attributed to this mutation rather than the rd8 mutation.

Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry | University of California | San Diego, CA              01/2010-11/2011

  • Conducted research focusing on investigating the intricate mechanism of tRNA selection by the ribosome during translational elongation.

Education

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), Life Science | Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) | Hyderabad, India

  • Thesis: Carbon Catabolite Repression Control in the Antarctic Psychrotrophic Bacterium Pseudomonas syringae Lz4W

  • Ph.D. Student (2003-2009): Formulated specialized growth media to investigate carbon catabolic repression (Crc) in Pseudomonas syringae, elucidated the in vitro RNA binding capabilities of the Crc protein, and successfully identified the Crc gene's role in regulating the translation of the histidine utilization operon.

Master of Science (MSc) (Ag), Life Science | University of Agricultural Science (UAS) | Bengaluru, Karnataka, India

  • Thesis: An antisense approach to overcome morphological aberration in ipt transformants of tobacco (Nicotiana tobacum. L): Role of antisense ACC synthase.

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