Research, whether it is wet lab or dry lab based, helps us understand biological systems either through analysis of real physical samples or virtual models !
Ayush Praveen, our next pathbreaker, works as a Bioinformatics Scientist at Elucidata, one of the fast-growing startups aiming to solve different challenges in therapeutics, diagnostics and biological discovery using well curated data.
Ayush talks to Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about how bioinformatics is becoming the core of every step of biological research and development, and the first line of action in fighting diseases or developing biomarkers.
For students, always keep in mind that the only way to pursue a meaningful life is to have one with meaningful work.
Ayush, Your background?
I hail from Jaipur but spent my formative years in Haridwar. I grew up in a middle-class family, where my father managed a local business, while my mother is a dedicated teacher. Despite the simplicity of my childhood, my parents ensured I received the best upbringing possible.
From an early age, biology fascinated me, but unlike the typical trajectory towards a medical career, my interest was more focused on understanding biology as a subject itself. Looking back, it’s evident that this early passion laid the foundation for my subsequent career choices.
College was a turning point for me. In school, I was a bookworm, but as I delved into higher education, my interests broadened significantly. I embraced diverse activities such as public speaking, editing, designing, dance, and debating. This shift in focus allowed me to cultivate a versatile skill set.
Throughout my college journey, I actively participated in extracurricular activities. I assumed leadership roles, organized events, and led various clubs. One notable experience was spearheading the college newsletter, where I refined my writing and editorial skills. This holistic approach to learning not only enriched my college experience but also played a pivotal role in shaping my perspective on potential career paths
What did you do for graduation/post-graduation?
I completed my bachelor’s in biotechnology (BTech Biotechnology) and continued with a Master’s in Biological Sciences and Bioengineering (M.Tech Biological Sciences and Bioengineering) from IIT Kanpur. During this time, I gained practical experience through internships and projects, setting the foundation for my career.
Beyond academics, I actively pursued internships for hands-on exposure and took on challenging projects to refine my skills. Simultaneously, I engaged in various extracurricular activities to develop soft skills, ensuring a well-rounded approach to my education. This combination of academic and practical experiences has been instrumental in shaping my career.
What were some of the drivers that influenced you to pursue a career in Bioinformatics?
Choosing a career in biotechnology was a decision rooted in a passion that took roots early on, stemming from my 9th standard. The catalysts for this choice were my Biology teachers, Sweta and Mahima Ma’am. Their advanced insights into genetic engineering and recombinant DNA technology, beyond our school’s syllabus, fueled my interest and curiosity in understanding biology.
A pivotal moment occurred during my third-year internship at INMAS, a DRDO laboratory. Witnessing the vibrant scientific environment and the dedication of researchers like Dr. Shashank Mishra and his supervisor Dr. Kulbhushan Sharma left an indelible impression on me. This experience prompted me to strive for admission into a reputable institution for my master’s degree.
During my master’s at IIT Kanpur, I delved into wet lab experiments, particularly on cancer cell lines, and found a fascination with extracting insights from RNA Sequencing data. Despite its relatively small role in my overall work, this exposure sparked my interest in computational biology. Recognizing my natural inclination for the ‘dry lab’, I decided to shape my future career in Computational Biology or Bioinformatics.
Transitioning into Computational Biology wasn’t seamless. Although my coursework and thesis work were not entirely focused on it, I took proactive steps. I pursued an internship to acquire bioinformatics skills and eventually secured a full-time position in the same domain. The shift from experimenting with cancer cell lines to writing computer code presented challenges, but my determination to learn and adapt remained unwavering.
How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Tell us about your career path.
Biotech, biological sciences, and bioengineering are very vast domains. My plans have been ever changing from the point of view of my interests within the field. I entered my bachelor’s course, driven by the interests in recombinant DNA technology and genetic engineering. Midway through my coursework, I did projects around nano biotech and was enthused by it for some time. Then during my internship at DRDO, I did work on animal cell culture and cancer biology. For a good amount of time, I was convinced that it is where my primary interests lie. Then during my masters, I did exploration of RNASeq data which made me realize that this is the exact area where my interests, curiosity and creative thought process lie. Now after pursuing bioinformatics for 5 years as a professional, I know that I made the right choice as my interest in the domain has been ever increasing.
I would say the same exists for any STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Medicine) field. These are very vast fields and the only way to find what seeks your interest is by trying projects, internships, coursework around sub-fields. Your work can be very different based on the choices you make. If I for instance would have chosen a career in Bioprocess, I would have been handling bioreactors and recombinant strains to make peptides, bioactive compounds, and medicine instead of modeling biological systems on a computer. If one wants to pursue a career in any domain of STEM, often a PhD is required to pursue a meaningful career in it. If it is required for the domain you are interested in, think if you want to pursue a PhD as it is a long, arduous, and challenging journey.
I did 3 internships during my bachelors. Though all 3 of them taught me something, my internship at INMAS, DRDO will always hold a special spot for me. It gave me an understanding of what living a life as a scientist means. It prompted me to score well in GATE (Graduate Aptitude Test in Engineering) to get a great institution for my masters. Luckily, I scored an AIR 24 in GATE BT 2016, which facilitated an admission to IITK.
Since I decided to change domains after my master’s (Wet lab to Dry lab), I didn’t get a job initially. Being a graduate from one of the premier institutes with great credentials and still not getting a job was draining, but it made me realize the importance of skills. Since I didn’t have the experience of working in a dry lab, I had to gain those skills first. I joined Elucidata as an intern first.
My first project was a machine learning project, and I didn’t even know programming well enough to execute simple tasks. I worked hard, learned things on the job, and spent late nights to upskill myself. Over time, I have become as competent as someone who pursued their academic life in bioinformatics if not more.
Since a PhD degree is more appreciated even in bioinformatics and I didn’t pursue a PhD, I worked hard to get the equivalent opportunities. As I put in efforts, from learning bioinformatics to constantly upskilling myself in new concepts and focusing a lot on my soft skills, I got opportunities over time.
How did you get your first break?
As a STEM professional, your credentials always matter. I would consider getting an internship to be my first break. I navigated getting into a DRDO lab through my uncle. Yes, contacts help in these cases. But if you look around, there are always people who will help you in these cases. If you can’t find an internship, try getting into a good masters or PhD program, the chances to get into one is dependent on how well you clear the national level exams. Getting into IIT is not as tough as people think. My philosophy in these cases is preparing an informed plan of study and executing it with at least 75-80% efficiency. If one can plan for an exam that way and execute the plan with at least 75-80% efficiency, then there is a very high chance of scoring good. It’s not about studying hard; it’s about planning and executing it well. Getting into a job after masters was difficult, but I made it into one by pursuing an internship first. Life sometimes throws curveballs at you, you have to find your way through them.
What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?
Challenge 1: Getting into IIT. Planned well for GATE, studied as per the plan, scored great in the exam, cleared interviews, and gained admission at IITK for my masters.
Challenge 2: Finding a job. Since my academic experience was majorly in doing experiments on cells, studying cancer cell behavior, extracting RNA and proteins, it was difficult to find a job in Bioinformatics. To deal with that, I did an internship first after my masters, learned things on the job and then got a full-time offer.
Where do you work now? What problems do you solve?
I currently work as a bioinformatics scientist at Elucidata. It’s a fast-growing startup aiming to solve different challenges in therapeutics, diagnostics and biological discovery using well curated data. As a scientist, I work with different institutions to support their research goals. They can vary from finding a biomarker for a certain disease, finding a target for certain cancer, or building a data integration workflow which can help someone answer thousands of questions for biological research.
Can you explain the difference between dry lab and wet lab research?
One can place research into two buckets based on the platforms used for conducting experiments. Simply put, in the context of biological research, the term wet lab is used when we are dealing with actual physical biological samples (like cancer cells, tumour samples, liver biopsies etc.), reagents and drugs. On the other hand, in dry lab research, testing, analysis and results generation are done using a computer. This involves mimicking a biological system (Cancer vs Normal tissue model) using a model generated on a computer. It is not to say that one platform is better than the other, but each approach has its own advantages and applications. Both work together to achieve tangible outcomes. In a wet lab, one gets the real proof of what is happening in an actual biological model. It provides a confirmation of efficacy for any kind of drug, therapy, or vaccine. The wet lab, however, is very focused on a particular effect and cause being measured and it is difficult to comprehend what could be happening systemically in a biological system due to the limited set of measurements done. Dry lab on the other hand, is based on modelling and simulation and although it can be very accurate as it is based on data coming from actual biological model, 100% proof cannot be assigned to it without a wet laboratory proof. Since the dry lab is based on using high throughput methods for measurement, one gets data points for several different entities, and it is thus much easier to understand the systemic picture of a biological model.
Before shifting to dry lab at Elucidata, I was working on testing out a few novel targets for colorectal cancer on how if perturbed using a drug or therapy, these targets can cause a reduction in tumor properties and thus cancer burden. To understand what these targets could be contributing to in a colon cancer cell, I took a few hints from dry lab data and this is where my interest with dry lab started.
What skills are needed for a job? How did you acquire the skills?
Being a bioinformatician requires a good fundamental understanding of biology, strong data science and statistical aptitude, and good coding skills. Additionally, any career is advanced greatly on top of soft skills. My whole educational background was focused on understanding biological systems and through my internship at Elucidata, I acquired strong programming skills in Python and R. Currently, my major focus is on supporting decision making for projects. I work with my teammates to plan for a project, identify different goals, work with them to achieve these goals and discuss with our clients and collaborators to revisit and tweak ideas. What I love about this job is problem solving. Finding a therapeutic avenue for a disease which might be hard to treat today or finding a way to build computational tools which can answer a lot of biological questions, are things that excite me about what I do every day.
How does your work benefit society?
As the trend is changing and bioinformatics is becoming the core of every step of biological research and development, my work forms the first line of action for different discovery teams and projects. Whether they are interested in finding a gene mutation that can cause cancer or developing a diagnostic kit that requires discovering the right biomarkers, my work helps in finding the needle in the haystack.
Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!
There are many moments like those throughout my career as of now. I would recall entering a drug discovery competition, organized by the Government of India, as an important one. Out of 373 entries, only 7 were selected for discovering drugs against COVID-19 computationally. Making it into the finals, was a proof of how well designed our proposed methodology for drug discovery was.
Your advice to students based on your experience?
Though my career turned out to be great with my first choice based on interests, I don’t advise students to do that as there are a plethora of career options today. The only way to pursue a meaningful life is to have one with meaningful work.
Over time, I have become very interested in maintaining optimum health and I have found meaningful careers as those centered around human health. Even if a person is interested in biology and doesn’t want to go to medical school or pursue research, they can be a psychologist, nutritionist, dietician, sports and nutrition medicine coach, holistic health coach physiotherapist, to name a few. As people’s lifestyle is becoming worse and mental health issues are rising, demand for all these professionals and careers is going up day by day. My belief is that these are very fulfilling careers as you can make differences in people’s lives in a very meaningful way. Further, I know people in these different streams who are making good money as well. This is just an example of a few areas related to health. If you are interested in other areas, there are a lot of options today. Explore all the possible career options you can during your 8th-10th standard and choose something after that. Don’t go for straight medical, engineering or law school. An average person will spend about 90 K hours at work, it’s everyone’s responsibility to pick something that is going to make their lives not boring and routine but meaningful and exciting.
Future Plans?
I am always driven by interest, and it is my interest which has taken me to this point. I enjoy my work every day and while I think about the future, I am more focused on the present. My immediate future includes putting more content out in the public space to guide people regarding bioinformatics. I also want to design more free tools and put them out in the public domain for researchers to use.
As I have shared before, I am very interested in health care as opposed to sick care and I am interested in combining bioinformatics and optimum health to figure out new principles.
I believe breaking norms and challenging the status quo is a requirement, and entrepreneurship is a great way to achieve that while creating impact for society. I would be interested in building something when I get a groundbreaking idea challenging the status quo.