My Truth, My Life, My Adventures…………for Academia, Industry or..??

The grand plan

The craze to learn more and stay updated has always been my passion, but I was not sure what to opt for in my future career. Until my graduation, I had a direction i.e. crack the UPSC (Combined Defence Services) examination, which was much more easier for me. The urge to opt for a career in Armed Forces was kind of hereditary but somehow I was unlucky for the seventh consecutive time at different levels of Service Selections Board (SSB).  The rejections for my passionate career did frustrate me. In the meantime, I completed my graduation and was looking for some career oriented courses for my Master’s degree.

And then

In 2002, the OUTLOOK magazine published an article discussing some very exciting career options in biotechnology. The article enticed me to join a Master’s in Biotechnology course at Dehradun (India). I enjoyed the city and excelled in my course work. The anticipation levels were high, as I felt assured of landing a job with a good pay package. But as fate had it, disappointment 2.0 was on its way when I started applying for a job in different biotech/pharma companies. I happened run into a senior official from one of the pharmaceutical companies. When he jibed, “You guys BOOMED much before a Biotech BOOM in India!”, it was evident that they were more interested in hiring candidates with a training in pharmacy than biotechnology. So disappointment 2.0 left me shaken but not stirred, as I was more mature and a bit more confident.

Testing more waters

Reconnecting with former course mates on relocating to New Delhi helped me re-assess my career goals and I started constructing my road to a research-based career. However, I got distracted again by the buzzword “Bioinformatics”. I completed a one-year course from Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) at New Delhi, only to get a no-response from all the companies I applied to for a job.

After a short stint with a bioinformatics-based project at the International Center for Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology (ICGEB) at New Delhi, I was packing my bags to move south to arrive at the gates of Indian Institute of Science (IISc)- the only Indian institution ranked among the top 25 for global employability of its graduates. The environs of IISc enthuse a vigor to pursue research in its purest form. The eagerness to land a job vs staying inspired to continue research kept me sailing on two boats. Persistence pays and I finally got good advise from my mentor, Prof Manju Bansal, and chose to join Strand Life Sciences (Bangalore) over TCS and Monsanto.

Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore

Towards Industry

The work and the culture of Strand fascinated me a lot. I was working on the most data-intensive research areas (Microarrays) . The nature of work carried a very different perspective with much shorter delivery time to the clients. This trained me much better. I was also working on multiple projects with different clients from US Universities and institutes. I successfully co-authored a research article in Journal of Immunology with an eminent scientist, Prof. Rafi Ahmed, in the field of Immunology from Emory Vaccine Center (Atlanta, USA). This achievement re-ignited my interest in academic research. But this was not the sole reason. I had also realized the hard facts of life science based industries in India. They are:

(a) There are a handful of them who are really doing well and can provide you with job stability

(b) Individual growth is difficult, because they recruit a lot of PhDs and Postdocs and basically you will be working under them for all your life time if you stay!!

Back to Academia

These facts, drove or inspired (do not know really!) me to think of higher education i.e. a PhD. The experience gained @IISc and @Strand made me more mature and experienced in solving research problems in a time-bound manner. Being experienced in Genomics and Structural Bioinformatics, I could sense that the international scientific market was gradually moving towards personalized medicine. I applied for PhD in similar fields and got admitted to a PhD program at Medical University of Warsaw in Poland under their International PhD Program.

My PhD topic was focused towards Clinical Genetics and Statistics. Clinical genetics research needs a lot of sample collection, which can be frustrating. The clinical data being in Polish, made my task even more challenging. By now, I have had a transition from an academic research lab in India to industry and then back again to  an academic research lab. My professional life seemed to have come full circle but the vagaries of a grad student life would always be a rite of passage- which included demotivation to extent of thinking of quitting PhD. But I was counseled to hang on, thanks to my PhD supervisor and my mentor @Strand. And in the time that ensued I achieved work-life balance. I mastered Polish, made some good friends, got some exciting results, presented my work in Europe, attended workshops in Swiss Alps, made some European tours and bagged some nice publications, all of which really helped me in accomplishing my PhD work with Summa Cum Laude (highest distinction)! During all this time, I made many new contacts as well as maintained the old ones using social networking. This actually made my work easier compared to my other friends, who did not.

Moment of my PhD Defence

Celebration after my PhD Defence

And about turn,to…

I felt tempted to take up a postdoctoral position when I was offered (from a few labs in USA and Europe). But I re-evaluated my career goals based on my interests and priorities, discussed with some mentors/colleagues and arrived at the the conclusion that I should go back to industry. Once decided, I revived my contacts on the social media (LinkedIn) more actively and passionately. This helped me fetch some more job interviews. There were some companies which were into personalized medicine and Strand (my previous employer) was one of the leaders among them. Therefore, I approached Strand and I got through very easily based on my PhD work as well as my previous association with them. I have been working on data analysis, validation and interpretation of NGS (Next Generation Sequencing) based cancer diagnostics for more than two years. My PhD, my previous experience and adventures are helping me perform better, manage better and at a better position too (which means better pay package…but its CONFIDENTIAL!!).

A very important take home point is “Never spoil your relations or underestimate anyone at any moment in your life“. I bet it will help you in the long run.