Molecular Biology (MSc/PhD)

Akanksha Yadav

EDUCATION

College / University

Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay

Highest Degree

Bachelor of Science

Major Subjects

Chemistry, Biochemistry
Yadav

Country

India

Lab Experience

Wet lab - UV/Visible and IR spectroscopy; Interpretation of NMR; Mass Spectroscopy; Chromatographic Techniques; CD Titration; CD Melting; Gel electrophoresis.
Dry lab - Use of PyMol; Chimera and Coot; chemical modelling and molecular docking; molecular dynamics simulation; homology modeling; data analysis using clustering methods; hypothesis testing; unsupervised and supervised learning in R.

Projects / Research

  • 05/2016 – 05/2019: "Molecular modelling and dynamics studies of small molecule ligands binding to G-quadruplex and i-motif nucleic acids", Prof. Pradeepkumar P.I., IIT Bombay.
  • 05/2018 – 07/2018 "GUI development for a data-based chemical modelling software suite, CANDIY", Prof. Gaurav Chopra, Purdue University.

Scholarships / Awards

2019 – 2020: Stipend by the International Max Planck Research School
2018: Summer stipend under Purdue Undergraduate Research Experience (PURE) program
2015 – 2019: INSPIRE Scholarship by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India
2011 – 2015: NTS Scholarship for qualifying the National Talent Search Examination

SCIENTIFIC INTERESTS AND GOALS

I feel that the most intriguing manifestation of chemical principles appears in the “bottom up” approach of molecular biology. It gives an opportunity to not just investigate, but also manipulate an organism at a molecular level ingeniously, bringing about many interesting phenomenon. Recent advances that have enabled us to edit the genome has intrigued me further in the fields of molecular biology and genetics. Owing to my interest in math and statistics, I also find computational biology and bioinformatics intellectually stimulating, alongside rapidly increasing data being generated in biology. As a researcher in future, I see myself being equally adept in wet/dry lab skills and working on strategies to target human diseases, by and large.