About Me
I am a Ph.D. Candidate in Chemical
and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania,
where I conduct research as part of the Patel
Group at
the Penn Institute for Computational Science.
My research focuses on developing physics-based and AI-informed computational techniques
to address fundamental challenges in biomolecular design.
In particular, I focus on characterizing the role of hydration in the interactions and
conformational behavior of polymers, proteins, and extended hydrophobic surfaces.
Beyond academia, I actively engage in the business side of the biotech industry and life sciences consulting.
As a pro-bono consultant at the Penn Biotech Group, I have advised clients in pharmaceuticals,
biotech, and venture capital, contributing to market entry, strategy, and investment decisions.
I co-led the development of the business model of a startup based on our lab's research, successfully navigating the challenging
NSF I-Corps and Penn I-Corps accelerator programs. My ultimate goal is to leverage my experiences to bridge the gap between science and
business and drive innovation in the biotech industry.
Prior to my Ph.D., I graduated with a B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering and a minor in Computer Science
from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar, where I conducted research in
computational chemistry and theoretical computer science. I was a Summer Undergraduate
Research Fellow in the Department of Applied Physics and Materials Science at Caltech, and a MEXT
Re-Inventing Japan Project Fellow in the School of Information Science at the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology.
Research
My graduate research centers on characterizing the role of hydration in the conformational transitions and intermolecular interactions of proteins, peptides, polymers, non-ideal mixtures, and extended hydrophobic surfaces through the use of specialized molecular simulation approaches and theoretical models. This has diverse applications ranging from drug delivery to the design of smart materials. My research leverages the power of massively parallel computer simulations, enhanced sampling techniques, statistical mechanics, and machine learning to answer challenging questions. A large part of my work involves writing high-performance scientific software to efficiently generate and analyze large volumes of data.
Consulting and Entrepreneurship
I have advised diverse clients in the life sciences space, ranging from biotech startups to big pharma companies and non-profit research organizations to venture capital firms, through pro-bono consulting projects at the Penn Biotech Group.
I was also actively involved in building a venture to commercialize technology for biologics optimization developed at the Patel Group. My team secured a competitive $55,000 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant, which enabled us to conduct customer discovery. We completed the NSF I-Corps accelerator program in 2023, where we interviewed over 100 potential customers, partners, and stakeholders across the biotech and biopharma industries to identify a beachhead market, develop a business model canvas, map the customer ecosystem, and craft value propositions. Prior to this, we completed the Penn I-Corps program in 2022, which helped us confirm our technology's commercial potential and gain a preliminary understanding of customer needs.