About
I obtained my PhD in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Pennsylvania, where my research focused on developing efficient molecular simulation methods to study conformational transitions in proteins and polymers, with applications in drug discovery. I hold a Bachelor's degree in Chemical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science and Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology Gandhinagar, and have conducted research at Caltech and the Japan Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (JAIST).
During my PhD, I served as the Technical Lead of Protein Design Solutions LLC at the NSF I-Corps accelerator program, where I co-developed the go-to-market strategy of the company and helped secure over $300K in non-dilutive funding. I also co-organized the first Wharton Biotech Conference, served as VP of Casing at the Penn Graduate Consulting Club, and led multiple pro-bono engagements through the Penn Biotech Group, advising clients ranging from early-stage startups to global pharmaceutical companies.
Outside of work, I enjoy traveling and picking up new hobbies (most recently, badminton and golf).
Biotech Strategy & Entrepreneurship
While at Penn, I've worked at the intersection of science, strategy, and commercialization through engagements in pro-bono life sciences consulting and biotech entrepreneurship. As a pro-bono consultant (from Team Member through Project Director) with the Penn Biotech Group, I advised multiple clients ranging from early-stage startups to large pharmaceutical companies on market entry, asset selection, indication prioritization, and investment strategy.
I served as Technical and Entrepreneurial Lead of Protein Design Solutions, LLC — a venture spun out of my lab at Penn — at the NSF I-Corps and Penn I-Corps startup accelerators. I co-led our go-to-market strategy and helped secure over $300K in non-dilutive seed funding, including competitive NSF SBIR and NSF I-Corps grants. During the accelerator programs, I led over 100 stakeholder interviews to identify beachhead markets and iteratively refine our business model.
Academic Research
My doctoral research at Penn focused on developing molecular simulation methods to study how hydration governs the conformational behavior of proteins and polymers, and the interactions of hydrophobic surfaces. I designed advanced biasing strategies to probe denaturation and collapse transitions in proteins and polymers, predict allosterically-gated interaction interfaces, and developed machine learning-based tools to accelerate patterned hydrophobic surface design. This work combined high-performance computing with statistical mechanics and deep learning, and has applications ranging from the design of engineered proteins to drug discovery (cryptic target identification, therapeutic design, etc.).