Biography
I am an accomplished Molecular Biologist currently working as a Scientist-B at the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratory (VRDL), All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Rajkot, (India). I have over 9 years of experience in advanced plant biology research and university-level teaching. I obtained my PhD in Bioinformatics and Molecular Biology from Saurashtra University, where my doctoral research specialized in molecular and bioinformatics analyses of grass species’ organelle genomes. I became the first to deposit the complete chloroplast genome of grasses from south Asia, and all are deposited as reference genomes in the NCBI database. My dissertation project involved numerous complex laboratory techniques including DNA/RNA extraction, PCR amplification, DNA sequencing, computational genomics, molecular markers, time tree and phylogenomics and other Bioinformatics analyses. Leveraging my expertise in plant molecular biology and genetics, I have published 20 research papers from my research work in reputable peer-reviewed journals, demonstrating my research writing abilities. Currently, as Principal Investigator, I lead the extramural funded project: “Development of an RT-PCR Based Multiplex Diagnostic Kit for Detecting Respiratory Viruses in Clinical Samples.” Furthermore, I am acting as co-Principal Investigator on two additional research projects at AIIMS.