Track: Bioinformatics
Undergraduate: University of Pune, India - Biotechnology
Internship: Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research
Current Job Title: Bioinformatics Software Engineer at Genentech
How did you find yourself at Oregon? What about the program attracted you?
I heard about the program through online search
I was really looking for programs that address all the three key aspects of Bioinformatics I.e. Biology, Statistics, Computer Science
What was the summer intensive like for you?
It was intense but thanks to instructor’s perfect guidance and my previous bioinformatics experience. Both provided me necessary skills to tackle new challenges.
Where was your internship?
My Internship was at Novartis, in Cambridge.
What was your internship like? What were you responsible for? What was a typical day like?
I worked in the Oncology Department and was mainly responsible for creating pipeline to analyze the bulk as well as single cell sequencing data. It was a great opportunity to not only sharpen my technical skills in R and RShiny but also to improve collaboration and communication skills. There used to be a lot of brainstorming happening at each step of pipeline which eventually broadened my knowledge of Biology and Statistics.
Do you feel the program prepared you for the internship? In what ways?
Absolutely! A solid foundation in Linux, git, cluster computing and R really has helped to get upto to speed in Industry. The Fall and Winter projects in single cell helped in gaining knowledge in single cell data analysis as well as custom tool development as per user’s requirements
How did your internship prepare you for your current position/career path?
Pipeline development, although similar overall for many NGS technologies, has many nuances unique to each technology when it comes to designing new pipeline. I got familiarity with different tools, along with their pros and cons , that helped to address those nuances and prepare for the next role.
The tool development experience has also prepared me more towards bioinformatics software engineering roles.
Do you have any advice to prospective students?
BGMP is full of great people and they make every effort to provide correct guidance and let you succeed. Always be curious, ask questions. Be ready to be part of exciting environment.