Dr. Renu Vyas, Professor & Head, MIT School of Bioengineering Sciences & Research, Dean, Faculty of Technology
Myself Dr. Renu Vyas, Professor and Head at MIT School of Bioengineering Sciences & Research, a constituent unit of MIT-ADT University, Pune since 2016 and also currently serving as Dean Faculty of Technology. I would like to introduce myself as a simple teacher, mentor and a passionate researcher, aiming to provide a good platform for students in the multidisciplinary areas of Bioengineering to enable them to emerge as industry leaders and researchers par excellence. Teaching and research are my twin passions.
Educational
and professional journey
I have obtained my PhD from CSIR National Chemical Laboratory, Pune after qualifying the joint CSIR-NET examination. Then I pursued post-doctoral studies at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville USA. My professional journey includes academic, research and industry experience in multiple domains with cross functional teams.
Dr.
Renu Vyas career achievements
First and foremost successfully balancing personal and professional life is extremely important and I have been blessed on both accounts. Seeing the students that I have taught and guided reaching great heights in their careers, their love and gratitude are what I count among the greatest achievements of my life. Our students have put the institute on national and international map by winning laurels in prestigious events such as iGEM Boston, Earth Hackathon, Wipro Climate challenge, National Bioenterpreneurship award, KPIT Sparkle, Smart India Hackathon, Maharashtra Health square, BTL Startech to name a few. The amazing feedback and accolades received from the external stakeholders in industry and Universities abroad for the sound training provided to our students makes me proud of the successful program we are running. The satisfaction of developing a unique curriculum, implementing it and nurturing an institute right from its inception stage with an innovative culture that encourages free flow of ideas is priceless. Further mentoring student startups and witnessing their growth has also been a source of happiness. Besides all these, the privilege of holding good responsible positions in industry, research and academia and the wonderful learning experience is an overall achievement in life I cherish. Awards and honours along the way have kept up the motivational levels high.
Research
& contributions of Dr. Renu Vyas
Over the last several years, I have been working mainly towards shaping students’ careers. I believe careers such as Bioengineering, environment sustainability is the future and can create a talented pool of well-trained youngsters who will fuel the industrial growth and significantly impact research. As a researcher during my PhD and Post Doc years I focused on synthetic methodologies for the development of aziridine ring systems, an important moiety for anti-cancer compounds. Later as DST scientist worked on network and Genetic Programming (GP) based models for computational analysis of protein protein interaction data. Currently as a guide for Ph.D. students, my team conducts research on a broad spectrum of areas involving identification of potential cancer prognostic and diagnostic biomarkers, development of sensors, drug design based machine learning models for diseases, exploring therapeutic potential of natural products etc. In my industry role I have led a team for the design and development of software for Pharma R&D and analysis of global patent databases. My contributions in academics include course curriculum creation, adopting novel teaching methods, fostering academia-industry interactions, project monitoring, mentoring young faculties and student centric approaches for implementing new education policy initiatives while managing the regular administrative duties.
Dr.
Renu Vyas, mentor
Choosing a career is a significant decision that can have a profound impact on one’s life. The students should study various career paths, industries, and job roles before deciding on one. Talk to professionals in different fields, attend internships, and workshops to gain exposure to different options. Define their short-term and long-term career goals. Having a clear vision of what they want to achieve will help them make informed decisions and stay motivated. Aim to pursue a career that aligns with your passion and interests. finding fulfilment and satisfaction in your work can lead to a more rewarding career. Take the time to understand yourself, your interests, values, strengths, and weaknesses. Determine if you need a specific degree or certification and plan your educational path accordingly. Additionally, focus on acquiring relevant skills through coursework, online courses, or hands-on experience. Be open to change and adaptation. The job market is dynamic and industries evolve over time. With the right kind of startup culture prevalent in the country students should also think of being job creators rather than job seekers. Your career path may not always be linear, so be prepared to pivot when necessary.
Dr.
Renu Vyas patents & research
As mentioned earlier my research areas span a large diverse landscape including organic synthesis, bioinformatics, machine learning, drug design. At the current Bioengineering institute, I work on health care related topics with an aim to create tangible solutions to several unmet medical needs. Innovation and research are my passion as they both feed each other. I have been granted Indian and US patents for some of the innovative products and processes since my PhD days. I encourage and sensitize young students about IPR and copyrights and consequently students even in their second and third years have filed patents for their innovative ideas. Regarding research my interests are manifold including design and development of novel assays, handling big data such as canceromics, NGS, metagenomics, lead molecules for cancer etc. I have 75 research papers, 12 book chapters and 15 patents, also co-authored a book titled ‘Practical - Chemoinformatics and edited a book on Advances in Bioengineering by Springer. I also serve on the editorial board of international journals in the field of computational modeling, food chemistry and other relevant journals.
Dr. Renu
Vyas consultancy projects
We have carried
out several industry consultancy projects wherein we either work on problem
statements defined by the industry or co-create innovative projects. Leveraging
the vast multidisciplinary expertise at the institute, we work not only on the
software development for pharma companies, but also for developing technical
proof-of-concept for products/processes in several verticals such as
biotechnology, bioinformatics and biomedical engineering. One of the most
important factors that I feel is important for industry projects is the data
privacy and confidentiality. Protecting sensitive client data is paramount.
Implementation of robust data encryption, access controls, to maintain data
security is of great importance. The deliverables provided to industry undergo
rigorous validation and verification processes at the institute to ensure
accuracy and reliability. We ensure the projects are executed well, amenable to
customization and able to accommodate future growth. Performance testing,
identification of bottlenecks and optimal system performance is well taken care
of. We also ensure streamlined workflows and user-friendly approaches to
improve productivity and client satisfaction and ofcourse adhere to the
mandatory regulatory compliances.
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