An Interview With Dr

8/10/2019 An Interview With Dr

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An Interview with Dr.Ramani Ramchandran

Ramani Ramchandran, PhD

Professor,Department of Pediatrics,

Patrick J. and Margaret G. McMahon Professorof Obstetrics and Gynecology,

Vice Chairfor Research Obstetrics and Gynecology,

Investigator,Childrens Research Instit!te"

Professor,Developmental #asc!lar $iology program and %ebrafish Dr!g &creening Core,

The Medical College of Wisconsin, Mila!kee, WI.

Dr. Ramani Ramchandran is a scientist wor'ing in the area of developmental vasc!lar biology.

(is research involves blood vessels, how they are developed d!ring embryonic development and

their role in disease. In the following interview, he gives career advice and g!idance to

!ndergrad!ate Indian st!dents st!dying in areas s!ch as biotechnology, biology and biomedical

sciences.

"o! have colla#orations ith a co!$le of research instit!tions in

India. %o do &o! think research in #iological and #iomedical

sciences is faring in India c!rrentl&'

)es, I have a few collaborations with certain instit!tes in India. C!rrently, there is a lot of

moment!m towards investigator initiated research problems and scientists trained from abroad

are increasingly being hired. *here are many instit!tions in India right now, small as well as

large, that are actively loo'ing to e+pand their biological research programs and I 'now several

people who are well f!nded in India. &o, yes, there is a lot of moment!m in India right now in

the area of biological research.

Can &o! name some instit!tes in India, a$art from the #ig ones s!ch

as II(c and TI)R, that are doing great ork in #iological and

#iomedical sciences'ational Center for $iological &ciences -C$& in $angalore, ational Center for Cell &cience

-CC& in P!ne, ational Instit!te of Imm!nology -II in Delhi, /awaharlal ehr! Centre for

Advanced &cientific Research -/CA&R in $angalore, and Center for Cell and 0olec!lar

$iology -CC0$ in (yderabad are doing great wor'. *here is also a relatively new center for

stem cell research in the Christian 0edical College in #ellore, and the A123$C -Anna


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1niversity 4 3 $ Chandrase'har Research Centre in the 0I* -0adras Instit!te of *echnology

Camp!s of Anna 1niversity, Chennai are gems that are lesser 'nown. *he typical big

powerho!ses s!ch as II&c in $angalore are still there b!t new ones are coming !p and are

showing a lot of promise.

What advice o!ld &o! give to !ndergrad!ate Indian st!dents ho

are as$iring to do their M.( or PhD in

#iotechnolog&*#iomedical*#iological sciences a#road'

One of the things that I wo!ld highly recommend for an !ndergrad!ate st!dent from India is to

get as m!ch hands on e+perience as possible in the lab. It wo!ld be best if they can get some

internship in a research2intensive lab, whether it is one of the mentioned instit!tes or in their own

!niversity. In my view, they sho!ld get as m!ch hands on e+perience. If possible, they sho!ld try

to p!blish a paper with their professor, as a middle a!thor or co2a!thor. P!blishing papers helps

differentiate st!dents and their application from others. 0ost st!dents have decent GR5 scoresand GPA b!t eval!ating them is hard as there is no way to e6!ate their Indian GPA to the grading

system in the 1nited &tates. Also, recommendation letters are important b!t sometimes there is

too m!ch emphasis on the letters for the admission process. *hey add to yo!r profile b!t is not

necessarily a game changer. (aving significant bench lab e+perience ma'es a big difference as

most Indian !ndergrad!ate st!dents have minimal e+perience at the bench.

Plent& of st!dents tend to do their internshi$s in $laces here if

&o! $a& a certain amo!nt of mone& &o! get to do e+$eriments and

then the& give &o! a certicate. %o val!a#le is this t&$e of

internshi$'

)es, this approach to internships is a little bit misplaced. Internships need to be a bit more

intensive in terms of ed!cation rather than some form of certificate. *here is m!ch emphasis on

grades, certificates and accolades rather than learning. It wo!ld be better if one had lesser

emphasis on certificates and more on the learning e+perience. Internships that last for 7 months

and involve p!blishing a paper will be of m!ch more val!e to yo!r application to grad!ate

schools in the 1nited &tates. Also, st!dents with minimal e+perience have lesser !nderstanding

of what it ta'es to do research. 8or them applying for an 0.& or a PhD is 9!st the ne+t step in

their career. ot m!ch tho!ght is given to whether they want to do this for the long term. I thin'it is really important that they !nderstand what they are getting into rather than following the

herd.

The kind of internshi$s that &o! are talking a#o!t are ver&

com$etitive to get into and not all st!dents can land s!ch an

internshi$ given the $o$!lation and com$etition. What other


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o$tions o!ld &o! s!ggest as an alternative to st!dents ho are

!na#le to land a research internshi$ in $restigio!s la#s in India'

)es, there are fewer opp!rt!nities in academia d!e to certain factors s!ch as limited n!mber of

seats, competition etc. (owever, what is interesting is that there is a lot more opp!rt!nities

available in the Ind!stry. Ind!stry related internship will also be e6!ally compelling. An

internship in, for e+ample, a dr!g discovery company s!ch as CIP:A, will res!lt in a positive

'nowledge base e+perience as the st!dents will be involved in the creation of a prod!ct. &o, any

'ind of research e+perience helps, be it ind!stry or academia, as long as the emphasis is on

learning.

- (tatement of P!r$ose $la&s a #ig role in the admissions $rocess

for grad!ate school. What do &o! look for the most in an (P'

An &OP is !sed to eval!ate a st!dents mat!rity in thin'ing. 0ore importantly, it highlights their

motivation to go to grad!ate school. ;hat is their p!rpose in life to apply to grad!ate school and 'now what yo! want to do with yo!r career, all '!dos to yo!. I canass!re yo! that most people, incl!ding myself, do not 'now what they want at that early age. )o!

have a vag!e idea of the molec!lar techni6!e that yo! want to be immersed in. It was genetic

engineering for me. I had no cl!e which field of biology will help me st!dy that techni6!e. If a

st!dent wants to wor' with a partic!lar techni6!e and finds an instit!tion where they can do that

techni6!e then I thin' that is a great way of choosing a !niversity. If the emphasis is on ran'ing

then it might not wor'. $!t if the emphasis is on passion towards research then yo!r decision

will be right. $!t that 'ind of mat!rity develops over time for most st!dents.

What area of research is going to #e the ne+t #ig thing in #iological

and #iomedical sciences'

;e now 'now how many genes we have, and the se6!ences of these genes. ow the big 6!estion

is how do these genes contrib!te to f!nction and which of these genes are responsible for the big

diseases. *hat is where the money is. *he few areas of biology or in general in sciences that are

going to blossom in the ne+t >B or @B years are fields related to st!dying combinatorial gene and

protein f!nctions, dr!g discovery, how to target these genes, areas of organic chemistry and

chemical synthesis is going to be big news in the ne+t F 2 >B years. &o, areas s!ch as chemistry,

comp!ters, bioinformatics, biology, physics have to come together to solve critical problems in

biology s!ch as behavior, concepts that are vag!e right now b!t those are the ones that are goingto be tac'led in the near f!t!re.

(o, hat &o! s!ggest is doing a PhD in 3iolog& ith em$hasis on

interdisci$linar& st!dies.

I wo!ld act!ally s!ggest doing a PhD in interdisciplinary biology or a PhD in biological sciences


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or biomedical sciences with a pro9ect in interdisciplinary biology. *here are plenty of schools,

incl!ding o!rs, that offer these types of programs.

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An Interview With Dr