Srinath:
Welcome everyone. We are Biopatrika, your own online science communication forum, bringing science closer to you in so many ways. In our Scikonnect by Biopatrika series, we talk to some of the current and future leaders from the world of science to gain some insights into their career choices. Today we have the pleasure of talking to Dr. Jitendra Pant, a dynamic individual who truly defines what it means to be a scientist in the 21st century. I’m Srinath Krishnamurthy and along with me, Ramya Chittoory, will be hosts today as we take you through this fascinating journey- that is the life of Dr. Jitendra Pant.
Ramya:
Dr. Jitendra is a biomedical engineer and he obtained his doctoral degree from University of Georgia. He was also a director and co-founder of Innovator, a biomedical startup. He has a research experience of 15 years. He worked as a scientist at Biocon and a postdoctoral fellow at University of Michigan and also a principal investigator with a number of patents. Currently, he’s an application scientist at Caron Products in the cell and gene therapy space, a field with immense potential to impact the life of billions. Jitendra is also a science communicator, having given TedX talks along with other presenters. Jitendra has elegantly transversed both the academic and industrial world, making various impacts and almost all domains of modern scientific career. It’s a pleasure meeting you, Jitendra, and having you with us.
Jitendra:
Thank you, Ramya. Thank you, Sri.
Ramya:
To kicking things off, let me start. Can you tell us about your background, educational background, and how you made it into the biomedical field?
Jitendra:
Yeah, absolutely. So it was in 2004. I had just passed my 10th grade and I happened to be the topper of my school and I was confused between choosing biology and mathematics like most of us, because that kind of determines where your life will go from there. And in that confusion, I have almost made my mind to pick up mathematics over biology. Until my biology teacher, she gifted me a biology book and that was then and there I decided that I would want to make a career in biology.
She showed a lot of faith and trust in my abilities and I said let me pursue both. But I would be primarily focusing on biology. And that’s when I chose this route after making failed attempts to become a doctor. I started B tech in Biotechnology at Xia University. The herodon got to meet wonderful mentors and teachers who prepared me well and it so happened that so I joined the program in 2006, graduated in 2010, and in 2010 I became fortunate to get my first job at Biocon, where I worked for three more years and in those three years I became part of four monoclonal antibodies project. Two of them got FDA approved and after Biocon I did my Masters from BITS Pilani, Hyderabad Campus and at BITS, I came to know about this professor called Dr. Hitesh Handa, who was setting up his new lab at University of Georgia. And he was looking for students who can help him set up cell culture and microbiology space to set up a tissue engineering lab. So I had never done tissue engineering, but I had done cell culture, and I thought there is something that I can contribute. So I happened to become his first two PhD students, and it was under his leadership that I learned how to not only do research but also mentor how to nurture talents. And in doing so, I published several papers, five certain patents. I wrote a lot of grants with him, and ultimately, in 2018, when I was graduating, he asked me if I would like to be a cofounder with him, the company that he was founding, and that’s how we started a biomedical company together that received funding from NIS and CDC. And yeah, I owe a lot to the mentors that I met from time to time, starting with Ms. Madhu Sharma, who was my high school biology teacher.
Ramya:
Great! Thinking back, even I was there at a point, where should I choose the science or mathematics?
Jitendra:
Yes.
