Gowtham Akash Jayakumar Email & Phone Number

One of the most simple yet intriguing organisms are viruses. Though minuscule in size, they inflict heavy damage to complex lifeforms like humans. The curiosity of how this happens is one of the reasons why I decided to get a Master's in Cellular and Molecular Biology with thesis concentration in virology at the University of New Haven 20'. My thesis was on identifying compensatory mutations in the TMEV genome when subjected to replicative stress. Insights into this topic can help us understand how viruses tackle the immune system and can possibly lead to better drug design. The experience got me comfortable with cell culture techniques, molecular cloning, PCR, viral titer estimation, etc. Unfortunately, due to Covid-19, my thesis was cut short, and I had to graduate without getting a chance to complete and defend my thesis.During my coursework, my passion for teaching was recognized by my professors, and I was made a teaching assistant for the cell culture lab course. I was also asked to be a peer tutor for students who needed clarification and help with understanding lectures and assignments. This helped build my confidence in teaching, presenting and also helped in tailoring explanations to students with different perspectives on topics.Being involved on-campus was of high priority to me. Hence I joined the Graduate Student Council as a Senator to voice out the opinions of grad students to the respective departments. I went on to become the Vice President of Programming in the Graduate Student Council where my primary responsibility was to organize social, professional development and community service events for graduate students. I also serve as the President of the Indian Student Council in which I help build a stronger sense of diversity and inclusion at the university. With these roles, I was able to build on my networking, leadership, and communication skills to a great extent!During a career fair, I came across Ancera, a start-up which is focusing on rapid detection of pathogens that are prevalent in the poultry industry. The prototype which involves the manipulation of a ferrofluid system to capture target microbial cells was fascinating and got me interested in their work. I joined Ancera in June 2020 and everyday has been a challenging and an amazing learning experience.

Listed skills include Leadership, Microsoft Office, Microsoft Powerpoint, Python, and 13 others.