Pavithra Aravamudhan Email & Phone Number

Boston, MA, US

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Boston, Massachusetts, United States

Bangalore Urban, Karnataka, India

• Developed and validated biochemical and cell-based assays to support small molecule drug discovery for three client programs
• Trained and managed 2 reportees in assay development to achieve project milestones while ensuring lab safety, data integrity, and quality
• Wrote proposals and standard operation procedures and performed costing to support internal and client-based integrated drug discovery programs

Pittsburgh, USA

• Attended a month-long boot camp training: conducted deep dive analysis on Pittsburgh startup companies and presentations; selected as an exemplary presentation
• Identified viable transformational technology for funding by a leading Pittsburgh-based business incubator as part of a 4-person team

United States

• Initiated and led collaborative research projects on reovirus pathogenesis that resulted in 6 high impact publications and presentations at 5 major conferences
• Designed small molecule screens, neurobiological and in vivo experiments in mice to discover mechanisms of reovirus neuronal entry and pathogenesis
• Spearheaded an international collaboration with experts in atomic force microscopy to study reovirus-receptor interactions that resulted in a co-first author publication in Nature Communications
• Contributed to the discovery of the link between viral infection and celiac disease (published in Science)
• Developed and wrote multiple competitive research proposals: secured $40K award from Research Advisory Committee; assisted in writing federal grant that obtained $2.5M
• Recruited and trained 2 research technicians and served in 4 committees critiquing on research grant proposals and manuscripts

• Interfaced with clients from across 3 continents including Fortune 500 companies to identify technological solutions and readiness levels for industrial adaptation
• Worked as a scientific consultant on 4 team-based projects to conduct market, competitive, and technology analyses for diverse clientele including medical, automotive, and retail companies.

Advisor: Prof. Terence Dermody

• Established cell-based neurobiology assays to investigate neuronal transmission of reovirus

Advisor: Dr. Ajit Joglekar

• Solved the mechanism of spindle assembly checkpoint using budding yeast, an actively pursued question in the field for over 3 decades using a combination of yeast cell biology, genetics, mutational analysis.
• Constructed and characterized more than 200 recombinant budding yeast strains for hypothesis-driven research on Spindle Assembly Checkpoint; published findings as the lead author in Nature Cell Biology
• Won multiple awards for outstanding thesis work including the prestigious Kaluza prize (awarded to 0.03% of cell biologists)
• Trained and mentored 5+ undergraduate students, published 6 peer-reviewed manuscripts in prestigious journals, and secured one patent award

General Chemistry Lab, Department Of Chemistry

• Prepared and delivered brief lectures on general chemistry principles
• Organized the class into teams, encouraged team work and collaborative learning
• Interacted with students during office hours to facilitate better understanding of concepts
• Ensured lab safety and compliance to OSEH regulations

Advisors: Prof. Ari Gafni And Prof. Duncan Steel

• Secured the Rackham international fellowship ($10K) for conducting novel single-molecule experiments to understand amyloid-peptide interactions implicated in Alzheimer's Diseases
• Established collaborations and optimized isolation of synaptosomes for use as a relevant membrane system to study peptide interaction

Advisor: Prof. Kristen Verhey

• Performed single-molecule Total Internal Reflection Fluorescence (TIRF) microscopy to measure the speed of kinesin motors
• Investigated the effect of tubulin acetylation on the speed of kinesin motors from different species from an evolutionary perspective

Advisor: Prof. Nils G Walter

• Worked collaboratively with a senior graduate student to probe pre-mRNA dynamics during splicing using Single Molecule Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer (FRET) microscopy
• Performed independent computational analysis of RNA secondary structure (using Vienna) to verify interpretation of single-molecule FRET data; findings published in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology

Advisor: Prof. Gautam Pennathur

• Developed a novel methodology for electrophoretic separation of proteins in native gels
• Synthesized and purified charged porphyrin derivatives for direct visualization of proteins in the gel
• Demonstrated proof-of-principle that later led to a publication from the lab

Advisor: Prof. M. S. Shaila

Constructed a recombinant Baculo virus expressing poly-Histidine tagged Rinderpest virus L protein for interaction studies

Advisor: Prof. Gautam Pennathur

Performed molecular dynamics simulations (using Gromacs) to understand the physical basis of lid movement in lipases.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Biophysics

Activities and Societies: Member of American Society for Cell Biology and Biophysical Society

Master'S Degree, Biophysics

Bachelor Of Technology (B.Tech.), Biotechnology

Activities and Societies: Member of Scientific Committee at Biotecellence