Sanjay Basu Email & Phone Number

Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

Oxfordshire, England, United Kingdom

Pirbright, Woking, Uk

As senior postdoctoral scientist within the internationally renowned Alphey lab, I have worked across a range of externally funded projects, building collaborative teams and driving milestone completion. These studies have included overseas funders including the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA: USA) and those in the UK (Wellcome Trust and UKRI). The total value of grants exceeds £1.5m and I am an integral part of their success in management on the bench and in reporting to funders, often with challenging deadlines that require substantial troubleshooting. • DARPA funded ‘Predicting and preventing flavivirus spillover’ involving generating trans-flaviviral refractory Ae. aegypti mosquitoes, Sept 2018- present. This milestone-driven project involves collaboration with an Estonian virology team and coordination with another Pirbright fellow. We pursued ambitious targets that had been arranged with the funder in advance involving cell culture testing of complex designs focussed upon viral sensor components. Designs have now advanced to transgenic mosquitoes that are to be tested in the near future. Preparing monthly presentations to the funder and generating quarterly reports was one of my key roles along with day to day management and direction of 6 research scientists involving consultation, training and guidance of synthetic designs, cloning strategies, conducting virus-infection studies and all aspects of running a transgenic insectary. • Wellcome Trust Collaborative funded ‘Genetic approaches to reducing vector competence of Ae. aegypti for chikungunya virus’, Sept 2016-May 2019. Day to day management and direction of 2 research scientists. This collaborative project involves teams in Malaysia, Australia and Estonia and focussed upon generating and testing Alphavirus refractory mosquitoes.• UKRI Core Funded Scientist, April 2015-Sept 2016. As the first employee to this group I had a key role establishing the lab in all aspects.

Fralin Life Sciences Institute

Development and employment of CRISPR-Cas9 gene-editing in Aedes aegypti. Investigation of RNAi pathway, investigation into Cre-mediated RMCE in Aedes aegypti, investigation into use of miRNAs as potential tool for reverse genetics, adaptation of gene-editting tools for Aedes aegypti

Research duties providing technical assistance and supporting Dr. Hilary Ashe’s team, investigating gene expression in the early Drosophila melanogaster embryo. Experience in the care and maintenance of over 500 Drosophila stocks, maintenance of lab procedures, organisation of contaminated waste disposal, electrical safety testing of appliances, maintenance of laboratory’s procedures/systems and miscellaneous tasks such as stock control, calibration and equipment upkeep.

Analytical tasks relating to quality control of a chemical manufacturing factory.

Doctor Of Philosophy (Phd), Molecular Entomology

Activities and Societies: Group leader on Keele University Biology field trip to Bangor (2008), supervising groups of undergraduates.

Master Of Science (M.Sc.), Vector Biology And Molecular Parasitology

Bsc Zoology With Marine Zoology, Zoology

BSc (Hons) Zoology with Marine Zoology